Twenty-Three Great Objectives of Building the House of Allah — Page 166
167 sincerely. At this point, the prayer (and turn to us with mercy) indicates that that umma will be able to understand, in true sense, the reality of repentance and forgiveness and that they will be given a shariah which will explain these things to them clearly. According to the shariah and Islamic terminology the word, Taubah has four connotations: 1. Abstinence from sin: For example a person given to lie is involved in sin; his abstinence from lying is one aspect of Taubah. 2. To regret after committing a sin: There’s hardly anyone who always tells lies. But if somebody does not lie for a considerable period of time, say for example, six months, that would mean that the person refrained from committing sin for six months, and not that he has repented. For, besides eschewing sin, repentance must involve a feeling of regret after committing a sin. 3. Determination: That I will not return to a certain evil. In other words the person renounces an evil with full determination. 4. Some sins are of a nature that can be recompensed. For instance, if somebody has wrongfully withheld someone’s one hundred rupees, in that event repentance does not only mean that one has repented from withholding somebody’s money wrongfully but with remorseful feeling, he expresses the determination that he will never have recourse to such sins. Notwithstanding he is in easy circumstances and he does not pay the owed hundred rupees, or that his circumstances are not