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Fatwa CenterAmong the Signs of Accepting Repentance Is One’s Good State after It
Question
How can a servant repent of his sins? What are the signs or portents of accepting repentance by Allah? Does remembrance of Allah by saying, ‘Subhaanallaahi wa-bi-hamdih’ (Exalted be Allah and with His praises [I exalt Him)] one hundred times efface one hundred misdeeds? Which misdeeds are effaced: those committed against Allah or those committed against the servants?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It is a well-known fact that Allah ordained for His servants to turn to Him in repentance and encouraged and exhorted them to do so through many Quranic verses, such as His saying (what means):
· {Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He Who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.} [Quran 39:53-54]
· {…Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.} [Quran 2:222]
There are many proofs from the Quran and the Sunnah that all indicate that repentance is obligatory and that it is binding upon one to hasten to do it. This opinion gains the consensus of all leading imams of Islam 
.
Hence, one will not be a true repentant unless his repentance meets the following five conditions:
1- To be sincere: i.e. to seek, by his repentance, the Countenance of Allah Almighty.
2- To give up the sin.
3- To show regrets for having committed the sin.
4- To resolve not to commit the sin once again.
5- To repent before the soul reaches the throat at death.
Those conditions are enough if the sin is between the servant and his Lord, like drinking wine, for example.
However, if the sin addresses the right of the servants, then in addition to the five conditions mentioned above, one should clear himself of his liability of this sin. For example, if it is a wrong done to someone, then he should ask the wronged to absolve him of it; and if it is a right, then he should give it back to him.
If one repents, then he should know that as well as being hopeful of the acceptance of his repentance, he should be fearful of Allah’s punishment. Allah, the Almighty, says (what means): {And they who give what they give while their hearts are fearful because they will be returning to their Lord.} [Quran 23:60]
It was narrated on the authority of ‘A’ishah bint As-Siddeeq, the Mother of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with her, that she asked the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, about this Quranic verse, saying, “Are those the ones who drink wine and steal?” He said, “No, O daughter of As-Siddeeq! They, rather, are those who fast and give in charity; yet they fear lest their deeds might not be accepted from them. They are those who hasten in (doing) good things.” [At-Tirmithi with an authentically established chain of narrators]
However, there is nothing to prevent the idea that there may be signs portending the true repentance of a servant by which he can recognize it.
One of those is that the repentant feels that he is strongly regretful for his negligence in his duty towards Allah and the non-observance of His right; and this drives him to keep himself far away from the sin and all its causes.
Another sign is that he is inclined to turn to Allah, his Lord, and regard Allah’s granting him success in his repentance as one of the greatest favors that He has conferred upon him.
The athkar by which the sins are removed are many, you can find them, for example, in Kitab Al-Athkar of Abu Zakariyya An-Nawawi 
and Kitab Hisn Al-Muslim – and it is a nice, good book, and though small-sized, it is of great benefit in this respect.
As for the misdeeds that are wiped out by repentance, the basic rule is that the righteous deeds remove, by Allah’s permission, the evil deeds that are known as minor sins. Allah, the Almighty, says (what means): {And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.} [Quran 11:114]
We have previously stated that if anything of such sins has to do with the rights of the servants, then one should clear himself from his liability of it.
Allah knows best.
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