Lesson 3 of 6 · What tawbah asks for, and what it does not
The reports about coming back, and coming back again
The first of these is the one that answers the sentence you have been saying to yourself. In it a servant sins, asks forgiveness, is forgiven, and then does it again, and again, and is forgiven each time. It is in Bukhari. Muslim carries the same account and ends it with a sentence Bukhari does not: O servant, do what you like, I have granted you forgiveness. Notice the clause both versions turn on. What is required of the servant in it is that he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them. Not that he feels anything measurable.
The next one describes what the response to a person returning is actually like, and the register is joy rather than tolerance.
Then two with no condition in them at all. Allah wrote, concerning Himself, that His mercy prevails over His wrath. And the last one says that being somebody who sins and returns is not a defective way of being Muslim, it is the arrangement. That one is not a licence and nothing here reads it as one.
Qur’an and Sunnah
The one that answers the sentence you have been saying to yourself. A servant sins, asks forgiveness, is forgiven, and then does it again, and again. Notice the clause it turns on. What is required is that he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them. Not that he feels anything measurable.
Narrated Abu Huraira:I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "If somebody commits a sin and then says, 'O my Lord! I have sinned, please forgive me!' and his Lord says, 'My slave has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for it, I therefore have forgiven my slave (his sins).' Then he remains without committing any sin for a while and then again commits another sin and says, 'O my Lord, I have committed another sin, please forgive me,' and Allah says, 'My slave has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for it, I therefore have forgiven my slave (his sin). Then he remains without Committing any another sin for a while and then commits another sin (for the third time) and says, 'O my Lord, I have committed another sin, please forgive me,' and Allah says, 'My slave has known that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for it I therefore have forgiven My slave (his sin), he can do whatever he likes
Sahih al-Bukhari 7507graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Muslim carries the same account and ends it with a sentence Bukhari does not. Do what you like, I have granted you forgiveness.
Abu Huraira reported from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) that his Lord, the Exalted and Glorious, thus said. A servant committed a sin and he said:O Allah, forgive me my sins, and Allah (the Exalted and Glorious) said: My servant commited a sin and then he came to realise that he has a Lord Who forgives the sins and takes to account (the sinner) for the sin. He then again committed a sin and said: My Lord, forgive me my sin, and Allah, the Exalted and High, said: My servant committed a sin and then came to realise that he has a Lord Who would forgive his sin or would take (him) to account for the sin. He again committed a sin and said: My Lord, forgive me for my sin, and Allah (the Exalted and High) said: My servant sas committed a sin and then came to realise that he has a Lord Who forgives the sins or takes (him) to account for sin. O servant, do what you like. I have granted you forgiveness. 'Abd al-A'la said: I do not know whether he said thrice or four times to do" what you desire
Sahih Muslim 2758graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
What the response to a person returning is actually like, and the register is joy rather than tolerance.
Harith b. Suwaid said:I went to see 'Abdullah to inquire about his health as he was sick and he narrated to us a hadith of Allahs Messenger (ﷺ). He heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His believing servant than a person who loses his riding beast carrying food and drink. He sleeps (being disappointed of its recovery) and then gets up and goes in search for that, until he is stricken with thirst. then comes back to the place where he had been before and goes to sleep completely exhausted placing his head upon his hands waiting for death. And when he gets up, lot there is before him his riding beast and his provisions of food and drink. Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than the recovery of this riding beast along with the provisions (of food and drink)
Sahih Muslim 2744graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
One of two here with no condition attached to it at all, and it is written by Him about Himself.
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:“Verily, Allah when He created the creation, He wrote with His Hand concerning Himself, that: ‘My mercy prevails over My wrath.’”
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3543graded sound, albanithe Arabic and its grading
And the last one, which means that being somebody who sins and returns is not a defective way of being Muslim, it is the arrangement. That is not a licence and is not read here as one.
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said:By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have pardoned them
Sahih Muslim 2749graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading