- Chapter: Repentance
The scholars state: repentance is obligatory for every sin. If the offense is solely between the servant and Allah, involving no violation of anyone’s rights, it requires three conditions:
- He must cease the sin entirely.
- He must feel genuine remorse for having committed it.
- He must firmly resolve never to return to it.
If any one of these three is missing, the repentance is invalid.
If the sin infringes on another person’s rights, a fourth condition is added to those three: he must clear himself of the right owed to that person. Thus, if the violation concerns wealth or anything similar, he must return it; if it entails a legal penalty such as slander, he must offer himself for the prescribed punishment or obtain pardon; and if it is backbiting, he must seek that person’s forgiveness.
A Muslim is required to repent of every sin. Should he repent of some while persisting in others, his repentance for the sins he has abandoned is valid, yet he remains accountable for whatever still remains.
The evidences from the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the ummah all affirm the obligation of repentance. Allah, exalted is He, says,
“Turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, so that you may prosper.” ⦗al-Nur 24:31⦘
and He says,
“Seek forgiveness from your Lord, then repent to Him.” ⦗Hud 11:3⦘
and,
“O you who believe, turn to Allah with sincere repentance.” ⦗al-Tahrim 66:8⦘
[Explanation]
The author—may Allah, the Most High, have mercy upon him—said: “Chapter on Repentance.” Linguistically, tawbah (repentance) is derived from the verb taaba yatūbu, meaning “to return.”