You must have heard a Hadith of Mishkât Sharîf. Allah Ta’aala has granted a great favour and procedure to his sinful servants on the tongue of Rasulullah Sallallâhu alaihi wasallam. Every person is indeed sinful. Mullâ Ali Qâri has explained that the word ‘khattâ’ used in the Hadith means ‘extremely sinful’. What is the cure for this? The cure is excessive Istighfaar and Taubah (seeking forgiveness and repenting). The cure matches the illness. Thus Rasulullah (Sallallâhu alaihi wasallam) said, “Every human sins excessively and the best of sinners are the repentant ones.” (Mishkât-al Masâbîh p.204.)

What are the conditions for Taubah and when is it accepted. The Muhaddithîn, [the authorities of hadith] Sheikh Muhiuddîn Abû Zakarriya An-Nawawî has stated (Sharh Muslim lil Imâm An-Nawawi, vol.2 p. 346) that there are three conditions for seeking repentance:

(1) to stop committing the sin. Some people, while continuously staring at unveiled females, say “Lâ howlâ wa lâ quwwata, Moulana, just look at how unveiled these women are!” While they are reading ALâ howlâ”, they are also admiring the women. Such a Lâ howlâ is itself saying Lâ howlâ. Such istighfâr is itself in need of seeking forgiveness. Thus repentance is only accepted once a person refrains from the sin.

(2) The second condition is that one should express remorse and regret on perpetrating the sin. The reality of remorse is to regret in the heart. The regret should resemble that of the Sahaba (RadiAllâhu anhum). When they realised that Allâh and His Rasûl (Sallallâhu alaihi wasallam) were displeased with them, then the entire world would become distressful for them and they would remain aloof from their souls. This is from among the rights of love. This should be the effect of displeasing the one who one loves excessively. If one commits a sin, nothing should feel good with the displeasure and wrath of Allâh. One’s children do not seem good. Food and drink do not taste good. One’s home also does not feel good. The whole world becomes straitened in his eyes. He becomes detached from his soul until he performs two rakats of salâtut taubah and repents with tearing eyes in order to please Allâh. To use the bounties of this world while perpetrating a sin or persisting on a sin is contrary to the position of a slave. There was a poet in Badâyu who loved his wife extremely. I present to you the poetry of a poet who describes the rights of love:

I saw the pulse of the universe drowning,
when I saw the temperament of my beloved disturbed.

In other words, when my wife became slightly displeased, I saw the pulse of the entire universe drowning. Look at him, he did not perceive his own pulse deteriorating, but found the entire world to be dark. From this it is realised that the right of love is that one’s condition should become as described above when the beloved is angered. Yet this love (for a wife) is temporary and will terminate in a few days. What the rights of Allâh are over us cannot even be explained. He is even closer to us than our jugular veins. We owe our existence to Him. All our matters, whether related to this world or the next are attached to Him. Even if the entire world praises us, it will not be of any avail as long as Allâh does not say to us on the day of Judgement that I am pleased with you. I remember the couplet of Allâmah Sayyid Sulaimân Nadwi. He says that if many people praise you in the world, do not judge your worth by their statements. The price uttered by the slaves does not give one the price of the slave. The value of the slave is enhanced by pleasing the master. Thus Allamah Sayyid Sulaiman Nadwi says:

“We remained like this or that.
There we have to see how we were.”

Here we are praised excessively but what will our worth be there? This will only be realised on the day of Judgement. Let me relate another couplet of his because sometimes a person is duped by this temporary life:

“What joy and grief can there be in a two-day life,
One will always remain a traveller no matter what the condition.”

It is not necessary that the one who is wealthy in this world should also be at ease within his heart. Moulana Rumi says:

“If marble is laid on the tomb of a disbeliever, if all the kings of the world lay wreaths of flowers there, music is played and there is a military salute, but if the wrath and punishment of Allâh is descending in the grave, the marble on the top of the grave cannot alleviate that punishment.” The lights on top and the military salutes will be of no benefit. Thus if one did not please Allâh, even though one may be sitting in an air-conditioned room with one’s wife and children and one has plenty of treasure, piles of notes and a healthy bank balance, all this is mere apparent comfort. This body is a grave. It is not necessary that the comfort on the exterior of the body should also imply comfort of the heart. The air conditioner can cool our bodies but it cannot extinguish the fire of the heart. If Allâh is displeased, the heart will be involved in punishment even though the body may have thousands of means of comfort. There will be no peace. A saint says:

“When the heart was a garden, spring dripped from everything,
but when the heart became deserted, the entire world was desolate.”

If the heart is at its prime, then everything on its outside is also in a flourishing state, but when the heart becomes delapidated, the entire world is ruined. Moulana Jalaluddeen Rumi says that a person is ecstatic on the torn carpet of a musjid. With love and sincerity he is taking the name of Allâh. He experiences so much delight in saying ‘Allâh’ as if the enjoyment of the entire universe is contained in a capsule and inserted in his heart. Moulana Rumi says that when he takes the name of Allâh, every strand of hair on his body becomes a river of honey.

(3) The third condition is to make a firm intention not to return to that sin. If Shaytân whispers in one’s ear that you will commit that sin again, then remember that a firm intention to adopt piety is sufficient for the acceptance of repentance. Allâh accepts this determination on condition that there is no determination to violate this repentance. If one does not intend to violate one’s intention, then this intention is accepted by Allâh. At the time of repentance, one should place one’s trust in Allâh and say, “O Allâh, I have placed my trust in You and will not commit this sin again.” If one happens to commit this sin, then repent again. Where can we go to if we leave Allâh.