Seeking forgiveness after wronging someone can be difficult, but how do we seek redemption from the Lord of the universe? How do we know that our repentance has been accepted? And if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and the most merciful, why do we have to seek forgiveness in the first place? Welcome to Double Take, a podcast by Yaqeen Institute about questions and ideas around Islam and Muslims that give us pause. Remember to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. I'm Muhammad Daud and today we're exploring the concept of repentance from an Islamic perspective. With me is Sister Ruhi Tahir, author of the Yaqeen Institute paper Repentance, Redemption and Salvation, an Islamic Framework. Sister Ruhi, Assalamualaikum and welcome to Double Take. Waalaikumussalam, thank you so much for having me, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you, thank you for joining us. Sister Ruhi, you're the founder and instructor of Nourish Your Soul, a platform for Islamic education, and I think a good starting point for a conversation about repentance and redemption and salvation is what some people may call the original sin, the story of creation, the story of Adam. So you reference it in your paper, do you mind sharing the story with me, assuming that I know very little about it, and we'll use that as a kind of a launch pad for this episode. Sure, of course, Alhamdulillah, it's actually very central to the concept of Tawbah to really understand the story, and we can call this the creation story. It's really the story based around Adam, Eve, and Satan or Iblis, as he's referred to much in the Qur'an and during the mention of this story, which actually is woven throughout the
Qur'an, I should say, in a number of instances, it's thread beautifully through lessons that we can take from it to really understand better what Tawbah is. And just in a nutshell, the story itself, so I think hopefully most people have heard of Adam and Eve, and we refer to them as Adam and Hawwa, they are our parents. Adam is the first man created by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and he created man and then gave him, meaning Adam, the knowledge, knowledge and intellect, as only Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la can bestow, and then gave him the ability to essentially, you know, give him a spouse, Hawwa or Eve, and said, you know, live, both of you live in paradise. So they were already in Jannah. They're in Jannah, and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says to them, you know, you can basically enjoy this. This is everything that we can imagine that we would want, and one day, inshallah, we will all have again. But just know what you're not saying, what you're not supposed to do, and this is the central component of this story that stay away from this one tree, and this is the Islamic version, the version that is in the Qur'an. Of course, we hear, as you mentioned, original sin and the creation story. It's a shared story and a concept that does appear in earlier scripture as well, but part of the, a big part of this paper is to really make the distinction as to why and what is different about the understanding of from the general concept of repentance. So just to go back to the story, so they're in, you know, we've got Adam and Eve, our parents are in Jannah, they're told to stay away from a tree, and then enters Iblis or Satan, and he essentially, it's his deception, it's his temptation to them, convinces them to disobey Allah and do exactly what they were told not to do, and in that process,
basically, they're all taken out of Jannah, and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sends them down to, send them to earth, and this is where the beginning of humanity on earth really starts, because he is the forefather of all of humanity, and all of us essentially are his progeny, and there's instruction with that, and this is the important part of the story, is that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala tells him, okay, tells them all actually, Adam, Eve, and even Satan, that this is basically the, until I will, you will be on earth, and I will send you guidance, so you're not there without purpose, but that this will be a constant struggle, there's going to be a struggle between good and evil, and there's intellect here that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has given to Adam, to humanity, to all of us, that, you know, use your intellect to make the right choices, and when you err, as they did, our parents did, Allah forgave them, he gave them, he actually turned to them in mercy, and he taught them the words to say, and what to do, and the condition, which we call tawbah, really, the act of tawbah, to really be able to turn back to Allah and seek forgiveness, and he forgave them and said, this is what you need to do every time you make a mistake, and probably the biggest central lesson of this whole process for us to take from, is that we're fallible as human beings, we're not perfect, only Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is perfect, and he created us in perfection to do this, to make mistakes, as my paper opens, there's a hadith, the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, that every son of Adam is a sinner, and of those who, and the best of those, are the ones who will turn back to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in repentance, in tawbah, so that's the gist of the story, essentially, but from it, we get many, many aspects of tawbah that we can, you know,
delve into for the discussion, and you can, you know, we'll hopefully get to those during the course of this conversation, but essentially, it's giving us the spiritual backdrop and the practical dimensions of what we need to do, and there are several takeaways, I could probably spend an hour just talking about some of the takeaways here, but the essential message is the fallibility of humanity, forgiveness from Allah, and returning, you do the right thing while you're here in this life, in the test of life, and you will come back to paradise and eternal bliss, and that's salvation, and that's really what we are aiming for, beyond just this world. So, I missed a part about the snake, I'm just joking, no, thank you, thank you for explaining the story, you do reference the story in your paper, and you talk about that as an example of repentance and the importance of repentance, now, in Arabic, it's called tawbah, do you mind explaining tawbah as a concept, and then we'll come back to the story, inshallah, later on, but I'd love to hear from you, through your studies, what does tawbah mean in a nutshell? Yeah, so tawbah itself is obviously an Arabic word, and it's a term used to mean, literally, it means to return, but in the context of, as we say in English, repentance is the word used in English, but the concept is that of having remorse and the desire to rectify when you've done something that has crossed or transgressed from what Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has asked us to do, so anything that God has told us, and in that guidance that He sent to us, from the time of Adam all the way down through all the messengers, all the way down to the final prophet, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and really what we encompass in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, that's our deen, right, that's our religion, that's what we're, as Muslims, trying to live up to and to do our best, and again, it's the test of life, and as we walk along that path,
there's going to be things that are completely permissible, halal, for us to do and to enjoy from the many, many benefits and, you know, enjoyment of this world that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has permitted for us, just as He did for our parents in Paradise, in Jannah, but there are certain things, and there are far fewer, but there are certain things that we're to stay away from, so when we cross those boundaries, that's essentially when we sin, we make a mistake, there's a moral component, who are we disobeying? We're disobeying God, and so it's that accountability before God and then really turning back to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, that's really the key essence of repentance and particularly of tawbah that's distinct in these features, hopefully that gives us a little bit of a sense. Yeah, no, thank you. I'm going to ask a couple of uncomfortable questions or questions that, you know, I have personally, but before I get there, just to add more to the context, so if I'm kind of, if I do something bad to a friend or a colleague or an associate, I feel guilty, so I apologize, I ask them to forgive me and more often than not, you know, they generally forgive, but when it comes to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, Lord of the Universe, He knows exactly what I've been doing, He knows exactly how I feel, whether I apologize or not, and so how does that compare to what I do on a day-to-day basis with with friends and family and colleagues, like I ask for forgiveness, but then with regards to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, I seek repentance, what's the difference here between, say, forgiveness with humans and repentance with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la? Yeah, that's a really important question, it's a great question, and actually there's a huge difference from a theological point of view, and that's really, again, getting to some of the core
concepts of tawbah that I've tried to talk about in this paper. The first and foremost thing is that, so it is important, of course, to do right by others, but tawbah has in it, when we say, you know, disobedience to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, Allah has rights over us, and that's in basically the guidance, He's our Creator, He's the most just, He's given us guidelines to live by, when we cross those, we violate the rights of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, when we, part of disobedience to Allah is also the rights that His creation has upon us, so your right to seek forgiveness or to say sorry or to try to make amends with the people around you, because that's part of tawbah, but it's a practical piece of tawbah, but essentially tawbah doesn't exist unless we understand that ultimately we're seeking forgiveness from our Creator, our Master, our Lord, the One who, as we described in the story of Adam and Eve, created us to serve a purpose, and that purpose is, the sole purpose is to worship Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la as He has told us to do so, and that's the guidance we have that we are to follow while we're here, and in that process, to recognize that this is a, you know, the means and this journey that I'm on through life, I'm going to be making mistakes, but it's a moral compass that I'm trying to follow, and I'm trying to also better myself in coming closer to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, my objective is much higher than just the people around me. My objective is really to worry about my status before Allah, who, as you said and pointed out rightfully, knows what's inside my heart. He knows my intentions and my sincerity. So it begins with and really sits with what comes from your heart, which is your sincerity towards Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and then ultimately taking
that, and then, yes, part of that includes making it right with the people around us when we've, when they've been wronged. The big difference between people and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, people don't always forgive you. People aren't always as generous. No one can be as generous or as merciful or as ready to forgive as At-Tawwab, Al-Ghafoor. I mean, these are Al-Afu, these are the names of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and the closer we, the more we come to know and understand, and even try to grasp just a little bit of the mercy of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la upon us and get closer to Him and strengthen that connection, the more we're going to want to turn back to Him time and time again. And that's why He's At-Tawwab. He's ever ready to and wants success for us, wants us to get back to Jannah, wants us to do well in this world. So that's the huge, I hope, hopefully I'm making that distinction somewhat, that it's about, it's about connecting to Him, and through that, yes, we will make it right with others around us as well. And I guess, because you're talking about the names and attributes of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la being Al-Ghafoor and At-Tawwab, you're reminding me of some of the verses in the Qur'an, like as you read the Qur'an you hear of Allah being the one who is the most forgiving and the most compassionate, but in Surat Al-Furqan, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying, like whoever repents, the tawbah, and believes and does righteous actions, that not only does Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la forgive that person, but He flips or He exchanges their evil actions or evil deeds to good ones. Like, so their historical deeds that have been evil become good deeds. And so it's like, you know, if I apologize to a friend
or ask them to forgive me, the most that they'll probably do is accept the apology, but they wouldn't kind of shower me with so much good just on the back of that apology. So my question to you is, how do I know, because there is an accepted tawbah, surely, and a not accepted tawbah, how do I know that Allah is actually accepting my repentance? So, first of all, that's a beautiful point you brought up about the return of that we benefit, and there's so many benefits of tawbah, but you just touched on that with that beautiful ayah, and I really appreciate that reference, because indeed, only Allah can forgive, and no one can forgive like Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala. So yes, you're right that, you know, someone may just say, yeah, I'm all set with you, we're good to go, and we move on. But the way that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala forgives us, you actually end up better off for that. Every time you're forgiven, you're coming closer to Allah, you're raising your ranks are raised. I mean, look at these examples. I mean, Adam is made a prophet, sent on earth and made a prophet. Musa Alayhi Salaam seeks forgiveness from Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala, and then, you know, is given prophethood. And so there's amazing examples like this. And so to now get to what you were just saying about how do I know, this is, I mean, this is the beauty of our deen, is that the perfection of Islam, the justice, everything is ultimately in its most perfect from Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala, the way that humans can't even really perceive because we are not, we are everything but that. We can never be so fair, and so just, and so merciful, and so kind. And no, we don't ultimately know it on the spot, but indicators and of course, scholars have thought about this and talked about this and
written about this extensively and, and indicators that I'm coming closer to Allah, these are good indicators, when you know that you're more inclined towards good, these are really getting into spiritual dimensions of the heart, which is a very big component of tawbah, which is where it really sits in terms of our sincerity. That's something that ultimately only Allah can judge. But it's good for us to question it. So it's not such a bad thing that we don't know for sure. You know that, that yes, I know for sure I've been forgiven, that would be wonderful. But then the motivation to keep trying, what about that? So the more we try, I'm sorry, can I game the system? Like, can I just, I know that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala is going to forgive me if I'm sincere, I'll do what I need to do. And then, and then I'll ask him to forgive me. And then that's it. So why can't I just sin knowing that Allah is going to forgive me if I if I repent. So this is really where sincerity plays a huge role. In its most broken down sort of basic components of tawbah, there are these steps, right, and we'll hopefully talk about the exact steps. But it starts with sincerity, first and foremost. And then you actually seek forgiveness. And then you actually have to try to, you know, reform, refrain from those things that you've been doing, or the habits that you want to break, or the thing that might have happened once. And then resolve again, in your heart, this is all where it starts with like that hadith, the man, you know, killed 99 people. I mean, that was habitual, that was someone who's persistent in their sin. But eventually, when he's sincere, Allah knows it, of course, and, and he is genuinely forgiven. And so this is an indication for us that we can't play the system. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala knows at every step and is ahead of us as our creator as our master as the one who's just, if everyone were to do that, we would be the justice toward those who've been wronged, right.
So we talked about not just transgressing Allah's laws and rules and things that are his rights upon us, but those of others. And so there has to be a system of justice. And this is the test of life. So when we're on this path, we're going to be tempted. And that's what that's where, you know, Iblis, Shaitaan comes back into our life. And he's going to keep trying to put those things in front of us like, yeah, go ahead, you know, you're going to be forgiven, count on Allah's mercy, you're going to be forgiven. But it's up to us to be sincere and to do the self check and look in the mirror and say, well, am I being sincere? Or am I at least trying? We get graded for effort with Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. That's the beauty of it. So that's the upside of that is that make the effort and then leave the rest to Allah, trust in Allah that he will forgive indeed. The balance. Look, fair enough. How about regarding not knowing whether Allah is going to accept my forgiveness? Like, why do I need to be on edge? Why do I need to be at the edge of my seat, not knowing that Allah is going to forgive me or accept my repentance? What's the wisdom in that? Like I've done the repentance and I'm going to do the steps that you mentioned in a few moments, but I've asked Allah to forgive me. What's the wisdom in not knowing if this forgiveness is accepted or not? So, you know, this is something that goes back right to the teachings. And if we go back to the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his companions and some of the things that we noted in just the way, I mean, there are role models and they were the best of creation, that first generation, right? And those that followed them. And they would worry about the smallest thing that, you know, what we would maybe trivialize today as little sins. They would worry about them as monumental. And so that stress and that sense of, well, I don't know
if I've been forgiven and what's the point of that? It was a huge motivator for them. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the Quran in general teaches us this, is that overriding is Allah's mercy. So there's always this element of hope. And probably one of the biggest lessons we can take from Thawbah in general as a practice, when we start to make this a daily practice, because it really is an act of worship. It's a beautiful act of worship. It's one of the greatest gifts and tools that Allah has given us to navigate through life, is that it prevents, it helps us to not fall into despair. If you really, again, everything goes back to that story of creation. If you look at Iblis, if you look at the fact that, what didn't he, he despaired. He could have asked, does it contrast him with Adam al-Islam? Adam al-Islam turned to Allah and sought forgiveness and didn't think of himself as too far away from the grace of Allah that he could do that, or that it's all over, or it's too late, or how could I? Yes, we make mistakes and we should always have that hope. So it provides us that hope. With that stress comes what I'm describing as a balance, hopefully that people are seeing that the believers always, all of us, we are in this balance that we're trying to find between hope and fear. That's really where Taqwa lies, right? Taqwa is, it's described in so many words, fear being one of them, but it's more than that. It's that awareness that I have that I'm always being watched by Allah and our deen as a whole, our religion, Islam, it's a way of life for us. So it's not about just doing something wrong when I'm, oh, I didn't worship. It's not ritualistic. It's not just about the ritual of an act of worship. It's about the way I live my life and the entire moral framework of that that I'm following and that I'm guided by Allah's book and the sunnah. And I'm trying to find that balance between this pleasure of Allah, which I want to avoid, and obviously seeking the pleasure of Allah,
but at the same time having hope that when I am making these mistakes, I know that Allah has given me so much to hope for and motivate me toward trying to do better and to gain His forgiveness. And in that process, I'm given so much encouragement, just the Quran and sunnah full of that, as we've already talked about in terms of some of these names and attributes of Allah and His promise. He's promised to forgive and that we should trust that. It's almost like doing an exam. And then after you sit the exam, having to wait three weeks for the results. Honestly, that drives me crazy, but I guess there is some wisdom in the sense that there is hope. Now you've done your part and now it's the tawakkul, I guess, on Allah to accept and get you to pass. So look, I wanted to move to the more practical elements that you referred to before. If I was to do a proper tawba, a proper repentance, so like if I'm doing something with a friend, if I wrong a friend, I just ask them for forgiveness, send them a bunch of flowers or something. With Allah, what is the process? What is a real solid tawba that I can feel comfortable knowing that I've done it properly? Yeah, so the steps are actually fairly straightforward, very simple and very much in line with, again, going back to what we saw in the story of Adam and Eve. And Allah taught us through this story and keeps reminding us through the Qur'an that this is the process you do, you follow. And of course, we have the guidance and the teachings of our Prophet in many, many narrations and prescriptions that he's given us. But essentially, it starts with sincerity. You've got to want to do it. It's got to come from us. Adam and Islam turned to Allah and felt that remorse in his heart immediately. They knew, both of them knew immediately that Adam and Eve,
that, you know, okay, this was wrong and we clearly disobeyed Allah subhana wa ta'ala. So to know it, first is to know it, to acknowledge it to yourself that I've done something wrong and have that intention and sincerity that I want to fix it with Allah. I want to, and to the best of my ability, I'm going to be sincere and you start with that. You believe that Allah will forgive you. This is the trust and the wakil and the faith that we have. And it's part of the teachings. Again, we said that tawbah is part of our belief system and it's a very critical cornerstone in what our creedal beliefs are, our aqeedah is. And so believing that Allah has put us here with the intention that we have this purpose of working through life as a test, but then ultimately we are going to make mistakes and ultimately Allah wants us to turn back to Him. And we have a beautiful hadith of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam that, you know, if you weren't to do that, Allah would put people, will replace you with people who will err, who will sin and then seek forgiveness. It's beautiful to him. He loves that we turn back to him. So believe that Allah will forgive you and then work with that certainty. Not that I'm counting on my deeds, but that I'm counting on the mercy of Allah, that I'm counting on the fact that Allah has told me that if I'm sincere, this is what's going to happen. And then you actually verbalize this, you put it into action practically. So all of that that I described before was really something going on within us, right? Others can't see it. It's within me. It's a state of my heart and that's the purification of the heart, the skia part of it. And then we actually verbalize that. So there are words we use, whether it's your, of course, it's the prescriptions given to us by the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam to say astaghfirullah, the actual seeking of forgiveness and the manner in which he did it that's taught to us is the optimal way. Where he said, I seek forgiveness a hundred times a day in one narration. And he's the best of us, the best of creation. So, you know, surely what one could say, well, why is he doing that?
You know, one might ask and say, well, this is because we want to make it habitual. We want to make it something that for the things that we, it'll help us to even, you know, just try to better ourselves, even minimize those sins the best we can. And so we keep on verbalizing it and then we put it into action. So wherever, whatever it was, that was the misdeed, correct it. Don't repeat it. Try to avoid it and have that again. We end with going back to the heart where have the resolve to not repeat that again to the best of your ability. And when it involves other people, as you've mentioned already, then make amends. Because again, as we said, it's the rights of that person upon us that wherever possible to the best of our ability, it's our duty to try. So if you owe somebody something, if something tangible, if it's just an apology, if it's whatever it is, make amends, try to make it right. And if that's no longer possible, they're no longer reachable for some reason, they're no longer in this world, then at least make dua for them, you know, do something to kind of compensate. And of course, give charity and seek Allah's forgiveness, you know, and make dua for them. That's a really, that's a really, you know, appropriate way as well and try and rectify it. On that point, Sister Ruhi, like if you're on the receiving end of an evil, like if someone is asking you to forgive them, like you haven't wronged them, they've wronged you. There's a specific verse that rings true for me. And that's where Allah says, Like, let them forgive, let them pardon. So do you not wish that Allah forgives you? So like, it's a direct correlation between you accepting someone's apology and Allah forgiving you. So it's the other way around as well.
Absolutely. And that is something that comes up a lot, that that verse is often used in a way that is a powerful reminder, really, to us that ultimately it's about each individual's connection with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we're not responsible for the deeds of the other individual, but to the extent that we just have to think, you know, what's my standing before Allah and how am I going to better that standing? And I can never be as merciful as Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, but if I can show, and we're always trying to emulate those beautiful attributes of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala that we, as we learn his names and attributes. And so mercy, showing mercy to one another is a sure path towards attaining the pleasure of Allah and his mercy upon us and his forgiveness. So yes, beautifully said. Yeah, we absolutely want to be inclined to that and make that process easy for that other person. And inshallah, that will settle the score here, because we don't want it settled on the Day of Judgment, which is what is the other option for that, which is, you know, taking any kind of wrong or injustice and really against points to the beauty and perfection of our religion that ultimate justice is there. So for those who are wronged, who don't, you know, get their vindication in this world, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has promised you that on the Day of Judgment, it will be taken care of. And so that's the hope and mercy for those people. Yeah. JazakAllah khair. I'm going to ask you one final question. We usually do this with most of our guests. So it's a softball question. If my nine year old niece comes to you and says, Sister Ruhi, thank you so much for everything that you do. But I have a really tough question, and that is, why do I even need to seek repentance from Allah? He knows me. He's the most merciful. Why do I need to seek forgiveness and repentance?
And why do I need to physically do it? He already knows what's in my heart. Yeah. So as a parent, I'm just going to go into parent mode. So the first thing I would say to my children, to my child, to my daughter, is that, you know, tawbah is one of the most amazing gifts that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has given to all of us. And it only makes us love Allah more. And it shows us how much Allah loves us. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be happy in this world. And ultimately, we know that we all want to be together in Jannah one day. And this is a gift he's given us in order for us to do the best job we can while we're in this world and to make him happy, seek his pleasure. And one of the things that we need to recognize is that as much as we're trying and, you know, we as your parents are teaching you what's right, what's wrong, none of us are perfect. We're all making mistakes. So, you know, as your mother, I make mistakes. You as a child, you make mistakes. As you grow older, there will be times that you make mistakes, even when you're trying really hard. And one of the biggest things I think we can impart on our children is to learn to recognize when you do something that makes you feel sad or makes you feel upset that, oh, my God, I did something wrong. And kids are usually very innocent, so they'll come to their parents right away. So we want to teach them you want to do that. Yes, come and say, just like you say, sorry to your parents. And then we say, OK, let's fix this. The first thing you want to do is remember that Allah is watching you. And yes, Allah does know what's inside you. And he knows that. And so if you actually turn to Allah and ask Allah to forgive that mistake and to help you to be better going forward, then you're going to feel good inside and you're going to feel happier.
And then you come to us and of course, we will help you. And and so developing that connection, again, learning that that's the process to love Allah even more and to make us love Allah more and connect to him will hopefully give us the tools we need and our children in the future to maintain that effort towards sincerity, towards Allah at all times and increasing that taqwa. So hopefully that that helps. JazakAllah khair. Sister Ruhi, thank you so much. Your paper is live on yaqeeninstitute.org for those who haven't read it. So thank you so much for your time. Yaakum, alhamdulillah, jazakAllah khair for having me. Really enjoyed it. Thank you.