Dought & clear, - Enthusiasm when one first repents, followed byslackening off.

When a person repents, he makes a vigorous start and says, "The
Shaytaan is telling me toslow down," so he does more acts of worship.
Then his enthusiasm cools down, and he says,"Allaah does not burdenany
person beyond his scope," and his acts of worship become less until he
goes back to the way he was.
My question: What advice can you give? Should he make a vigorous
start, or take a gradual approach until itis established and then add
more after a while, or should he follow the saying, "When your wind
blows, then make the most of it"?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The blessing of guidanceand repentance is one ofthe greatest blessings
that Allaah can bestow upon the Muslim, whereby he changes himself for
the better in ways that will bring him closer to Allaah, may He be
exalted. Usually the person who has repented starts to do acts of
worship in an enthusiastic manner, seeking thereby to makeup for what
he missed out on during the time that he spent in sin and misguidance.
This is something naturalthat happens to everyone who is sincere in
his repentance. This was mentioned by our Prophet(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him), who also described the cooling offand
reduction of enthusiasm that comes after that. This is also something
natural, but the danger in the case ofone who has repented isthat this
loss of enthusiasm may lead to him going back to the way he was. Hence
it is essential to pay attention to this matter. If the one who
repents finds his enthusiasm waning, he must adopt amoderate approach
and adhere to the Sunnah so that he can preserve his capital, then he
can startagain with energy and strength, because starting from the
middle is better than starting from zero.
It was narrated that 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said: The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "Every deed has a period of enthusiasm, and every
period of enthusiasm is followed by a slackening off. If a person's
enthusiasm is for my Sunnah, then he has succeeded, but whoever
chooses something else when he slackens off is doomed."
Narrated by Ibn Hibbaanin hisSaheeh(1/187); classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Targheeb, 56.
It was narrated from AbuHurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that
the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Every
deed has a period of enthusiasm, and every period of enthusiasm is
followed by a slackeningoff. If a person is moderate and avoids
extremes, then you may have hope for him, but iffingers are pointed at
him, then do not count him as anything."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2453; classed as hasan byal-Albaani inSaheeh
al-Targheeb, 57.
Al-Mubaarakfoori (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
"Every deed has a periodof enthusiasm" means, enthusiasm and energy
for doing a thing, whether it is for good orevil.
"and every period of enthusiasm is followed by a slackening off"
means, one becomes tired, weak and lethargic
"If a person is moderate and avoids extremes" means, if he controls
his enthusiasm and avoids the extremes of excess and negligence when
his enthusiasm wanes.
"then you may have hope for him" means, there is the hope that hewill
succeed, for he can continue to adhere to something moderate, and the
most beloved of deeds to Allaah are thosewhich are done consistently.
"but if fingers are pointed at him" means, he is striving hard in
order to become famousfor his worship and asceticism, so that he will
be famous and people will point at him.
"then do not count him as anything" means, do not think of him as
special or regard him as one of the righteous, forhe is showing off.
He didnot say, "Do not have any hope for him," because he has already
fallen and he cannot catch up with what he has missed.
Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 7/126
In order for the Muslim to avoid either extreme, he must be moderate
and not go to extremes in doing acts of worship and obedience lest he
get bored and give it up,and he should not refrain from doing them out
of laziness and carelessness lest he gets used to that and never goes
back to worship. Both attitudes are wrong, but the one who follows a
middle path is following the right path,and whoever follows theright
path will attain that which Allaah loves and is pleased with.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "No one of you will be saved by his deeds." They said: Not
even you, O Messenger of Allaah? He said: "Not even me, unless Allaah
bestows mercy upon me. So do good deeds properly, sincerely and
moderately, and worship Allaah in the forenoon and in the afternoon
and during a part of the night, and always adopt a moderate course
whereby you will reach your target (Paradise)."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari,6098
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
"So do good deeds" means, strive to do whatis right.
"moderately" means, do not go to extremes in worship, lest you become
tired and give up, and thus fall short.
This hadeeth indicates that we are encouraged to be gentle and
moderate in worship; the words used liken worship to walking at
various times of day and night, with the aim of reaching one's abode,
namely Paradise.
"Always adopt a moderate course" meansadhere to the middle way. The
literal translation would be, "Moderation, moderation"; the word is
repeated for emphasis.
Fath al-Baari, 11/297
Conclusion: We invite you to ponder the ahaadeeth quoted above and
think about what they mean. Remember that the one who repents should
be grateful, and the best way of showing gratitude is to persist in
repentance, which means persisting in worship. Remember that"The
dearest of actions to Allaah is that which is done regularly, even if
itis small." Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim. So do not start in an
overenthusiastic way and then stop completely; rather be moderate in
worship. This is something that it is possible for you to do. Whenever
you feel moreenergetic, then focus on obeying and worshipping Allaah,
and whenever you feel tired than go back to the moderate way. We ask
Allaah to make things easy for you, and to guide you to the best of
words, deeds and attitudes.
And Allaah knows best.