Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness

وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِیعًا أَیهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

“Rally to Allah in repentance, O faithful, so that you may be felicitous”.

A sinful servant doesn’t require Allah for His Mercy, forgiveness and pardon like any other things, and nothing except repentance and forgiveness of Allah can brighten the inner soul of a person.

Such a servant witnesses himself as loaded with sins and his dignity as stained, and his heart wants the effects of sins to be eradicated, and wishes to close his black file which has opened due to his wicked acts.

Is it possible for you to ignore your past and forget your shameful history of deeds?

Is it possible for this wicked criminal to become a dignified person who realizes his responsibilities?

Will these deficiencies and deficits and this stains of shame remain with him always or is it possible for him to rectify the problems and remove the defects?

 Can he stand in the line of the noblemen and worshippers of Allah?

Will these inner sorrows and disturbances of conscience go away?

Will he find a way to revive his position or will he always remain dominated by misfortunes and impurities?

If there is no such way, then isn’t it better that he shall protect himself from this spiritual punishment and rescue himself from a factor of wickedness, oppression and filth, and end the impure life he has?

If he cannot live like dignified men, what is the meaning and value of life for him?

Let’s assume that on a temporary basis and due to his diversions, he might forget his destructions, or forget himself with the help of addictive drugs; but he will himself understand that this is not a safe life; instead, it is the ultimate disgrace, downfall and helplessness.

The greater the sins, the more will the thoughts and pressures of conscience hurt him, and a large number of sinners become sick and psychologically ill due to the extremeness of thoughts.

Then what must be done?

However, what must actually be done and how can this helpless sinner and defeated criminal be rescued?

Probably there were or are such people who believe that there is no end to the effects of sins, shame and disgrace, and its dirt will never be removed from the sinner.

Some groups consider severe physical punishment as the way of being rescued from this condition and returning towards dignity and reputation, and they assume that if a person cuts an organ from the organs of one’s body, he has corrected his soul, and taken revenge from the desires of his inner soul by means of punishment. Some have even committed suicides considering that the way of ending this disgrace and feeling of shame, guilt and wickedness is suicide.

Even today, among a few tribes, extreme physical punishments are common; and disgraceful sinners, in order to get relief from the punishment of conscience and to perform the ritual of repentance, make themselves suffer by hammering nails or needles inside their body.