Acceptance of repentance

Islam is the complete guidance to being and living as a complete Muslim.

Admit and acknowledge our shortcomings to ourselves; not publicly, but to oneself. Allahﷻ is all knowing. We do not need to admit this to Allah but to ourselves. Do not cover it up or muddy the water by blaming circumstances or even blaming others! Sins, whether small or great, will lead to self-harm and ultimately one is at a loss. Once these sins are committed, our only salvation is through repentance to Allah.

The action of repentance is not restricted to only seeking forgiveness from Allah. Rather, to attain forgiveness one must follow the three well-known steps.

Evidence of 3 steps. Hadith

The first stage of repentance is to acknowledge the shortcoming to oneself. This means that one should be present to the sin and accept that the sin is not acceptable as it simply falls short of the guidance of Islam. One then vows not to repeat the sin; the action associated with this is to take all necessary precautions and put in place all that is necessary to avoid the repetition of the sin. The final stage is to seek forgiveness from the Creator, Al-Ghafoor, and by doing so one pledges never to repeat the action.

With repentance Allahﷻ promises a clean slate. One is returned to the state before the sin was committed.

To sin is to harm oneself only. It is not harmful at all to Allah.

Surah 41 Fussilat (explained in detail) Ayat 46

Man aaamila salihanfalinafsihI waman asaa faaaalayha wamarabbuka bithallamin lilaaabeed

Whosoever does a righteous good deed, it is for (the benefit of) his own self, and whosoever does evil, it is against his own self, and your Lord is not at all unjust to (his) slaves.

Repentance is therefore a means by which one prevents harm to oneself. This is achieved by the three steps mentioned above.

The only way in which one can prevent a recurrence of the self-harm from sin is to prevent a recurrence of the sin itself. Repentance is a means of preventing a recurrence and of truly safeguarding oneself from sin.

Acceptance that one is fallible

Knowing or recognising the sin is crucial, as one simply cannot be present to the sin without acknowledging it to oneself.

Acceptance the action was unacceptable

Accept that the action was unacceptable and fell short of the guidance of Islam.

Declaration that one will not repeat this action

Seek forgiveness from the Creator by means of a declaration that the action will not be repeated.

It is in the infinite Mercy of Allahﷻ that Heﷻ promises to forgive all sins, no matter how often they are repeated without a deliberate intent.

With this forgiveness one is returned immediately to his state prior to the sin, i.e. one is pure from sin.

Without repentance the present state remains unaltered from the state just prior to when the sin was committed. As the state remains the same, it is therefore probable that the same actions will again be taken (i.e. the sin will be repeated), whereas in the state after true repentance one is profoundly present to the sin and the fact that it was harmful to oneself. One is also present to the fact that one has pledged to the Creator and to oneself that the sin will not be repeated. This state is profoundly altered from the state prior to when the sin was committed and it is probable that there will be an altered behaviour and, with it, altered action. It is probable that this sin will not be repeated.

Allahﷻ is infinitely merciful and and this is the guidance to attaining HisﷻMercy and Hisﷻ pleasure in safeguarding oneself, the creation, from the harm of sin. For one only harms oneself with sin.

I am a Muslim! I will strive to be Guided

Once one declares oneself a Muslim, one is declaring that one submits to the Guidance of Allahﷻ . Thereafter it is only logical that the Guidance is followed. A Muslim is one who strives to adhere to the Guidance of Islam. There is no logic in the term ‘non-practising Muslim’. This is akin to joining a gym and never visiting it. Declaring one’s membership of that gym without ever attending and utilising the gym facilities is meaningless.

In the same way, the only question is whether one lives by Islam or not. Islam is Guidance and is not a membership of a club. Islam is holding onto the rope of Allahﷻ , and is living one’s life whilst following the Guidance of Islam found in Al Qur’an. To pray salat punctually is an essential part of implementing this Guidance.

It is the following of or submitting to this Manual of Life given to us by the Creatorﷻ , and living life successfully without harming oneself or others, that leads to the pleasure of the Creatorﷻ . The pleasure of Allahﷻ leads to the ultimate and eternal reward from Himﷻ, Paradise.

Being Complete in Islam

Islam cannot be diluted. Any deviation from pure, one-hundred-per-cent Islam is no longer the Guidance from the Creatorﷻ and is not Islam. The Qur’an, the Manual, is the comprehensive and complete way of living in harmony with oneself and with the universe. We have shortcomings, indeed one harms oneself by way of sin on a day-by-day, hour-to-hour and minute-by-minute basis. One repents to obtain the Mercy of Allahﷻ .

The Qur'an cannot be altered or diluted. With any change or alteration it is no longer pure, it is no longer the Word of Allah and is no longer Islam. Only complete Islam is Islam. Anything else is completely something other. As discussed in Chapter 5, Allahﷻ has promised that Heﷻ Himself is the Guardian of the Qur’an.