and its conditions, as well as the verses he adduced to prove that it is obligatory.
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—then cited these two hadiths as proof from the Sunnah, for the more corroborating evidence a matter has, the stronger, more emphatic, and more binding it becomes.
He therefore quoted the hadith of Abu Hurayrah ⦗may Allah be pleased with him⦘, in which the Prophet ﷺ swore that he seeks Allah’s forgiveness and turns to Him in repentance more than seventy times. This is the Messenger ﷺ—whose earlier and later sins Allah had already forgiven—yet he still asks Allah’s forgiveness more than seventy times a day.
He also related the report of al-Agharr ibn Yasar al-Muzani in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “O people, turn to Allah in repentance and seek His forgiveness, for I, indeed, repent to Allah one hundred times each day.”
These two hadiths clearly demonstrate that repentance is obligatory, because the Prophet ﷺ commanded, “O people, repent to Allah.” When a person repents to his Lord he gains two benefits:
- He fulfills the command of Allah and His Messenger; and all good lies in obeying Allah and His Messenger. True happiness in this world and the next revolves around obedience to them.
- He follows the example of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who used to repent to Allah one hundred times a day, repeatedly saying, “I repent to Allah, I repent to Allah…”
Repentance, however, must be genuine: when one repents to Allah he must abandon the sin.
As for a person who repents only with his tongue while his heart still intends to commit the sin or neglect the duty, or who professes repentance while his limbs remain determined to commit