Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

AS SALAM-O-ALAIKUM W.W

When i was a teenager, i misbehaved with my sister and brother these are two separate incidents.

1. when my sister was sleeping i quietly went to her and touched her private parts and made her touch mine, but now i am extremly ashamed of it. i dont know how to seek forgivenss.

2. same with my brother, but with i tried to have intercourse while he was sleeping but it didnt happen ..

I dont know how to seek forgiveness, i dont have courage to upto them and tell what i did few years back, and hamper family relation. because it will obviusly create friction in the family. nobody will ever forgive me.. plz tell what to do.

i feel so much guilt that ,i havent committed such sins from then with ALMIGHTY`S grace respond me in the way PROPHET (pbuh) would have replied.

i would be looking for your reply .please reply as soonas possible.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Repentance

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 12:

12      …….He (Allah Subhanah) has inscribed (or made incumbent) for Himself (the rule of) Mercy!

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6631     Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘There are one hundred (parts of the) Mercy of Allah and He has sent down out of this (hundred), only one part of Mercy upon all the Jinn, and human beings, and the creatures…. and it is because of this (one part of the Mercy of the Lord) that they love one another, show kindness to one another and even the beast treats its young one with affection! ….and Allah has reserved ninety-nine parts of Mercy with which He would treat His servants on the Day of Resurrection.

But it is indeed nothing but His Infinite Grace and Favor that The Lord Most Gracious Most Benevolent has inscribed and made it incumbent upon Himself to apply the Rule of Mercy towards His believing slaves…..for He, without an iota of a doubt, is indeed the Most Merciful of all those that show mercy!

If one is still not satisfied with such sublime Mercy and Grace of the Lord Most Gracious….the Lord absolutely overwhelms in His Rule of Mercy and Declares and Decrees that one who commits evil and seeks sincere repentance….He will not only wipe out every single evil deed the person committed, He will change their evil deeds into good deeds in His Book of Records!!!!!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqaan verses 63-71:

The (true) servants of the Merciful are those who walk humbly on the earth.   When the ignorant people behave insolently towards them,  they say, “Peace to you”;  (And those) who pass their nights in prostrating themselves and standing before their Lord and pray, “O our Lord,  save us from the torment of Hell,  for its torment is killing!  It is an evil abode,  and an evil resting place”.  (And those) who,  when they spend are neither extravagant,  nor miserly,  but keep the golden mean between the two extremes.  (And those) who do not invoke any god but Allah Alone,  nor kill a soul unjustly,  which Allah has forbidden,  nor commit adultery… He who does this shall be punished for his sin,  and his torment shall be doubled on the Day of Resurrection,  and he shall abide in a state of ignominy;  EXCEPT THE ONE WHO MAY HAVE REPENTED (AFTER THOSE SINS),  AND HAVE BELIEVED AND DONE RIGHTEOUS DEEDS.   For then,  Allah will change his evil deeds into good deeds,  and He is very Forgiving and Merciful.   In fact,  one who repents and does righteous deeds,  returns to Allah as one rightly should!

Is there any in the whole of the universe who is or can ever even claim to be as Compassionate, or as Benevolent, or as Merciful as the One Who is the Most Merciful??

My dear beloved sister in Islam,

The only solution to your unimaginable actions is that you make sincere taubah to Allah swt and humbly ask for His forgiveness and make a solemn promise that you will never ever do such abominations again. InshaAllah you will find you Majestic Lord and Creator very forgiving and merciful.

The conditions or ways to seek sincere Taubah or Repentance from the Merciful Lord are:

• One is aware that he has sinned, and feels sorry and ashamed at his sin.
• Makes a solemn covenant and promise with Allah that he will not repeat his sin again.
• Turns to Allah and seeks forgiveness, before he has met with his appointment of death.
• Is a believer and does righteous good deeds thereafter.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 442         Narrated by Anas ibn Malik

Anas heard the Prophet (saws) say: ‘Allah, the Exalted, has Said: "O son of Adam! Certainly I shall continue to pardon thee so long as thou supplicate Me and hope (for My forgiveness), whatever may be thy faults and sins, I don't care. O son of Adam, even if thy sins pile up as high as the sky, and thou ask for My forgiveness, I will forgive thee.  O son of Adam, if thou comes to Me with an earthful of defaults and meet Me, not associating anything with Me, I will come to thee, with an earthful of forgiveness!"

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6499     Narrated by Abu Dharr

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, stated: 'He who comes with goodness, there are in store for him ten like those and even more than those….And he who comes with vice, it is only for that that he is called to account. I even forgive him (as I like); and he who draws close to Me by the span of a palm I draw close to him by the cubit, and he who draws close to Me by the cubit I draw close to him by the space (covered) by two hands, and he who walks towards Me I rush towards him, and he who meets Me in the state that his sins fill the earth, but not associating anything with Me, I would meet Him with the same (vastness) of pardon (on My behalf)."

Dear and beloved sister in Islam, Whatever deeds one might have done in one’s past, if one turns to Allah Subhanah in sincere ‘Taubah’ and seeks forgiveness, it is expected that they will find their Lord Forgiving and Merciful. 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2357 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who repents of a sin is like him who has committed no sin."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2338        Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Allah accepts a servant's repentance (taubah) till he gives up his spirit in death."

I dont know how to seek forgiveness, i dont have courage to upto them and tell what i did few years back, and hamper family relation. because it will obviusly create friction in the family. nobody will ever forgive me..plz tell what to do:

It does not behove and befit a believer, who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day, that when Allah Subhanah has covered and hidden the evil that has transpired in one’s past, to go around and expose it themselves!!!

Beloved sister, it would be prudent never ever to expose the evil one might have done in one’s past to anyone, especially after The Lord Most Gracious has concealed them Himself.   

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2492        Narrated by Hudhayfah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "It is not fitting for a believer to demean himself." On being asked how he could demean himself he (saws) replied, "By exposing himself to a calamity which he has not the capacity to endure."

It would be best and purest to confess the sins one might have committed or the evil that might have transpired in one’s past to none save Allah Subhanah; and never ever expose those deeds of the past which one is ashamed of to anyone in creation, especially after Allah Subhanah, in His Grace and Mercy, has concealed those deeds Himself. 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is only ones. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

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