I Want to Repent, But ... (Part-01)

-Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Praise be to Allaah, we praise Him and seek His help. Whomever Allaah guides cannot be led astray, and whomever He leaves astray, cannot be guided. I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah alone, with no partner or associate, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Allaah has commanded all the believers to repent, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “… And all of you beg Allaah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.” [al-Noor 24:31]
People may be divided into two types, those who repent and turn to Allaah, and those who do wrong; there is no third category. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed zaalimoon (wrong-doers, etc.).” [al-Hujuraat 49:11]. We are living in a time when many people have strayed far from the religion of Allah, and sin and immorality have become so widespread that there is no one who remains free from the taint of evil except for the one who is protected by Allaah.

However, Allaah will not allow but that His light should be perfected, thus many people have awoken from the slumber of negligence. They have become aware of their failure to fulfil their duties towards Allaah, have regretted their carelessness and sin, and so have started to move towards the beacon of repentance. Others have grown weary of this wretched life of misery, and so they are looking for a way out of darkness and into the Light.

But these people face many obstacles which they think stand between them and repentance, some of which exist within their own selves, and others in the world around them.
For this reason I have written this brief work, hoping to clear up this confusion, dispel doubts, explain wisdom and drive away the Shaytaan.

Following an introduction which discusses the dangers of taking sin lightly, I then explain the conditions of repentance, psychological cures, and fataawa (rulings) based on evidence from the Qur’aan and Sunnah which are addressed to those who repent. This is followed by quotations from some of the scholars’ comments, and my own concluding remarks.
I ask Allaah to benefit me and my Muslim brothers through these words. I ask no more from my brothers than that they should pray for me and offer me sincere advice (naseehah). May Allaah accept the repentance of us all.