Stories of Tawbah (Repentence)

The Accepted Repentance

THE ACCEPTED REPENTANCE


A man once went to Raabi'ah bint Isma'il al-'Adawiyyah, who was known by the titles, 'Mother of Goodness,' and, 'The Famous Worshipper.' He said, 'Indeed, I have perpetrated a great number of sins. If I repent, do you think that Allah will accept my repentence?"

She said, "Woe unto you! Do you not see that He invites those who turn away from Him; then why wouldn't He accept the repentance of those who turn towards Him?"

GOOD ADVICE

During one of his journeys, Sari as-Saqati passed by a cave, from which he heard continuous sobbing. Aroused by curiosity, he entered the cave and saw a young man whose body seemed to be wasted away by grief and sadness. Having immediately perceived that the man was a righteous worshipper, Sari humbly asked, "O young man, how is safety achieved?"

He said, "By performing all prescribed acts of worship, by not wronging others, and by repenting to Allah."

Sari asked, "Can you please deliver a sermon to me?"

The young man said, "The best sermon you can receive is by looking into your own self. But I will say this: be obedient to Allah when you are alone, for doing so will atone for your sins, and Allah will then display you to the inhabitants of the heavens."

ONE SIN LED TO HIS REPENTANCE

A righteous man was once asked to tell the story of the pivotal moment of his life, the moment in which he first began to apply the teachings of Islam, and the following was his answer:

When I was a young man, I would not hesitate to perpetrate any sin that was made available to me. Then, one day, I saw a young woman who was perhaps the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Much tempted by her, I indicated to her that I wanted her to approach me. She seemed nervous, but I thought that she would probably agree to satisfy my sexual desires for money. She approached me with what seemed to be a great deal of trepidation, and when she actually stood before me, she looked extremely terrified.

Feeling sorry for her, I said, 'Do not fear, for I will not harm you.'

But my words did not lessen her terrible fright in the least; in fact, her situation worsened. She began to tremble like a palm tree leaf trembles with the wind.

I said, 'Tell me your story.'

She said, 'By Allah, o my brother, never before this day have I offered my body in this way. Dire need is what has driven me to this, for I have three daughters who have not eaten a single morsel of food for three days now. It was pity for them that brought me to this low point in my life.'

For the first time in my life, I felt pity; her story moved me, and I no longer entertained the intention of taking advantage of her. After she told me where she lived, I took a great deal of money, clothing and food to her house. When I returned to my house, I told my mother what had happened.

My mother knew that I had a book in which I would record all of my evil deeds, and so she said to me, 'My son, you are a man who has never performed a good deed except for the good deed that you performed today. I know that you have a book in which you record your evil exploits, go now and write in it your good deed.'

I stood up, went to my book, opened it, and found that all of its pages were blank- except for the first page on which was written a single line.


إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ

Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds (i.e. small sins)

[Hud : 114]


At that very moment, I raised my hands to the sky and said, 'By your Might and Majesty, never again will I disobey You.' "

THE GRAVE OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN

Ibrahim bin Bashaar narrated this story:
"While I was walking towards Kufah with Ibrahim bin Adham, he stopped beside a grave and invoked Allah to have mercy on its dweller. "Whose grave is this,' I asked.

'It is the grave of Humaid bin Jaabir,' said Ibrahim. 'He was once the leader of all the townships that are in this area.'

'What was so special about him?' I asked. Ibrahim told me that he was a very rich leader who would spend his nights enjoying frivolous games and entertainment.

'One night he fell asleep and saw a dream in which a man was standing over his head,' said Ibrahim. 'The man had a book in his hand, which Humaid grabbed and tore open. The words inside were written with gold [ink]. They ran as follows:


Do not prefer my Fire over my Light, and do not be deceived by what you own in this world, for what you own is preventing you from getting what is saved for you in the afterlife. True, what you have might have been called a kingdom, had it not been for the fact that it will all soon perish. And your life might have been called a life of happiness and joy, had it not been for the fact that it will be followed by anxiety and misery. So beware of falling under the spell of these worldly ornaments, or you will join the ranks of the destroyed ones

وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

And march forth in the way [which leads to] forgiveness from your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as are the heavens and the earth, prepared for al-muttaqoon.

[Aal-Imraan : 133]


Humaid then woke up in a terrified state,' continued Ibrahim.

'Resigning from his post as leader, Humaid betook himself to this mountain, where he led a simple life, doing menial work to maintain his physical upkeep, but dedicating most of his time to the worship of Allah. I came here once and met him, by keeping company with him, I found him to be a noble man. I would thereafter continue to visit him until he died.' "



[al-Mawaa'idh wal-Majaalis: 179]



EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IS NEAR AT HAND



The following is one of the famous sayings of al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him:

"Before He created us, Allah knew that we would sin and disobey Him, yet He still made us Muslims. O sinners, hurry to repent before the pangs of death overcome you, before the time of utter regret is upon you. Work, for death is coming, and everything that is coming is near at hand. Death hovers over you day and night; it will not come late, not even for one who has lost track of time."