Stories of Repentance (the Book)

From the preceding narrations we should derive an appreciation for the greatness of our religion and for the mercy of Allah Who is the Most Merciful of the
merciful ones. But still, as slaves of Allah , we must do our part; we must take certain steps to deserve forgiveness from Allah

First, we must desist from the sin for which we are guilty.

Second, we must sincerely feel regret for having perpetrated that sin, and at the same time we must
hasten to ask forgiveness from Allah

Third, we must make a firm resolve never to return to that sin.

Fourth, we must hasten to perform good deeds, for by the permission of Allah , it is always the case that good deeds atone for and remove evil deeds.

Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allah say:

“Indeed, Iblis (the Devil) said to his Lord ‘Azza wa-Jail (the Possessor of might and majesty), ‘By Your Might and Majesty, I will continue to tempt and misguide the
children of Adam as long as they have souls in them.

Allah said: “Then by My Might and Majesty, I will continue to forgive them as long as they ask Me to forgive them.” (Al-Musnad 3/29)

There is an Israelite narration that mentions an interesting story of a fisherman who lived during the era of Müsa

He was a poor fisherman and physically weak. One day, he lifted his fishing net and was surprised, not to mention somewhat thrilled, to see that he had caught an
exceptionally large fish. He immediately went with it to the marketplace, intending to sell it and use the proceeds of the sale to buy things that his family desperately needed.

But before he could reach the marketplace, a huge, muscular man accosted him and, upon seeing the fish, tried to take it by force. The fisherman put up as much resistance as he could, but the other man raised a piece of wood he had in his hand and struck the fisherman with it on his head. While the fisherman was lying flat on the ground, writhing in pain, his attacker took off with the fish. As the helpless fisherman watched the man leave with his fish, he said,

“0 my Lord, you have made me weak, and him strong, so take my right from him quickly, for he has wronged me, and I do not want to patiently wait until the Hereafter (to exact retribution from him).”

When the wrongdoer returned to his home with the nice, large fish, he gave it to his wife and ordered her to barbecue it for him. After she finished cooking it, she
placed it before him on the table. As the man was fingering his food, the fish closed its mouth on his finger.

The pain that resulted from the bite (that came from a dead fish!) was more than the man could bear; the pain was not merely temporary; it simply wouldn’t go away. And so the man went to the doctor to complain about the unbearable pain in his finger. After he studied the man’s hand, the doctor said, “The only cure is to cut off your finger, so that the pain doesn’t spread to the rest of your hand.”

The doctor then severed the man’s finger, but to the man’s utter dismay, the pain he had felt in his finger, he now felt in his hand. The doctor said that he would have to cut his hand off, so as to prevent the pain from spreading to his forearm. But as soon as the doctor severed the man’s hand, the pain spread to his forearm. And this continued, until the doctor began to amputate other limbs. Writhing in pain, the man invoked Allah to help him.

One night, he saw a dream, in which someone said to him, “0 wretched person, for how long will you have your body parts severed? Go to your adversary, whom
you wronged, and try to gain his pardon.” Waking up with a start, the man knew that the person in his dream was referring to the fisherman. He went to the city,
searched for the fisherman, and upon finding him, pleaded with him to forgive him. He even gave the fisherman some money to recompense him for his stolen fish.

Seeing that the man had truly repented for his misdeed, the fisherman forgave him. The man’s pain immediately went away, and for the first time in many nights, he was able to enjoy a goodnight’s sleep.

There is something common among the early Muslims from the Muhâjirün and the Ansâr. Although some of them may have previously been staunch enemies of
Islam, when they repented their Shirk and embraced Islam, they showed a level of sincerity that has remained unparalleled throughout history. One example is the
noble Companion ‘Amr bin Al-JamiIh ( ’ who at first resisted the Prophet’s message, at a time when those around him in Al-Madinah, from the Aus and Khazraj, began to flock towards Islam.

Before migrating to Al-Madinah, the Prophet sent Mus’ab bin ‘Umair to go there and teach its inhabitants about the religion of Islam. Mus’ab was very successful in his early efforts, but then one day, ‘Amr bin Al-Jamuih, chief of the Banu Salamah sub-tribe, sent for him with the message:

“What is this that you have come to us with?”

“If you want to come to us, we will recite the Qur’ân for you,” was the response he received. When ‘Amr and Mus’ab were face to face, the latter recited ‘Chapter Yüsuf’ to him. Perhaps the Verses had an affect on ‘Amr , but he was as of yet unwilling to renounce his religion or his idol Manâf, which he worshiped and trusted. That is not to say that doubts did not begin to creep into his mind about the divinity of Manâf. As a test, he went to his idol, Manâf, and hung a sword around its neck, so that it could protect itself now that so many people - including his own family - shunned the worship of idols and called to the worship of the One True God -Allah

When he later returned to Manâf, he was shocked to see that the sword was missing, for unbeknownst to him, his family had taken the sword away. ‘Arm looked reproachfully at his idol and said, “Where is the sword, 0 Manâf. Even a she-goat is able to protect its backside.” Despite Manâf’s failure to protect itself, ‘Amr still made no firm resolve to accept Islam.

He turned to his family and said, “I am going to watch over my wealth (property or livestock), so take care of Manâf while I am gone.” When he left, they took the idol, broke it, tied a dead dog around it, and threw it into an unused well.

“How are you?” ‘Amr asked his family when he returned from his errand.

“Fine,” they said. “We have purified our house from filth.”

“By Allah, I think that you have done ill towards Manâf while I was gone, said Amr.

“There he is; go find him in the well,” they said. He looked into the well and saw what his family had done with Manâf. Without delay, he summoned the members
of his subtribe and said, “Do you not follow that which I follow?”

“Yes, you are our chief,” they said.

“Then I make you bear witness that I indeed believe in what has been revealed to Muhammad.”

Now let us move forward a few years to the Baffle of Uhud, so that we can see the complete transformation of ‘Amr’s character. Shortly before the army of polytheists and the army of Muslims began the famous battle, the Messenger of Allah said to his Companions : “Stand up to Paradise, the width of which is (equal to the distance of) the heavens and the earth, and it has been prepared for the Muttaqun (the righteous ones).”

‘Amr , who was physically crippled, struggled to get up and said, “By Allah I will leap up on them (i.e., on these weak legs of mine) in Paradise.” He then continued to fight until he became martyred.

‘Abdur-Rahmân bin Yazid said, “During military campaigns, I would rest (at night) in the same camp that ‘Atá’ Al-Khurâsâni was staying in. At the beginning
of every night, he would stick out his head from the inside of his tent and say, “0 ‘Abdur-Rahmân, 0 Hishim bin Al-Ghâz, 0 so-and-so - it is easier to fast during the day and stand for prayer during the night than to drink As-Sadid (boiling, festering water in the Hell-fire: refer to the Qur’ân 14: 16), to wear Al-Hadid (refer to the Qur’ân: 22:21)

“And for them are hooked rods of iron (to punish them)”, and to eat Az-Zaqqâm (refer to the Qur’ân 37: 62) “Is that (Paradise) better entertainment or the tree of Zaqqum (a horrible tree in hell?” “(Then seek out) safety! ... (Then seek out) safety!”





Silah, a righteous man who lived centuries ago, was once on a journey when he completely ran out of food. There had been a flood, and so there were many like him who were stranded and wandering about. He came across a man who was carrying bread on his shoulders, and so Silah accosted him and said, “Feed me.”

“If you want,” said the man, “But there is pork mixed into the bread.” Although he was on the verge of dying, Silah left the man without taking any bread. Later on, he met another man and said, Feed me.

“1 have enough provision to last me a few days only,” said the man. “If you take from it, then you will make me go hungry.”

Silah moved on without taking any food from the man. Having continued his journey, Silah heard a sound behind him. He stopped, turned around, and headed
towards the direction of the sound. When he reached the spot from which he thought he had heard the noise, he found a white cloth that was wrapped up.

Unraveling the cloth, Silah found fresh dates inside and realized that he was saved from imminent starvation. It was not as great a surprise to find the fresh dates in that spot as it was to find them at that time — for it wasn’t even the season for fresh dates!

Speaking about the reason for his repentance, Wuhaib bin Al-Ward said, “As I was standing in the heart of a valley, I felt a man’s hand on the back of my shoulder. He said, ‘0 Wuhaib, fear Allah for his ability over you, and be modest of Him for His nearness to you.’ By the time I turned around, there was no one to be seen.”


That incident is what prompted Wuhaib to repent.




First, let us read about the repentance of Nuh (Noah) and then let us reflect on our own daily lives and on how we repent from our sins. Wuhaib bin Al-Ward reported that after Allah reproached Nüh (Noah) in regards to his son, Nüh (Noah) cried for 300 years.

He cried so much that the constant tears became like streams flowing down his cheeks.

“He said: “0 Nuh (Noah)! Surely, he is not of your family; verily, his work is unrighteous, so ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you be one of the ignorants. (Qur'an 11.46)

lbrâhim reported that a famous worshipper entered into a conversation with a woman. The conversation became more and more intimate, until the worshipper finally
placed his hand on the woman’s leg. Coming back to his senses, the worshipper removed his hand, left the woman, and placed his hand into fire, thus reminding
himself of the unbearable Fire of the Hereafter.




Wuhaib bin Al-Ward is the narrator of this story:

It has been conveyed to us that isa and one of his disciples once passed by the tower of a thief. When the thief saw them, Allah guided him to repent. He said to himself: “This is ‘Isa ...the word of Allah (i.e., Allah said, “Be!” and he was), and this is one of his disciples. And who are you, 0 wretched one! You are the thief of the Children of Israel! You rob people on the road, you take their wealth, and you spill their blood!” He then descended to them, repentant for his past sins.

When he reached them, he said to himself: “Do you wish to walk alongside them? You are not worthy of that! Walk behind them, as is befitting of a sinner like you.” The disciple turned around and, recognizing the thief, said to himself: “Look at this wicked, wretched person and how he walks behind us.” Of course, Allah knew what was going on in the hearts of the thief and the disciple of Isa : the former was feeling contrite and remorseful for his sins, while the latter was deriding him and deeming himself to be the superior of the two.

Allah (&) then inspired to Isâ bin Maryam that he should order both his disciple and the thief of the Children of Israel to begin their deeds anew (i.e., to
begin with no past record of good or bad deeds). As for the thief, Allah forgave him on account of his contrition and repentance. And as for the disciple, all of
his deeds became nullified on account of his being impressed with himself and of his derision of a person who repented [for his past sins (i.e., the former thief)].

Mâlik Ar-Ruâsi reported that he, along with others from Banu Kilâb, attacked a group of people from the Banu Asad tribe. They killed some and dealt indecently with
female prisoners. News of what happened reached the Prophet , who then cursed the attackers and supplicated against them.

When Mâlik heard about the Prophet’s reaction to the attack, he tied his own hands, went to the Prophet and said, “0 Messenger of Allah, be pleased with us (i.e.,forgive us) - may Allah be pleased with you.”

The Prophet turned away from him, but he went around the Prophet to face him. He then repeated his previous plea: “Be pleased with us - may Allah be pleased with you.” He then said, “For by Allah, when one tries to please the Lord (Allah )He becomes pleased (with him).” Drawing near to Mâlik, the Prophet asked:

“Have you repented for what you did? And have you asked Allah to forgive you?”

“Yes,” answered Mâlik.

“0 Allah, pardon him and be pleased with him,” said the Prophet




Sa’id bin Ayman, the freed slave of Ka’b bin Sür, said, “While the Messenger of Allah was speaking to his Companions a poor man came and sat down beside a rich man. From his movement, it seemed as if the rich man were moving his garment away (so that the poor man wouldn’t touch it). The Messenger of Allah’s (color) changed (from anger), and he said:

‘0 so-and-so! Were you afraid that your richness would transfer to him, or that his poverty would transfer to you?’

‘And is richness evil?’ asked the (rich) man.

The Prophet said, ‘Yes, for your richness invites you to the Hellfire, while his poverty invites him to Paradise.’

The rich man asked, ‘Then how can I save myself from that?’

The Prophet answered, ‘Comfort him with some of it (i.e., with some of your wealth; meaning, give him charity).’

The (rich) man said, ‘I will do so then.’ The poor man then spoke: ‘I am in no need of it (i.e., of his charity).’

The Prophet said, ‘Then ask (Allah) to forgive your brother and supplicate for him.’”

Many of Al-Hasan Al-Basri’s epigrammatic and wise sayings are still with us today. An eloquent speaker, Al-Hasan’s sermons would penetrate the inner regions of his
listeners’ hearts. One day, a man named Habib bin Muhammad, who was mainly preoccupied in worldly pursuits, decided to attend Al-Hasan’s gathering. While
there, Habib became greatly moved by Al-Hasan’s sermon, and when he left it, he decided to repent for his sins and to lead a new life of worship and obedience to
Allah

The first order of business, decided Habib, was to purify his soul by giving charity. And he now had so much trust in Allah that he decided to give away a great deal of his wealth. He started off by giving away 10,000 dirhams in the early part of the day. Very soon thereafter, he gave away another 10,000 dirhams, after which he said,” (0 my Lord,) this (10,000) is my gratitude for the guidance You have blessed me with.” He then gave away another 10,000 dirhams, and this time he said, “0 my Lord, if You did not accept from me the first amount or the second amount, then accept this from me. He then gave away yet another 10,000 dirhams, after which he said, “0 my Lord! If you have accepted from me the third (amount), then this is a show of my gratitude (for You having accepted my deed).”



One of the children of Al-Qa’nabi is the narrator of this story:

A regular drinker of wine, my father used to keep company with disreputable young men. He one day invited them and then sat down in front of his door, waiting for them to arrive. While he was waiting, Shu’bah passed by on his donkey, and a number of people were racing behind him in order to keep up with him.

“Who is that?” asked Al-Qa’nabi.

“Shu’bah,” answered someone who was seated nearby.

“And what is a Shu’bah?” asked Al-Qa’nabi derisively.

“A scholar of Hadith,”was the reply. This explained why so many people were following Shu’bah, for they were probably his students.

"Al-Qa’nabi, who was wearing an indecent, red-colored lower garment”, said Al-Qa’nabi, in a peremptory and somewhat disdainful manner.

“You are not one of the people of Hadith, so I do not feel obliged to relate a narration to you,” said Shu’bah. Al-Qa’nabi, who had probably just imbibed a few drinks,
took out a knife and pointed it menacingly at Shu’bah.

“You will report to me a narration or I will injure you,” said Al-Qa’nabi.

“Mansür reported to us,” began As-Shu’bah, “From Rib’i from Abu Mas’üd, who said: The Messenger of Allah said:

‘If you have no shame, then do as you please (one meaning of this narration might be: One who has no shame is one who does as he pleases, but he will certainly face the consequences of his actions). (Al-Bukhari 6120)

Tossing the knife onto the ground, A1-Qa’nabi returned to the inside of his home. Not wanting the implications of the aforementioned Hadith to apply to him, he took all of the wine bottles he had and emptied them onto the floor. He then said to his mother, “My companions will soon arrive. When they come, admit them inside and offer them food. When they are finished eating, tell them what I did with the alcohol, so that they will then leave.”

As for himself, Al-Qa’nabi immediately left for Al-Madinah, where he spent the following years of his life as a student of Imam Mâlik bin Anas - may Allah have mercy on him.

He eventually had the honor of reporting HadIth narrations from the Imam.

Ibrâhim bin Al-Hârith is the narrator of this story:

There was once a man who was known for weeping from fear of Allah . One day, when he was asked about his bouts of weeping, he said, “I cry when I remember the many ways in which I have wronged my own self, and when I remember how I have not been modest before He Who has the ability to punish me. He has given me respite until the day of eternal punishment, the day of eternal misery. By Allah, were I to be asked, ‘Which is more desirable to you: for accountability to be taken of you and for you to then be ordered to be taken to Paradise, or for you to be dust,’ I would choose to be dust.”





True Speech

Perhaps it was because he was righteous and they were not; perhaps they were jealous of him; whatever the reason, a group of people resented Rabi’ bin Khuthaim,
and so they decided to put him to trial. They chose the most beautiful woman they could find, and they offered her a reward of 1000 dirhams if she could successfully seduce him. After she agreed to take on the challenge, she attired herself in her most beautiful clothing and she put on the best perfume she could find.

Then she went to Rabi’ and presented herself before him. They were all alone, and Rabi’ seemed to be cornered; worse, her beautiful figure and face presented what
seemed to be an inescapable temptation.

Approaching him, she moved her body enticingly and she spoke sweet, melodious words. What was Rabi’ to do? He had nowhere to escape; her beauty had practically taken him as captive; and he had no weapon with which he could ward her off. But wait, he did have a weapon: the truth.

Addressing her with a resolute tone, Rabi’ said, “What will you do if you are afflicted with disease and your body and beauty take a turn for the worse? What will you
did when the angel of death comes to take your soul? Or what will you do when Munkar and Nakir test you in your grave?” He continued in this manner until the
woman let out a shrill scream and fainted. When she regained consciousness, she repented for her past sins and, until the very end of her life, dedicated her days and
nights to the worship of Allah .

Yüsuf bin Al-Husain is the narrator of this story:

I was with Dhi-an-Nün on the edge of a stream, when we saw an extraordinarily large lizard crawling along the side of the stream. Something strange yet wonderful then happened. A frog surfaced from the stream, the lizard mounted its back, and the frog then swam to the other side of the stream, carrying its passenger on its back. Dhi-an-Nun said, “There is something interesting about that lizard; let us go and follow it.” We crossed the stream (which wasn’t so wide in width), and on the other side, we saw a drunken man who had passed out. Suddenly, a snake appeared before the prone body of the drunkard. Its lithered its way up the man’s navel to his chest, making a direct course for one of his ears.

The lizard we saw earlier then sprang into action. It jumped onto the snake and struck it violently, splitting its body into two. Returning to the edge of the stream, the
lizard then mounted the frog again, and the two crossed to the other side of the stream, though both were still visible to us. Dhi-an-Nün woke up the drunkard, who
slowly opened his eyes and became conscious of what was happening around him. Dhi-an-Nün said, “0 young man, look how Allah has saved you! When this snake
came to kill you, that lizard came and killed it.”

He then explained the entire story to the young man. The young man stood up and exclaimed: “0 my Lord, this is how You deal with one who disobeys You, then
what will Your Mercy be like for the one who obeys You?” He then betook himself to the desert, vowing to dedicate his life to worship and to never return to the evils
of the city.