The human being is created weak, hasty and having no self-control. Sins have been decreed for him the tendency for doing acts of obedience. Hence, Allah (swt) with His mercy opened for His servants the doors of repentance, especially during some hours of the night, and at the end of the day. The doors remain open until the sun rises from where it sets.

Allah (swt) has ordered His servants to seek repentance. Allah (swt) said: “Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Ever-Forgiving, the Merciful. And return (in repentance) to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.” (Az-Zumar: 53-54)

In addition, Allah (swt) said: “And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.” (An-Nur:  31). And Allah, the Exalted, said: “Ask forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Ever-Forgiving and Merciful.” (Al-Baqarah: 199)

Allah the Exalted and may He be glorified calls His servants, to repentance and forgiveness as is mentioned in hadith al-Qudsi: “O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins. Therefore, seek forgiveness from Me and I will forgive you.” (Ahmad). Allah (swt) also said: “Their messengers said, ‘Can there be doubt about Allah, Creator of the heavens and earth? He calls you that He may forgive you of your sins.’” (Ibrahim: 10)

When Satan said to Allah, by Your Might and Majesty I will not stop misleading the children of Adam, as long as the souls are in their bodies. Then Allah (swt) said: “And by Might and Majesty I will continue to forgiving them, as long as they seek forgiveness from Me from their sins.” (Ahmad)

Allah (swt) calls His servants in the last third of the night to seek forgiveness from Him. As in the following hadith: “Who is there who seeks forgiveness from Me so that I may forgive him?” (Bukhari)

Allah (swt) has encouraged His servants to do sincere repentance, as He said: “O you who believe, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your sins and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow.” At-Tahrim: 8)

Allah (swt) encourages the believers to hurry in the race of repentance to Him from their sins. He (swt) said: “And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden (paradise) as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous.” (Al-Imran: 133)

In surah At-Taubah, Allah (swt) said: “Do they not know that it is Allah who accepts repentance from His servants and acknowledges their charities and that Allah Who is the accepting of repentance, the Merciful.” (At-Taubah: 104)

Allah (swt) has explained that He wishes to accept the repentance from His servants. He (swt) said: “Allah wants to accept your repentance.” (An-Nisa: 27). And He also said: “And it is He who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons sins, and He knows what you do.” (Ash-Shura: 25)

The Prophet (saw) said: “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His believing servant than a person who loses his riding beast in lifeless destructive desert beast carrying food and drink. He sleeps (being disappointed of its recovery) and then gets up and goes in search for it, until he is stricken with thirst. Then he says I will return to the place where I had been before and go to sleep until I die. Then he places his head upon his hands waiting for death. When he gets up, there before him is his riding beast and his provisions of food and drink. Allah is more happy and pleased at the repentance of His servant than the recovery of this servant with his riding beast along with the provisions (of food and drink).” (Muslim) 

On the authority of Anas, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah says: “Allah, the Exalted, has said, ‘O son of Adam, as long as you supplicate Me and implore Me, I will forgive for you whatever issued from you, and I will not mind. O son of Adam, even if your sins reached the clouds of the sky and then you sought My forgiveness, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, even if you come to Me with nearly the earth’s capacity of sins and then meet Me without associating anything with Me, I will come to you with nearly its capacity of forgiveness.’” (Tirmidhi)

by Shaikh Abu Abdullah Mustafa Al-Adawi