On Repentance - Part 1 [Translated Extract]
The second valley of al-Ghazali's Minhaj al-Abideen: the road of tawbah, and what sincere repentance demands of the one who travels it.
The following extract is taken from Imam al-Ghazali’s important work, ‘Minhaj al-Abideen ila Jannatul Rab ul-Alameen’ or ‘The Path of the Slaves to the Paradise of the Lord of the Worlds.’ It was amongst the last of his works he authored. We hope it will serve as a valuable guide to the reader on the path to sincere repentance.
The Second Valley, it being the Road of Tawbah (repentance).
Then it is binding upon you, O one seeking to worship Allah, to turn to tawbah, may He grant you success. This is for two reasons.
The first reason is to attain divine help in worship. Indeed, the curse of sins causes a deprivation of good deeds and is followed by your being abandoned. The chains of sins prevent from walking to the obedience of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and from racing to His service. The weight of sins holds you back from the effortlessness of virtue and the liveliness of obedience. Persistence upon sins blackens hearts so that you find them dark and cold. No peace do they contain, nor tranquillity. No delight in worship do they find, nor sweetness. And if not for Allah, Most High, showing compassion, it undoubtedly drags its companion to disbelief and eternal wretchedness.
How strange to think one will be supported in good deeds when he is besieged by sin and has a heart of stone. How could he respond when invited to Allah’s service when he persists in sin and insists in remoteness from Him? How is one drawn to intimate prayer (munajaat) when he is soiled with dirt and filth? It has been reported that the truthful, the trustworthy, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “When a slave lies…the two angels (recording his deeds) are repulsed from the stench that emanates from his mouth.”[1] How can such a tongue be suitable for the mention of Allah, Honoured and Majestic?
No doubt, the one persisting in sin hardly finds divine support. His load is not lightened for the worship of Allah, Most High. And if he does find the way open for worship, then it is with fatigue, no sweetness, and no peace of heart. All of this is due to the curse of sin and the abandonment of tawbah. He spoke truthfully who said, “If you find not the strength to stand at night in prayer (qiyaam al layl) and fast the day, then know that you have been shackled. What has shackled you are your sins.” This is the matter in a nutshell.
The second reason is that tawbah is necessary so that your worship is accepted. Now a creditor does not accept gifts from the debtor (because he requires his repayment first). Tawbah from sins and making amends with the Plaintiff is a necessary obligation (fard), while most of the worship you attend to is voluntary (nafl). How can your voluntary deeds be accepted when your debt is still outstanding? How could you go the further step, and even abandon permissible (halal and mubah) matters for His sake while you are persistent in the illicit and forbidden? How could you intimately call upon Him, or supplicate to Him, or praise Him while He is – God forbid – angry with you?
This is seemingly the state of persistent sinners, and Allah’s help is sought.
If you were to ask:
What then is the definition of sincere tawbah? And what must a slave do to free himself completely from sin?
I would say:
As for tawbah, it is from the endeavours of the heart. It has been summarised by the scholars, may Allah be pleased with them, as “The elevation of the heart far above all sin.”
Our shaykh, Allah’s mercy be upon him, said regarding the definition of tawbah, “It is abandoning all will to commit the sin one has committed the like of before, in its essence not (just) in its form, out of glorification for Allah, and fear of His anger.”
That being said, tawbah has four conditions.
The first: Abandoning all will to commit the sin. This means that one makes it settle firmly in one’s heart, and concentrates their resolve upon, the determination to never return to that sin, ever again.
In the case that one was to leave the sin but feels one may return to it, or his resolve in abandoning it is flimsy and wavers, then one may end up committing that sin again. Such a one has been prevented from committing the sin but has not performed tawbah for it.
The second: That one repents from a sin one has committed before. If he had not committed the sin, then he was devout (muttaqi) regarding the sin, not repentant of it. Just like it is correct to say that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was devout to not commit disbelief, but it is not correct to say that he was repentant of disbelief since he never committed disbelief in any form. But Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was repentant from committing disbelief, due to his partaking in it before his Islam.
The third: That the sin committed previously is like the sin one now abandons the will to repeat in essence and degree, not necessarily in the appearance or form of that sin. Do you not see that an old, senile, man, who previously committed adultery and highway robbery, if he desires to make tawbah from those sins, then he can certainly do so? For the door of tawbah has not closed its door for him. This is even though he cannot abandon the will to perform adultery or highway robbery when he is incapable of physical carrying out those deeds anymore. Thus, he does not have the opportunity to abandon the will for what he no can no longer do. It is not correct to describe him as one who has abandoned those sins, preventing himself from falling into them again, while he is impotent and incapable to perform them.
However, he is still capable of sins similar to adultery and highway robbery in essence and degree such as slander, backbiting, and defamation. These are all serious sins and even though the magnitude of each varies, they are all of the same degree. They are below the level of sins of innovations (bid’ah), which themselves are below the level of disbelief.
In this manner, his tawbah would be sound from adultery and highway robbery and all past sins which he is now incapable of committing the likes of which, in form.
The fourth: That his decision to abandon the sin be based on glorifying Allah, Glorified and Most High, and out of caution against His anger and painful punishment. This alone, not for any worldly purpose, or due to the fear of people, nor as a means to attain praise or stature, nor to ward of weakness in oneself or poverty, or other than that.
These are then the conditions and pillars of tawbah. If these conditions are met and fulfilled, then a true, sincere tawbah it is.
As for the pre-cursors of tawbah, they are three.
The first: Making mention of the extreme repugnance of sins.
The second: Making mention of the intense punishment of Allah, Most High. And the severity of His anger and displeasure, which you cannot bear.
The third: Making mention of your weakness before His punishment and your lack of ability to escape it. For whoever cannot bear the heat of the sun, or the slap of a policeman, or the sting of an ant – then how will they bear the heat of the fire of Jahannam? Or the strikes of the hooked whips of the guards of Hell? Or the bites of snakes with necks like camels? Or scorpions the size of mules? All created from fire in the abode of anger and destruction. We seek refuge in Allah from His anger and His punishment.
If you persist in making mention of these three litanies (adhkar), becoming accustomed to them during the nights and throughout the days, they will carry you towards a sincere tawbah from sins. And Allah grants success out of His kindness.
If it is asked: Has not the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, said, “Regret (nadam) is tawbah,”[2] and he did not mention the likes of what you mentioned from its conditions, haven’t you been overly difficult in this matter?
Then it is replied…
Stay tuned for Part 2!
[1] Reported by Tirmidhi, Hadith 1972.
[2] Ibn Majah, Hadith 612.
Originally published on the Dhikr Substack.