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Tauba

Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) sent down His Apostles into the world and revealed His Books through them so that men may learn to distinguish good from evil, virtue from vice, and earn for themselves Divine approbation and deliverance in the life to come by abstaining from the wicked and the unlawful and adopting what was good and virtuous. Thus, those who reject the faith and refuse to believe in the Prophets and the Divine guidance with which they had been raised up, their whole existence, so to speak, is one of defiance and transgression. They are totally indifferent to the message sent down by Allah. They will have nothing to do with it. Unless they believe in the Messengers and Apostles raised up by Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) and in the holy Scriptures revealed by Him, and, particularly, in the Last of the Prophets, Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him), and the Divine Book he brought, i.e., the holy Quran, and accept his guidance they can never hope to attain the good pleasure of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) and success and salvation in the Hereafter. The denial of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa), His Apostles and His Books is not pardonable. It cannot be condoned. This fact has been made abundantly clear by every Prophet of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) during his time. In any case, it is essential for the salvation of the Apostates and Polytheists that they first of all renounced Apostasy and Polytheism and took to the path of Faith and Monotheism. Without it salvation is not possible.

Those who believe in the Prophets and affirm their intention to live according to their teachings also sometimes fall into error. They are misled by the Devil or by their own baser instincts and impulses into committing a sin. For such defaulters Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) has kept the door of Tauba (Repentance) open.

Tauba means that if a person many slip into folly and be guilty of a sin or an act of transgression against the law of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) he should feel genuinely sorry and ashamed over it, and resolve sincerely not to do so again, and seek the forgiveness of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) with all his heart. It is stated in the Quran and the Traditions that by doing only this much a man’s sin is forgiven and he succeeds in winning the pleasure of the Almighty.

It is essential to know that Tauba is not vocal penitence. It is not at all a matter of uttering so many words of repentance. The sorrow must be sincere, the shame must be felt in the heart and the resolution not to repeat the folly and be guilty of the sin again must be totally genuine.

It is like this. Suppose in a fit of temper or in a moment of acute depression a person swallows poison with the intention of killing himself. But when the poison begins to work and a thousand knives begin to tear his intestines into pieces and he knows that death is near, he repents his folly and cries out in desperation for medical relief. Now, at that time, his first thought will be that if he survived he would never touch the poison again or think of committing suicide. This exactly should be the state of the man who repents after sin. His heart should be seized by the fear of Divine Chastisement; the resolution not to do the thing again should be