Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 128
128 Far from emboldening in sinfulness, true repentance serves as a means of purifying a man. Islam has laid down such hard conditions as to make true repentance a grave spiritual revolution and a basic mental change. As is clear from the Holy Quran and the A ha d i th, these conditions are three: 1. That the repenting person should be contrite of his sin with a true heart and seek forgiveness and protection with heartfelt sincerity. 2. That he should take a vow that he will abstain from such transgression and sinful acts in future and should seek the help of God on this behalf. 3. That if it is possible to make practical amends for the wrong and sin he has committed, he should do so. If, for example, he has misappropriated somebody’s property, he should recompense him, and if he has usurped the rights of someone, he should restore the same to the rightful party. No sensible person can find fault with the repentance governed by such conditions. The truth is that sincere repentance is a death which grants man a new life, opening the way to the mercy, compassion and protecting love of God. Islam alone opens the door to true repentance.