BENEFIT 89: Conditions for Tawbah to be accepted

Firstly: Allāh forgives all sins, including shirk ﴿یَـٰعِبَادِیَ ٱلَّذِینَ أَسۡرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰۤ أَنفُسِهِمۡ لَا تَقۡنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحۡمَةِ اللهَ إِنَّ اللهَ یَغۡفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِیعًاۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلۡغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِیمُ﴾ “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Do not lose hope in Allāh’s mercy, certainly ALLĀH FORGIVES ALL SINS. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Sūrah Az-Zumar 53] Ibnul Qayyim raḥimahullāh said: «قد استقرت حكمة الله عدلا وفضلا أن التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب له، وقد ضمن الله سبحانه لمن تاب من الشرك وقتل النفس والزنا: أنه يبدل سيئاته حسنات ، وهذا حكم عام لكل تائب من ذنب ، فلا يخرج من هذا العموم ذنب واحد ، ولكن هذا في حق التائبين خاصة» “From the Divine wisdom of Allāh; all of which is based on justice and virtue, is that when a person repents, he is like one with no sin. What's more, Allāh the Exalted has promised those who repent from Shirk and murder that he will turn their sins into good deeds; and this ruling applies to all repenting sinners and includes all types of sins, without exception. However, this [promise] is only for those who repent.” [Al-Jawābul Kāfī (1/116)] Secondly: Sheikh Abdulḥamīd Az-Zu'karī ḥafidhahullāh said: “The are 5 conditions for one's repentance to be accepted - if the sin is between the servant and his lord-: ⓵: Sincerity; because repentance is an act of worship (and acts of worship are not accepted without sincerity) ⓶: One must repent at a time when repentance is accepted, i.e., it must be before the time of death and before the sun rises from the West ⓷: They must give up the sin ⓸: They must feel remorse for committing the sin ⓹: And they have to make a firm resolve not to return to the sin ▪️Repenting from oppressing others: If the sin is between you and other people, then ontop of these five conditions you have to restore the rights back to those whom you wronged - except in certain cases, such as backbiting; because if you inform the person about this, it will aggravate the situation and make things worse - unless he already knows, in which case, you have to apologise; the expiation (in this case) is to simply apologise. Similarly, if you said something inappropriate about someone's honour, you are not allowed to inform him about this, because this will lead to greater evils, and Allāh has instructed with concealing faults. ▪️Repenting from Bid’ah: If the sin is an innovation, you must fulfil the (previous) five conditions and also rectify yourself and openly declare (the truth); rectifying yourself is by correcting your wrong belief and practice; and openly declaring (the truth) is by admitting that you was upon misguidance and that your former beliefs were wrong. ▪️Repenting from Nifāq: If the sin is hypocrisy, one has to substitute their hypocrisy and double-dealings with uprightness and sincerity in devotion to Allāh, as Allāh said: ﴿إِلَّا ٱلَّذِینَ تَابُوا۟ وَأَصۡلَحُوا۟ وَٱعۡتَصَمُوا۟ بِٱللهِ وَأَخۡلَصُوا۟ دِینَهُمۡ لله﴾ “Except those who repent, change their ways, hold fast to Allāh, and are sincere in their devotion to Allāh.” [Sūrah An-Nisā' 146] ▪️Repenting from kufr: If the sin is disbelief, repentance is to embrace Islām, as Allāh said: ﴿قُل لِّلَّذِینَ كَفَرُوۤا۟ إِن یَنتَهُوا۟ یُغۡفَرۡ لَهُم مَّا قَدۡ سَلَفَ وَإِن یَعُودُوا۟ فَقَدۡ مَضَتۡ سُنَّتُ ٱلۡأَوَّلِینَ﴾