Question:
salaam alaikum,
I am terminally ill. Can i still repent? I read the below tafsir from surah an nisa 18 so im afraid. Can you interpret it?
ل : معناه قبل أن يحيط السوء بحسناته فيحبطها ، وقال السدي والكلبي : : أن يتوب في صحته قبل مرض موته ،
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As human beings, we all commit sins and mistakes. Which one of us can say that we have not committed a sin, or we have not disobeyed the commands of Allah? By committing sins, we go astray, and we move away from the straight path, and the obedience of Allah. We can return to the straight path and come back towards the obedience of Allah by sincere Tawbah. Allah, through his infinite mercy and kindness has given us the solution to purify one’s sins.
Tawbah brings one back to the straight path and the obedience of Allah. Tawbah is the process by which a man feels sorry, and he repents for his errors and his sins, and he promises to stay away from that sin in future.
Allah says in the Quran:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا
O you who believe, repent to Allah, a sincere repentance. (At Tahreem, Ayah 8)
Allah is giving the command to the believers to repent to Allah, but a sincere repentance.
Imam Nawawi (Rahimahullah)mentions in his Riyad us Saliheen that Tawbah and repentance is Waajib (necessary) for every single sin that we commit, and there are three qualities that must be found in order for Tawbah to be valid. The three qualities are:
- That a person should abstain and stay away from committing that sin.
- That a person should regret committing that sin.
- That a person should have a resolution that he will never commit that sin again.
The very first quality is that one should stop the sin that he is committing. A person will not change if they continue to commit the same sin over and over. In order to get back on the straight path and to become obedient to Allah, one needs to stop the sin that he is committing.
The second quality is that one should regret committing that sin. The feeling of regret is a favour from Allah. If Allah did not grant a person that favour of feeling regretful, then that person would not even turn towards Allah in repentance. We need to have this feeling of regret in our hearts.
The third quality is that one should have a firm resolution never to commit that sin again. Whatever sin that I was committing, I never want to commit that sin again. Whenever we do something wrong, we need to have that regret and feeling within ourselves that I am never going to do that again.
We all commit sins. None of us are perfect believers. The most perfect human being to walk the face of the earth, the Prophet ﷺ used to turn towards Allah seeking his forgiveness, some Ahadith mention 70 times, and some Ahadith mention 100 times daily. The numbers that are mentioned are only to show how frequent the Prophet ﷺ himself would make Istighfaar to Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ said: He who repents for his sins is like one who has not committed any sin.(Ibn Majah)
This Hadith indicates that after a person performs sincere Tawbah, there are no traces of sin. Some traditions mention that a person who repents for his sins, he becomes as sinless as he was at birth.
With Tawbah and repentance comes having hope in the mercy of Allah, as Allah says in the Quran:
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنْفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” (Az Zumar, verse 53)
This verse gives a believer the utmost hope in the mercy of Allah. Sometimes we find ourselves losing hope, I am disobedient. Here Allah addresses the believers that do not despair or lose hope in the mercy of Allah. The mercy of Allah is limitless. A person’s sins cannot outnumber the mercy of Allah. No matter how much a person sins, the mercy of Allah is unlimited.
The Prophet ﷺ said: Every son of Adam is a sinner, and the best of sinners are those who repent. (Tirmidhi)
Tawbah is not restricted to any time or place. A person can make Tawbah at any time, any place, any condition that he is in. We should make it our habit that we resort to making Tawbah as soon as a sin is committed, for the more we make Tawbah, the more we will qualify ourselves for the love and mercy of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ said: Allah accepts the Tawbah of a servant as long as he does not gasp for his last breath (at the time of death). (Ibn Majah)
This means that as long as a person is alive, and he makes Tawbah, Allah will accept it, but as long as a person starts to gasp for his last breath, Tawbah will no longer be accepted. Until then, even during sickness or if a person has a terminal illness, Allah Ta’ala will still accept their Tawbah and repentance.
Under the verse you queried, Allah Ta’ala says:
وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَ وَلَا الَّذِينَ يَمُوتُونَ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا
But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, “Indeed, I have repented now,” or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment. (Surah An-Nisa, verse 18)
The great scholar of Tafseer, Ibn Katheer (rahimahullah) mentions under this verse,
“Repentance is accepted until one faces death. Allah states that He accepts repentance of the servant who commits an error in ignorance and then repents, even just before he sees the angel who captures the soul, before his soul reaches his throat.”
Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said about the Ayah, ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍ ( and repent soon (afterwards )), “Until just before he ( or she ) looks at the angel of death.” Ad-Dahhak said, “Everything before death is `soon afterwards.”‘ Al-Hasan Al-Basri said about the Ayah, ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍ ( and repent soon afterwards ), “Just before his last breath leaves his throat.” `
Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn `Umar said that the Messenger ﷺ said,
«إِنَّ اللهَ يَقْبَلُ تَوْبَةَ الْعَبْدِمَالَمْ يُغَرْغِر»
( Allah accepts the repentance of the servant as long as the soul does not reach the throat.)
Therefore, sincere Tawbah will be accepted by the mercy of Allah, even if one is terminally ill. One should turn to Allah soon as possible and continuously.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best.
Mufti Arshad Ali
Darul Iftaa, Jaamia Madinatul Uloom (Trinidad)