—the repentant. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, “If you did not commit sins, Allah would remove you and bring a people who would sin, then seek Allah’s forgiveness, and He would forgive them.” Therefore, sin is inevitable for every human being. The question is: what should one do after sinning? He must immediately return to Allah, repent to Him, feel genuine remorse, and seek forgiveness until the sin is wiped away.

Allah the Exalted says, “And if an evil suggestion from Satan stirs you, seek refuge in Allah” (Q 41:36). In other words, when Satan provokes you and plants deviation and disobedience in your heart, seek refuge in Allah. So whenever you are about to commit a sin—whether it violates Allah’s right or the right of a created being—say, aʿūdhu billāhi min al-shayṭān al-rajīm (I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed). If you utter these words sincerely, Allah will help you, protect you from the accursed Satan, and safeguard you from his influence.

Allah, Most High, also says, “Indeed, those who are mindful of Allah—when a suggestion from Satan touches them, they remember, and at once they see clearly” (Q 7:201). That is, when their hearts are struck by deviation and they perform an evil deed, they take heed and reflect, and then they perceive things clearly. They realize that they are astray, whereupon they seek Allah’s forgiveness, just as He said in the other verse the compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—quoted among the traits of the God-fearing: “Those who, when they commit an obscenity or wrong themselves, remember Allah…” (Q 3:135). “When they commit an obscenity” refers to a grave sin, or when they wrong themselves by