Understanding the Concept of Tawbah in Islam (Repentance)

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All thanks and praise are due to Allah and peace and blessings be upon
His Messenger.
Dear questioner! Thanks a lot for the apparent interest you show in
understanding the teachings of Islam that enlightens the hearts and
the minds of people.
Brother! Tawbah is an Arabic words derived from the origin " Taaba"
i.e. returned back. Tawbah thus means turning back in repentance. It
means showing regret for the error and the sin one has got himself
involved in.
To have a clear view of the concept of Tawbah and what it does mean,
read the following:
Repentance ( Tawbah ) means that one feels regret and filled with
remorse for his or her sins, turns to Allah with the intention to obey
Him. According to truth-seeking scholars, repentance signifies a
sincere effort to no longer oppose the Divine Essence in one's
feelings, thoughts, intentions, and acts, and to comply sincerely with
His commands and prohibitions. Repentance does not mean being
disgusted with what is bad or prohibited and thus no longer engaging
in it; rather, it means remaining aloof from whatever Allah hates and
prohibits, even if it seems agreeable to sense and reason.
Repentance is usually used with Nasuh , literally meaning pure,
sincere, reforming, improving, and repairing. Tawbah Nasuh (genuine
repentance) means a pure, sincere repentance that perfectly reforms
and improves the one who feels it. One who feels such a sincere,
heartfelt, and true remorse for thesin committed seeks to abandon it,
thereby setting a good example for others. The Quran points to this
when it mentions true repentance: " O you who believe! Turn to God in
true, sincere repentance."� (At-Tahrim: 8).
There are three categories of repentance:
1-The repentance of those who cannot discern Divine truths. Such
people are uneasy about their disobedience to Allah and, conscious of
the sinfulness clouding their hearts, turn toward Allahin repentance
saying, forexample: "I have fallen or committed a sin. Forgive me, or
I ask for Allah's forgiveness."�
2-Those half-awakened to Divine truths beyond veils of material
existence, who feel an inward pang of sinfulness and remorse right
after thinking or doing anything incompatible with the consciousness
of always being in Allah's presence, or after every instance of
heedlessness enveloping their hearts, and who immediately take refuge
in the mercyand favor of Allah. Such people are described in the
following Hadith:. "One who sincerely repents of his sin is as if he
had never committed it. When Allah loves one of His servants, his sins
do not harm him. Then he recited the verse: aAssuredly, Allah loves
the oft-repentant and those who always seek to purify themselves.'"�
3-Those who live such a careful life that, their eyes sleep but their
hearts do not, their hearts are awake. Such people immediately discard
what-ever intervenes between Allah and their hearts and other
innermost faculties, and regain the consciousness of their relation to
the Light of Lights. They always manifest the meaning of:. "How
excellent a servant! Truly he was ever turning in contrition (to his
Lord)"� (Sad:44).
Repentance means regaining one's essentialpurity after every spiritual
defilement, andengaging in frequent self-renewal.
The Stages of Repentance:
1-Feeling sincere remorse and regret.
2-Being frightened whenever one remembers past sins.
3-Trying to eradicate injustice and support justice and right.
4-Reviewing one's responsibilities and performing obligations
previously neglected.
5-Reforming oneself by removing spiritual defects caused by deviation and error
6-Regretting and lamenting the times when one did not mention or
remember Allah, or thank Him and reflect on His works. Such people are
always apprehensive and alert so that their thoughts and feelings are
not tainted by things that intervene between themselves and Allah.
(This last quality is particular to people distinguished by their
nearness to Allah.)
If one does not feel remorse, regret, and disgust for errors
committed, whether great or small; if one is not fearful or
apprehensive of falling back into sin at any time;and if one does not
take shelter in sincere servanthood to Allah in order to be freed from
deviation and error into which one has fallen by moving away from God,
any resulting repentancewill be no more than a lie.
A Muslim should cry:
I'm sorry for the mistakes I make.
And, I know of none thatcan be retrieved.
They're like the water over a dam.
To flow back, it cannot be achieved.
There are things I wish I had never said.
Now, I wish that I had bit my tongue instead.
To make another feel that pain,
For those thoughtless words, I am disdain.
Repentance is an oath ofvirtue, and holding steadfastly to it requires
strong willpower. The lord of the penitents, peace and blessings be
upon him, says that one who repents sincerely and holds steadfastly to
it is has achieved the rank of a martyr, while the repentance of those
who cannot free themselves from their sins and deviations, although
they repent repeatedly, mocks the door toward which the truly
repentant ones turn in utmost sincerity and resolution.
One who continues to sin after proclaiming a fear of Hell, who does
not engage in righteous deeds despite self-proclaimed desires for
Paradise, and who is indifferent to the Prophet's way and practices
despite assertions of love for theProphet, peace and blessings be upon
him, cannot be taken seriously. This is also the case with one who
claims to be sincere and pure-hearted, but spends his or her life
oscillating between sin and repentance.
An initiate's first station is repentance, while the second is. Inabah
(sincere penitence). While repentance requires the training of
feelings, thoughts, and acts in order to move them from opposition
toacceptance and obedience, sincere penitence demands a critique of
the authenticity, sincerity, and sufficiency of that acceptance and
obedience. Repentance is a progressing or journeying toward
Allah""that is, seeking to do what is pleasing to Allah and refraining
from what is forbidden by Him. Sincere penitence is striving to live
an upright life so that one may seek Allah'spleasure in all actions
and thoughts."�
Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: www.thewayrtotruth.org
In conclusion, we would like to cite for you the following lines of
verse by Imam Ash-Shafi`i, mayAllah be pleased with him:
"To You, the Creator, I raise my longing,
Though I am a sinner and a wrongdoer.
When it becomes black before my eyes,
I seek refuge in You and place my trust and hope.
When the heaps of my sins are compared to Your Grace.
Your Grace is greater and covers all the globe. "�