Repentance

Learning to Forgive

They used to live in my grandmother’s neighbourhood. A big, poor family of eight children. After the eighth child was born, the husband and wife were constantly quarrelling –the husband hadn’t wanted another child, it just meant another stomach to feed and another body to clothe. The wife didn’t mind. God has given us another child, she said, we should be grateful.. But that only angered the husband more. One evening, after weeks of yelling and slamming doors, the couple began to argue again. The wife was making chapattis...

03 December 2011 | Repentance | death, forgiveness, murder, Repentance | 10 Comments

Morning After Mourning

A quiet appeal, whispering, waking, Attempting to relieve the self-inflicted aching, Heavy with sleeplessness, I reject any reckoning, Of my conscience, beckoning, beckoning, beckoning. But the attempts of the devil to leave me immobilized Are weaker than the guilt that has me hypnotized, And in that split second, I open my eyes. My soul kindles a flame, summons me to follow, Says, “Leave not the grieving for tomorrow.” The blanket of stars, ever luminescent, I am brought under, By the destroyer of pleasures that wakes me from slumber. I...

01 December 2011 | Repentance | conscience, evil, gravity, pleasures, Repentance, sky, weakness | 15 Comments

How To Perform Repentance (Part 2)

How to do Tawbah? It’s not difficult at all, from a physical perspective. But firstly, the scholars have derived, from the Qur’an and statements of the Prophet Muhammad, that certain conditions must accompany the tawbah for it to be valid and correct. Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymeen mentions the following in Sharh Riyaadh as-Saliheen: 1. Sincerity - It’s very important that the person is not repenting for any other purpose, or reason (for example, for the sake of reputation, to be seen by others or to get closer to them, or because...