Repentance and Allah's Mercy

On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifaree (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from his Lord, that He said: O My servants! I have forbidden dhulm (oppression) for Myself, and I have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except those whom I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except those whom I have fed, so seek food from Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except those whom I have clothed, so seek clothing from Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you commit sins by day and by night, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all as pious as the most pious heart of any individual amongst you, then this would not increase My Kingdom an iota. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all as wicked as the most wicked heart of any individual amongst you, then this would not decrease My Kingdom an iota. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all to stand together in one place and ask of Me, and I were to give everyone what he requested, then that would not decrease what I Possess, except what is decreased of the ocean when a needle is dipped into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I account for you, and then recompense you for. So he who finds good, let him praise Allah, and he who finds other than that, let him blame no one but himself.

On the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), from what he has related from his Lord: Verily Allah ta’ala has written down the good deeds and the evil deeds, and then explained it [by saying]: “Whosoever intended to perform a good deed, but did not do it, then Allah writes it down with Himself as a complete good deed. And if he intended to perform it and then did perform it, then Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds up to seven hundred times, up to many times multiplied. And if he intended to perform an evil deed, but did not do it, then Allah writes it down with Himself as a complete good deed. And if he intended it [i.e., the evil deed] and then performed it, then Allah writes it down as one evil deed.” [Al-Bukhari]

Al-Agharr Al-Muzani (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Sometimes I perceive a veil over my heart, and I supplicate Allah for forgiveness a hundred times in a day."

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "I swear by Allah that I seek Allah's Pardon and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day."

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "By the One in Whose Hand my soul is! If you do not commit sins, Allah would replace you with a people who would commit sins and seek forgiveness from Allah; and Allah will certainly forgive them."

Ibn Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "He who says: 'Astaghfir ullah-alladhi la ilaha illa Huwal-Haiyul-Qayyumu, wa atubu ilaihi (I seek the forgiveness of Allah, there is no true god except Allah, the Ever-Living, the Self- Subsisting, and I turn to Him in repentance),' his sins will be forgiven even if he should have run away from the battlefield (while he was engaged in fighting for the Cause of Allah)."

Shaddad bin Aus (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The best supplication for seeking forgiveness (Syed-ul- Istighfar) is to say: 'Allahumma Anta Rabbi, la ilaha illa Anta, khalaqtani wa ana 'abduka, wa ana 'ala 'ahdika wa wa'dika mastata'tu, a'udhu bika min sharri ma sana'tu, abu'u laka bini'matika 'alayya, wa abu'u bidhanbi faghfir li, fa innahu la yaghfirudh-dhunuba illa Anta. (O Allah! You are my Rubb. There is no true god except You. You have created me, and I am Your slave, and I hold to Your Covenant as far as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge the favours that You have bestowed upon me, and I confess my sins. Pardon me, for none but You has the power to pardon).' He who supplicates in these terms during the day with firm belief in it and dies on the same day (before the evening), he will be one of the dwellers of Jannah; and if anyone supplicates in these terms during the night with firm belief in it and dies before the morning, he will be one of the dwellers of Jannah."

Thauban (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) finished his Salat (prayer), he would beg forgiveness three times .

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: Prior to his demise, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to supplicate frequently: Subhan Allahi wa bihamdihi; Astaghfirullaha wa atubu ilaihi (Allah is free from imperfection, and I begin with praising Him. I beg forgiveness from Allah and I turn to Him in repentance."

Ibn 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O women folk! You should give charity and be diligent in seeking Allah's forgiveness because I have seen (i.e., on the Night of the Ascension to the highest heavens) that dwellers of the Hell are women." A woman amongst them said: "Why is it that the majority of the dwellers of Hell are women?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. In spite of your lacking in wisdom and failing in religion, you are depriving the wisest of men of their intelligence." Upon this the woman asked: "What is the deficiency in our wisdom and in our religion?" He (ﷺ) replied, "Your lack of wisdom can be well judged from the fact that the evidence of two women is equal to that one man. You do not offer Salat (prayer) for some days and you do not fast (the whole of) Ramadan sometimes, it is a deficiency in religion."

Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The inhabitants of Jannah will eat and drink therein, but they will not have to pass excrement, to blow their noses or to urinate. Their food will be digested producing belch which will give out a smell like that of musk. They will be inspired to declare the freedom of Allah from imperfection and proclaim His Greatness as easily as you breathe."

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The first group (of people) to enter Jannah will be shining like the moon on a full-moon night. Then will come those who follow them who will be like the most shining planet in the sky. They will not stand in need of urinating or relieving of nature or of spitting or blowing their noses. Their combs will be of gold and their sweat will smell like musk; in their censers the aloes-wood will be used. Their wives will be large eyed maidens. All men will be alike in the form of their father 'Adam, sixty cubits tall."Another narration is: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Their utensils will be of gold, their perspiration will smell like musk; everyone of them will have two wives; the marrow of the bones of the wives' legs will be seen through the flesh out of excessive beauty. They (i.e., the people of Jannah) will neither have difference, nor enmity (hatred) amongst themselves; their hearts will be as if one heart, and they will be glorifying Allah in the morning and in the afternoon."

Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Musa (Moses) (ﷺ) asked his Rubb: 'Who amongst the inhabitants of Jannah will be the lowest in rank?' He said: 'It will be a person who will be admitted into Jannah last of all when all the dwellers of Jannah have entered Jannah. It will be said to him: Enter Jannah. But he will say: O my Rubb! How should I enter while the people have settled in their apartments and taken their shares? It will be said to him: Will you be satisfied and pleased if you have a kingdom like that of a monarch of the world? He will say: I will be content, my Rubb. Allah will say: For you is that, and like that and like that and like that and like that. He will say at the fifth time: I am well-pleased, my Rubb. Allah will say: It is for you and ten times more like it. You will have whatever your soul desires and whatever your eyes could delight in. He will say: I am well-pleased, my Rubb.' Musa (ﷺ) said: 'Who will be of the highest rank in Jannah.' Allah said: 'They are those whom I chose and I established their honour with My Own Hand. I attest with My Seal that they will be blessed with such bounties as no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no human mind has perceived."'

'Abdullah bin Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "I know of the last of the inhabitants of the Hell to be taken out from there and the last one to enter Jannah. He is a man who will come out of the Fire, crawling on all fours. Allah, the Rubb of glory and honour will say to him: 'Go and enter Jannah.' He will go to it and think that it is full up. He will then come back and say: 'O my Rubb, it is full up.' Allah will say to him: 'Go and enter Jannah.' He will again go to it and think that it is full up. So he will turn back. Allah will again say: 'Go and enter Jannah. For you have what is equal to ten times the world.' He will say: 'Are You making fun of me while You are the King?" At this I (i.e., the narrator) saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) laugh till his premolars were visible and he said, "Such man will be the last dweller of Jannah in its lowest rank."

Abu Musa (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "In Jannah the believer will have a tent made of a single hollowed pearl of which the length will be sixty miles in the sky. The believer will have his wives with him and he will visit them and they will not be able to see one another."

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "There is a tree in Jannah that is so huge that if a rider of a swift horse has to cover its distance from one end to another in one hundred years, he will not be able to do so."Another narration from Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) is: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "A rider will not be able to cross its (the tree's) shade even after travelling for one hundred years."

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The dwellers of Jannah will look at those in the upper abodes above them as you look at a shining star which remains in the eastern or western horizon; such will be the difference in superiority which some of them have over others." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked: "Will those be the dwellings of the Prophets which no one else will be able to reach?" He (ﷺ) replied, "Yes, but by Him in Whose Hand my soul is! men who believed in Allah and acknowledged the truthfulness of the Messengers will reach them."

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "A space in Jannah equal to the distance between the middle and the end of a bow will be better than all that upon which the sun rises and sets."

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "In Jannah there is a market to which the people will come every Friday. The northern wind will blow and shower fragrance on their faces and clothes and, consequently, it will enhance their beauty and loveliness. They will then return to their wives who will also have increased in their beauty and loveliness, and their families will say to them: 'We swear by Allah that you have been increased in beauty and loveliness since leaving us.' Thereupon they will reply: 'We swear by Allah that you have also been increased in beauty and loveliness since we left you."'

Sahl bin Sa'd (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The dwellers of Jannah will see the upper abodes of Jannah as you see the stars in the sky."