Young man wants to repent

Reference: al-Muntaqaa min Fataawa Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan – Volume 1, Pages 282-283, Fatwa No.168

Question: I am a young man and want to repent to Allaah, so what should I do to avoid sins?

Response: Repenting to Allaah is obligatory, and hastening to do so is [also] obligatory; It is not permissible to delay repentence until a later time, because a person does not know when death will approach him.

Allaah (subhaanahu wa Ta’aala) says:

{Allaah accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness and repent soon (i.e., afterwards); it is they whom Allaah will forgive…}, soorah an-Nisaa, aayah 17

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

«Follow up a bad deed with a good deed, to cancel it out», transmitted by at-Tirmidhee 6/204 from the hadeeth of Abu Dharr

And the meaning of:

«Follow up»

…is to hasten; So from the etiquettes of repenting is to hasten to do so and not delay it.

Likewise, once you have repented, you are required to avoid everything which assisted you in committing sin; So you must avoid evil friends and gatherings of evil, because they are the cause for you committing these sins. [Instead] you should seek the company and gatherings of the good, and you should be diligent in attending circles of Islaamic knowledge and [the] remembrance [of Allaah]. Be sure to come early to the masjid [for prayer] and increase in the recitation of the Qur.aan and the remebrance of Allaah (subhaanahu wa Ta’aala). This is what is befitting for the repenter to Allaah [to do]; That he avoids everything which assists him in sinning, and that he draws near to all that is good and that which assists in the worship [of Allaah].

He is a graduate of the Islaamic University of Madeenah, having graduated from the Institute of Arabic Language, and later the Faculty of Sharee'ah in 2004. He currently resides in Birmingham, UK.

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