Praying for Forgiveness and Repentance * By Harun Yahya

All through their lives, certain people pursue a flawless image for themselves. Their efforts center around one goal: to be perfect and to look perfect. This is a natural consequence of finding it degrading to make a mistake. The ideal person, they consider, is one who can project an aura of impeccability.

However, this "flawlessness" is an illusionary goal. Neither is it one of the attributes of a believer we find extolled in the Qur'an. We would go so far as to say that such a "believer model" does not exist. For mankind is inherently weak, humble, and helpless before God and can consequently makes mistakes all throughout life.

No doubt, people will always do their best to avoid mistakes and sins, yet, being frail servants of God, they will not succeed in being free of all mistakes.
In the Qur'an we are informed that mankind has faults and sins before God:

[If God were to punish men according to what they deserve, He would not leave on the surface of the earth one single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated term: when their term expires, truly, (they will know that) God has in His sight all His Servants](Fatir 35:45)
In accordance with this divine command stated in the Qur'an, the attitude expected of believers is not that of being faultless or sinless. They are only expected to constantly seek forgiveness from God.

This is actually an attribute that makes the distinction between a believer and non-believer. Unbelievers struggle to cover up their faults and sins, yet believers never try to do this.

What is important for them is to feel an inner regret and consequently turn to God and seek His forgiveness.

While reading the Qur'an, we see that the willingness to ask for forgiveness is a natural and unfailing attribute of the believers. On that account, we understand that believers never see themselves as beings purified of all sins and faults. On the contrary, they continually seek refuge in God's mercy. In the following verse, turning to God in repentance is regarded as one of the important attributes of a believer:

[Those who turn to God in repentance; who serve Him, and praise Him; who fast in devotion to the cause of God; who bow down and prostrate themselves in prayer; who enjoin good and forbid evil; who observe the limit set by God, shall be richly rewarded. Proclaim the glad tidings to the believers.](At-Tawbah 9:112)

Forgiveness Vis-à-Vis Repentance

Asking for forgiveness of God is a regular aspect of worship for believers. People can ask forgiveness of God all day long for all their sins, whether deliberately or unintentionally committed. Moreover, as well as asking for forgiveness for themselves, they can also do it for other believers, as stated in the Qur'an.

In Arabic, the word for "asking for forgiveness" is istighfar which is "asking for God's attribute of Ghafir, or He who forgives.

Thus, asking for forgiveness of God is like pledging to purify one's self and hence seeking refuge in the mercy and grace of God. In the Qur'an the believers pray saying what means:


["Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, remove from us our iniquities, and take to Yourself our souls in the company of the righteous"](Aal `Imran 3:193)


The judgment of God regarding this is as below:



[I am with you: if you (but) say your prayers regularly, practice regular charity, believe in my messengers, honor and assist them, and loan to God a beautiful loan, indeed I will rid you of your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, denies Me, he will truly have wandered from the path of rectitude](Al-Ma'idah 5:12)


As mentioned above, praying for forgiveness of God may be both for sins, committed intentionally or unintentionally, as well as for the sins of other believers. This is the most important distinction between asking for forgiveness and repentance.

Although praying for forgiveness is a regular prayer of the believers, repentance is the steadfast attitude taken towards a particular sin or fault, or the giving of a firm decision not to turn to that sin again.

Repentance is seeking refuge in God for one's sin, promising not to commit that sin again and, to this end asking the guidance and help of God. The exact meaning of repentance is "to turn back". Thus, repentance expresses an absolute commitment not to commit any particular sin again.

The intention behind repentance is not to repeat the same sin. God enjoins the faithful thus:


[O you who believe! Turn to God with sincere repentance, in the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow](At-Tahrim 66:8)

However, this is not to say that believers repent for a sin or fault only once. They may repent on one occasion, and then, in a moment of weakness, repeat the same sin. However, the mercy of God never ceases to encompass them. This is why they can still repent to God and seek refuge in Him. God is always ready to show grace and mercy to the believers. This is stated in the Qur'an:


[O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Do not despair of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Turn to your Lord (in repentance) and bow to His Will, before the Penalty comes upon you: after that you shall not be helped](Az-Zumar 39:53-54)

Pharaoh's Repentance


Still, there is one kind of repentance God will not accept: the insincere repentance offered when death comes. This is actually the moment people meet the angels of death. Of this the Qur'an says what means:


[God accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them God will turn in mercy: for God is full of knowledge and wisdom. Of no avail is the repentance of those who continue to do evil, until death faces one of them, and he says, "Now I have repented indeed" nor of those who die rejecting Faith: for them We have prepared a most grievous punishment](An-Nisaa' 4:17-18)

In the Qur'an, God gives the striking example of such an act of repentance made at the last moment. Pharaoh, who chased Moses and the believers in order to kill them, ended by expressing his repentance while he drowned in the sea — a miracle wrought by God.


[At length, when overwhelmed with the flood, he said: I believe that there is no god except Him Whom the Children of Israel believe in: I am of those who submit (to God in Islam)](Yunus 10:90)

However, God's response to him was what means:


[Ah now! But a little while before, you were in rebellion! and you perpetrated mischief and violence!](Yunus 10:91)

Since repentance is essential to the eternal salvation of people, they should well be aware of its importance and observe this form of worship to the best of their ability. People may have sinned extensively or have rebelled against one's Creator. Yet, God encompasses His servants with so much mercy that He grants eternal salvation in response to a sincere repentance:


[When those who believe in Our signs, come to you say: "Peace be upon you: Your Lord has decreed for Himself (the rule of) mercy: truly, if any of you committed evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented, and mended his ways, he would find God Oft-forgiving and Most Merciful."](Al-An`am 6:54)

Keep in mind that God even forgives unbelievers and hypocrites who fought against Him and His Messenger, if they turn back to God with sincere and true repentance:


[The Hypocrites shall be cast into the lowest depths of the Fire: no helper will you find for them; But those who repent, mend their ways, hold fast to God, and are sincere in their devotion to Him-they shall be numbered with the believers. And soon God will grant to the believers a reward of immense value](An-Nisaa' 4:145-146)


[Those who conceal the clear signs We have sent down, and the guidance, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book-on them shall be God's curse, and the curse of those entitled to curse, except those who repent and make amends and openly declare the Truth. Toward them I shall relent; for I am the Relenting one and Most Merciful] (Al-Baqarah 2:159-160)

This is a great opportunity God grants to His servants. He commands people never to be overwhelmed by despair due to any sin they have committed and always to turn to Him in hope. However, misinterpretation of this concept and an insincere attitude do not earn people divine approval. Knowing the commandments of God, yet deliberately committing sins, saying "no matter what happens, I will be forgiven" shows completely flawed reasoning.

Such are the people who "reject faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of faith". Only the repentance of those who out of ignorance commit sins is accepted. The repentance of insincere people, who simply take repentance as the freedom to commit sins are, however, rejected. Stress is laid on this in the Qur'an:


[But those who reject faith after they have accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of faith, will never have their repentance accepted; for they are those who have of set purpose gone astray](Aal `Imran 3:90)
One point needs clarification here: It is quite possible that, being ignorant, being in a state of heedlessness, or indulging in desires, people may very well commit sins. However, if people realize theirs faults and sincerely repent, God may well be forgiving. However, people who commit sins, although knowing the judgments of God, saying, "I will be forgiven no matter what happens," are merely deceivers. That is why their repentance is not acceptable to God.

It is hardly necessary to say that heartfelt regret and sincerity are the keys to divine forgiveness.

The Qur'anic injunction: [Call on your Lord with humility and in private](Al-A`raf 7:55) also applies when showing contrition asking for forgiveness. While repenting for serious errors especially, deep regret and a sincere attitude are essential. As an example of repentance and forgiveness, the Qur'an cites the case of the three Muslims who were left behind, when all others had gone to fight in the cause of God, thereby committing a great sin;


[God turned with favor to the Prophet, the Muhajirs, and the Ansar, who followed him in a time of distress, when the hearts of some of them had nearly swerved from duty; but He turned to them (also): for He is Most Kind, and Most Merciful to them. He turned in mercy also to the three who were left behind; they felt guilty to such a degree that the earth seemed constrained to them, for all its spaciousness, and their very souls seemed straitened to them, and they perceived that there was no fleeing from God and no refuge but in Him. Then He turned to them, so that they might repent: for God is the Forgiving One and Most Merciful.](At-Tawbah 9:117-118)

Asking forgiveness of God and repenting one's sins serve as pure expressions of being a sincere servant to God. Believers should be well aware that they may commit sins, but that they should take refuge in the mercy and grace of God. Simply worrying, or feeling grief for one's former sins is quite pointless. Man should consider the story of the messengers who made some errors, yet continued their struggle after sincerely repenting. Man should trust in the forgiveness of God.


In the Qur'an it is mentioned that praying for forgiveness and expressing repentance are ways to eternal salvation:



[If it were not for God's grace and mercy to you, and that God is Forgiving and full of Wisdom, (you would indeed be ruined).](An-Nur 24:10)

* Reprinted with permission from the author. Slight editorial changes have been made to the article. To see the original, visit www.harunyahya.com.
The author, who writes under the pen-name Harun Yahya, was born in Ankara in 1956. He studied arts at Istanbul's Mimar Sinan University and philosophy at Istanbul University. Since the 1980s, the author has published many books on political, faith-related and scientific issues. Some of the books of the author have been translated into English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Albanian, Arabic, Polish, Russian, Bosnian, Indonesian, Turkish, Tatar, Urdu and Malay.