Tawbah Part 1
Section 8 of 24 · Faraid in Islam · Ustadh Mahmud Kurkcu
More Verses on the Obligation of Tawbah
Allah (swt) commands this in the Qurʾān: tūbū ilā Allāhi jamīʿan — men, women, elderly and young are commanded, every one of them, to turn to Allah (swt) in repentance, if success in the hereafter is sought. In another āyah, Allah (swt) says:
وَأَنِ ٱسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُم مَّتَـٰعًا حَسَنًا إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى وَيُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِى فَضْلٍ فَضْلَهُۥ ۖ وَإِن تَوَلَّوْا۟ فَإِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ كَبِيرٍ
“and you must seek forgiveness from your Lord, then, turn to Him in repentance, and He will provide you with good things to enjoy for a given time, and bestow His extra favor on everyone who has extra good deeds (in his account). And if you turn away, then, I fear for you the punishment of a terrible day.” (11:3)
Ask Allah (swt) for forgiveness, and then turn back to Him in repentance — not merely with words, but bi'l-ḥāl, with one's actions and state, leaving the darkness, the ẓulm, of sin, and coming back to the light of Allah (swt). There are over seventy or eighty āyāt in the Qurʾān on this theme, not one or two, and all of them say the same thing: turn to Allah (swt) in repentance, change one's way, come back to Him. Again, Allah (swt) says:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِى ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّبِىَّ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ ۖ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَـٰنِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“O you who believe, turn to Allah with a faithful repentance. It is hoped from your Lord that he will write off your faults, and will admit you to the gardens beneath which rivers flow, on the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will run before them and to their right hands. They will say, “Our Lord, perfect for us our light, and forgive us. Indeed you are powerful over every thing.”” (66:8)
Sincere repentance, tawbatan naṣūḥah — not tawbah on the tongue alone, but sincere tawbah. This name is loved enough that it is given to children — there are more than a few boys called Naṣūḥ, just as some are named Ṣabrun Jamīlah, beautiful patience. But Allah (swt) is not asking that children be named tawbatan naṣūḥah; He is asking that tawbatan naṣūḥah, sincere tawbah, actually be done. As already set out, sincere tawbah has its four conditions. Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) says that the one who repents from his sin, from the ḥarām he used to commit, is like the one who never sinned at all — Allah (swt) washes it all away.