There are so many verses of the Qur’an that contain the command and encouragement to repent, and the statement that God loves those who turn unto Him in sincere repentance.
The Prophet himself, according to the well known tradition, used to seek God’s forgiveness between seventy and one hundred times a day. “One who has repented from sin”, said the Prophet, “is like one who has no sin”.
So, every Muslim is taught to instantly repent from all sins, mortal or venial. Repentance is not to be delayed since death is very imminent and nobody would knowingly want to return to God without having repented for his or her sins.
No true Muslim will take sin lightly. To sin, according to the Qur’an, means to be unjust to one’s own soul; and God has declared that He does not like those who are unjust. Nevertheless, to err is human, but to persist in error is satanic. So the real issue is not sin, but in refusing to repent, which is the chief characteristic of satan, the accursed.
Even though God is all-Merciful, all-Forgiving, and He commands His servants to repent, it does not automatically mean that He is going to grant forgiveness. “Forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil on ignorance and turn quickly in repentance to Allah…forgiveness is not for those who do ill deeds until when death attends upon one of them, he says: Lo! I repent now…” (al-Nisa’: 17-18).
There are conditions to be fulfilled before one can be said to have truly repented. First, with regard to the past, namely for all the wrongdoings one had committed, one must have regret or remorse. Second, with regard to one’s present state, one must desist from sin immediately. And third, with regard to the future, one must be determined not to repeat the same error again.
The urgent desire to repent will only arise in the soul of one who knows with certainty that sins are destructive to the soul just as poison is to the body. Only then will one sincerely regret one’s sin, cease and desist, and be determined not to repeat that sin again. Of course it is already assumed here that the person believes in God and in His perfect Attributes, and also in the Hereafter where ultimate judgement will take place.
True repentance, being an outcome of something profound in the soul will not simply happen to just anybody. It will only happen to someone who possesses ‘true knowledge’, namely knowledge which yields certainty in the soul about the nature of the ultimate reality. This knowledge is at the core of one’s consciousness and it guides one’s ethical judgements and behaviours; it is ultimately wisdom bestowed by God upon whosoever He desires from amongst His servants.
Ethics, as espoused by the religion of Islam, is ultimately grounded upon human conscience, and as such, knowledge and education are of paramount importance.
Today we are living in an increasingly secular environment where the word ‘sin’ is losing its meaning, and perhaps in the near future will no longer become fashionable. How would anybody ever think of repentance if one does not even recognize what is sinful and what is not? This is the necessary outcome of secular education: the ‘true places’ of things in the hierarchy of existence are no longer recognized and acknowledged. That kind of education would not give one any idea of what justice is all about, and what it means to be unjust to one’s own soul.
Those three conditions mentioned above are applicable if the sin committed is purely between man and God. However, if the sin is between man and man, there is another condition to be met: one has to seek forgiveness from the person one has wronged and to repay whatever his or her due is. God’s forgiveness, in this regard, is subject to the forgiveness of the victim and no amount of prayer and charity may deliver the transgressor from God’s wrath and punishment.
Islam maintains both a horizontal and vertical relation: every individual must maintain good relations with God but one must not take for granted one’s responsibility towards other human beings. This is particularly true if one is holding the position of leadership. The bigger the responsibility one holds the more susceptible one is to mistakes, wrongdoings and injustice; hence the call to repentance becomes even more relevant.
Unfortunately it is not the habit of our leaders to seek forgiveness or apologize for their wrongdoings. What we often hear whenever a problem or even a crisis happens is for us not to point fingers; no finger pointing, we are told, because what is more impoprtant is to solve the problem. But how is it possible to solve a problem without first identifying its true cause and subsequently eliminating it?
Only those who are too arrogant would not admit their mistakes even after being told and reminded repeatedly. We can see this satanic attitude rampant in developing and third world countries. It is a blameworthy attitude and antithetical to real progress.
Islam is a religion that advocates reform (islah) but no genuine reform is possible without first reviving the culture of repentance. Repentance, according to the Qur’an, precedes reform.
To call upon the Muslims to reform means to ask them to repent for their sins, i.e., to realize and admit their mistakes instead of continuously blaming others for their pathetic state of affairs. To revive the culture of repentance also means to be open to criticism and to react to it in a positive manner: the manner exemplified by the conduct of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
If the philosophy of repentance is understood and practiced the Muslim community should have been the most dynamic and progressive community.
