REPENTANCE AS
DEMOLITION AND RECONSTRUCTION

PRESENTED BY :
AL-BALAGH FOUNDATION

The Almighty, Allah says:

"And whoever does evil or wrongs himself and then
seeks forgiveness from Allah, he shall find Allah, All-Forgiving,
All-Merciful."

Holy Qur'an (4:110)

Publisher's Note

All praise be to Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most
Merciful. Peace and blessings be upon the Guide and Saviour of mankind
Muhammad, and his infallible progeny; the lights of guidance and signposts
of piety, and upon the righteous warriors for Truth among his
companions.

Allah, the Most High, Who created man, showed him the two
ways of righteousness and evil, by revealing the Divine messages and
sending down the prophets to guide and lead mankind towards obedience, and
peity and to warn them against evil.

The Almighty Allah has bestowed His blessings and favours
upon mankind by leaving the door of repentance open in the case that one
is misted or gone astray or is encircled by sins and crimes. He, Allah,
made this door (of repentance) open for those who repent and seek His
forgiveness and enter it without fear and, in addition, their sins will be
forgiven as if their mothers had newly given birth to them.

Allah, the Exalted, not only accepts their repentance
without mediation, such as through a priest or clergyman, (or introduction
papers) but also promises to change their evil deeds into those that are
good.

Allah, the Most High, says:

"Except him who repents and believes and does good
deeds; then these an they who, Allah changes (their) evil deeds to good
ones. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, All-Merciful."

Holy Qur'an (25:70)

Thus, repentance is an obvious way to reform man and is
considered among the most successful means of social defence against
crimes, because it confronts, with righteousness, those who commit sins
and offences and constantly creates the hope in them, of attaining
righteousness which leads them towards good and virtue. Repentance, also,
creates the strong will in the sinner's soul to revolt against the many
deviations and offences.

It, also, means a genuine rejection of disobedience; a
great uprising against corruption and mischief; vices which the enemies of
Islam used to spread evil among Muslim nations in order to cause deviation
in their beliefs, destroy their values and, also, to make their glorious
civilization fall.

Al-Balagh Foundation beseeches Allah, the Most High,
white presenting to its dear readers this booklet - "Repentance as
Demolition and a Reconstruction", to make all of us successful and
prosperous on the path of true repentance in order that we may return
towards the true Islamic Shari'ah.

Al-Balagh Foundation

Repentance in Language, Law and
Meaning

Generally, repentance means to give up sin and is the
best way of expressing an apology. Thus an apology is of three
kinds:

Either the one apologizing says: 'I did not do'.

Or says: 'I did wrong and condemn the action' and,
indeed, gives it up. This last step is called 'repentance'.

Repentance in law means to give up sin for its
wickedness; to regret the committed sin and to make the decision not to
repeat to it. Thus, whenever these above mentioned points are achieved,
the conditions of repentance will be complete.

When one repents to Allah, he should remember what to do
in return:

"...and turn (repentant) to Allah all, O believers,
so that you may be successful."

Holy Qur'an (24:31)

"Will they not then turn to Allah and ask His
forgiveness? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Holy Qur'an (5:74)

"Then Allah turned to them mercifully..."

Holy Qur'an (5:71)

This means before making his repentance to Him. A
repentant is one who seeks and accepts repentance. On the one hand, man is
the one who repents to Allah; on the other, He turns towards man
mercifully.

A repentant is one who repents much and gives up his
sins, gradually, until he leaves them, altogether. It may also be said
that Allah is He Who frequently accepts His servants' repentance. He
says:

"Whoever repents, and does righteous deeds has
surely turned to Allah in goodly conversion."

Holy Qur'an: (25: 71)

i.e., an absolute repentance which means to choose
between giving up wickedness and the searching for beauty:

"On Him I have put my trust and unto Him is my
return. Verily

He is the Oft-Pardoning, the All-Merciful."
[1]

Holy Qur'an (13:30)

Repentance in the Arabic language, means to apologize for
doing wickedness, to confess committing it and, also, to promise to give
it up, and not return to it. It is the best form of an apology, coupled
with righteousness and remaining innocent from doing it.

Repentance in jurisprudence means:

"The return from disobedience to obedience with the
intention of seeking the absolute approach to Allah, the Most High."

This return or change can be applied to all actions,
speech and behaviour emerging from man and which influences his thoughts,
sensations and feelings.

Repentance, in a factual analysis, means transition and
change in life and the nature of behaviour, because it is the result of an
essential, ideological and psychological change which occurs deep within
man.

The acceptance of repentance in its reality expresses
Allah's love for His servants and the perfectness of His attributes of for
giveness and mercy.

It, also, expresses Allah's good will and the
continuation of His eminence and goodness over man's way of life and to be
included in goodness as it came from the 'hand' of its Creator; far from
any deviation, haughtiness and deterioration found in the labyrinths of
evil and corruption.

Repentance in legitimacy of its existence and man's
acceptance of the consequences resulting therefrom, as well as the
practical impacts produced by this existence, indicates the greatness of
Allah's power, and the possibility of His estimation of the world;
expresses the Almighty Allah's ability to forgive in the sphere of
universal correlation and existential order without causing an imbalance
in the equilibrium of an action or the consequences resulting
therefrom.

He, the Exalted, through His wisdom, made the human self
a source for human action. Any action starts from an imagination. Thus,
the psychological tendency towards any action that is to be done and,
then, the choosing of it and the deciding to perform it in preparation of
its occurrence, stipulates its regularity in the series of causes and the
general universal results.

Thus, man's endurance for the results of an action
remains permanent as long as there is a psychological and ideological
connection and bodily effort in its personification to bring his essence
into existence. Then the connection between an action and its performer
remains due to the fact that the action makes its impression on self with
a negative and objective achievement occurring outside the will of
good...as an extension for the action, itself, and his will. Therefore, no
one has the power to accept repentance; that which nullifies the impact of
an action, or to think oneself exempt from responsibility after its
occurrence except the One Who created the worlds and their systems and the
one who can deal with it and overcome it and removes what He wishes and
sets what He wishes.

The Almighty Allah says:

"His Command, when He intends anything, is only to
say to it, Be, and it is."

Holy Qur'an (36:82)

...Allah indeed does what He pleases."

Holy Qur'an (22:14)

The repentance from the Almighty Allah on His servants
means: The acceptance of man's apology and the removing of the results
which may occur upon him genetically and penalty.

The Most High says:

"...Surely good deeds tab away evil deeds. Th is a
reminder for the mindful."

Holy Qur'an (11:114)

Among the system of soul and behaviour, which the
Almighty Allah has made, is that the will of good and behavioral extension
are able in the factual world of existence, to eliminate that which what
was caused by the will of evil and manifest it in the outside world with
His leave and will.

According to the logic of constitutional existence,
without the Almighty Allah's legislation through His Mercy and Kindness,
there would be no repentance, and man's bearing the results of his deeds
would be in harmony with the rules of justice even in the case of man's
regreting or asking forgiveness or repentance.

How beautifully Imam Ali bin Al-Hussein (a.s.) describes
this idea, in detail, in one of his supplications:

"....he does not deny Your Justice, O Lord, if You
punish him,. He deems not Your Forgiveness too great, if You forgive him
and pity him for verily You, the Gracious Master, Who does not deem it
difficult to forgive great sins..."[2]

And, also, he (a.s.) say: "...I could not deserve,
thereby, the obliteration of a single sin out of all my sins! And if You
were to forgive me when I should deserve Your Forgiveness and pardon me
when I should merit Your Pardon, verily it would not be due to me on
account of merit, nor do I deserve it on account of worth for my
recompense from You, for the first thing wherein I disobeyed You, was Hell
Fire. So, if You chatise me, You would not be unjust to me."[3]

This is a fact attained by modern research and scientific
studies and, in which, it is proved that every deed made by man or others,
leaves traces and distinguishable movements which are continually repeated
in this universe, as long as it exists, because this universe acts like a
recorder; recording every deed and movement.

The Holy Qur'an records this fact, which is connected
with the universal existence, by saying:

"And the book is placed, and you see the guilty
fearing for what is in it, and they say: O woe to us! What a book is this!
It leaves out neither a small thing nor a great one, but numbers them
(all), and they find what they did confronting them. And your Lord wrongs
not anyone."

Holy Qur'an (18:49)

"On the Day when Allah will raise them altogether,
then inform them of what they did. Allah ,words it, while they forget it,
and Allah is witness over all things."

Holy Qur'an (58:6)

"Surely We give life to the dead, and We write down
that which they send before and their footprints, and We record everything
in a clear writing."

Holy Qur'an (36:12)

"This Our record that speaks against you with
truth. Surely We wrote what you did."

Holy Qur'an (45:29)

Thus, man is not eligible for such acceptance of His
repentance, nor is it obligatory for Allah to accept his repentance
because the foundation in the world of existence, is that there should be
regularity, which coincides with Allah's way and adheres to His laws;
while deviation and irregularity both contradict this will and remains an
irregular declarative testimony for its performer. Therefore, it is not
also obligatory for Allah, after sending down the messengers, heavenly
Holy Books, warnings and explanations, to eliminate for man his sins or to
remove their consequences and punishments.

But, Allah wished to bestow His blessings on His servants
through His kindness and His mercy, to eliminate for them the outcomes of
their deeds from the record of existence.

He, the Almighty, addresses people thus:

"Say: O My servants who have been prodigal
regarding their souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah; surely Allah
forgives sins altogether. He is indeed the Oft-Forgiving, the Most
Merciful."

Holy Qur'an (39:53)

How delicately Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) explains this
fact:

"'If a man sincerely repents, surely Allah will love
and protect him.' Once, Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was asked on how
Allah protects man (the repentant). He (a.s.) responded: 'Allah will
make His angels (who records his deeds) forget to record his sins and will
order his organs and all areas of the land to conceal for him his sins.
Therefore, when he meets his Creator on the Day of Resurrection, no one
will bear witness against him concerning his sins.'"[4]

This saying and the two above mentioned verses lay stress
on the relationship of human action and its genetic connection with
universe and with the world around it, in addition to the existence of
psychological and intellectual relation in respect to its performer.

Indeed, this saying expresses the force which records and
preserves the outcome by an angel[5] and, also, it considers the bodily
existence of man, as a natural existence, and the areas of land as a
spatial dimension to the action. Verily, all these will be affected with
movement and action and, then, it will be recorded.

Through repentance, man's innocence with his Lord against
his evil deed is achieved. Thus, Allah eliminates such a factual outcome
after man's intellectual and psychological root is confused and withdraws
from it. It will be eliminated from the record of existence by a Powerful
Divine Will; above the systems of existence and the laws of his deed, and
its outcome will be stopped; inspite of its happening on the Day when the
universe, itself, will cast its own records and registers of human
activities and deeds and counts their outcome along with other universal
events, and then, again, repeats the cycle:

"And when the books (records) an
spread."

Holy Qur'an (81:10)

"And as for him who is given his book in h is left
hand - he will say: O would that my book had not been given to
me!"

Holy Qur'an (69:25)

"Read your book Your own soul is Sufficient as a
reckoner against you this Day."

Holy Qur'an (17:14)

Repentance in Attributes and
Consequences

How beautiful and deep the meaning is of the saying of
the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) where he quoted it from the Lord, Allah,
the Great:

"'There is no god but Allah '(i.e. none has the right
to be worshipped but Allah) is my fortress and whoever enters My fortress
is safe against My punishment.'"[6]

If a Muslim knows the true meaning of 'There is no god
but Allah' and comprehends its concepts and contents and then
recognizes its impact in his life and the connection it has with his
existence, surely he will understand that everything in this existence is
founded on the phrase: 'There is no god but Allah' and moves
towards it.

Most people, including some of those who memorize the
names of Allah, blessed be His names which are considered below His
attributes, and actions, who study the science of monotheism with its text
and rules and speak about the vividness of the essence of Allah and
abundance of His mercy and the relationship of the existence with His
power ... are unfamiliar with most facts and distinct impacts of the
phrase: 'There is no god but Allah.'

If the dimensions of the self are opened to these vast
horizons and if intellects would comprehend what the word of monotheism
carries in it of meanings and attributes concerning the Divine Self and
lived under its rays and the outpouring of its lights, surely he would
understand that he lived under the impacts of these attributes. They are
facts which are obvious in the world of existence and are in connection
with the essence of man and his existence. He would, also, understand that
every distinct Divine attribute filled a gap in the human self and, also,
created hope in him. Thus, happiness would overwhelme him and he would
absolutely feel the meaning of existence if he lived while seeking