How Can We Remain Steadfast in Repentance?

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Dear beloved, those who have been following us have seen the wonderful response from the youth regarding the advice we gave about utilizing time and avoiding following series. And so that no one gets upset with us and says, "Why are you only addressing the youth? What about us who are in our sixties and seventies?" Let us agree that the definition of youth for this word is everyone under ninety years old.

Many of you, dear youth, have pledged to Allah to stop following what angers Him. Some of you said that you deleted hundreds of gigabytes of films from your devices that you had collected to watch later. Some of you removed Netflix from your devices. May Allah bring you joy and bless you, and this is great and beautiful—a heart turned towards goodness, heralding good things to come for the nation of Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family and companions, by the permission of Allah.

These words of mine are to help you remain steadfast in what you have returned to and not weaken. Also, many of the youth said, "I will try to stop following the forbidden." The word "I will try" often means "I will attempt to obey Allah." Because when you say "I will try," you have not yet been able to. But you know that Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity, so if you seek help from Allah, you will be able to.

But let me help you understand yourself a bit. "I will try" means "I will experiment." It means if I do not feel boredom, sadness, and dryness after leaving series, anime, and wasting hours on games, then I will continue to obey Allah. If I feel the good life you talk about after obeying Allah, then I will continue. But if I get bored or my life becomes dry, then I will have to return to these sins. So for your sake, those who think this way, I will address you with this word. For my words are to strengthen those who have come forward and to encourage those who are hesitant.

Look, dear youth, you need two things: burning the ships and attaching to the beloved.

Securing Repentance: Burning the Ships

Burning the ships and attachment to a beloved, what does this mean? First, regarding burning the ships: It is said that when Tariq bin Ziyad invaded Andalusia, he burned the ships he and his soldiers came with, and he told his soldiers, "The enemy is before you, and the sea is behind you." Meaning, do not think of fleeing, there are no two options: fighting the enemy or fleeing in the ships. There are no ships, so fleeing means drowning in the sea, so fight the enemy, it is better for you.

Now, regarding Tariq bin Ziyad burning the ships, it seems that this is not historically accurate, but we mentioned it to tell you: With Allah, burn your ships on the shore of the sky. Burn your ships if you want Allah to compensate you for what you left for His noble sake and make your life good, so do not think of the option of returning. Do not keep the line of return. In the foreign proverb, they say, "Do not break the bridges." No, with Allah, when you turn to Allah, break the bridges that can bring you back to His disobedience.

I was personally attached to music. I do not want to delve into the ruling on music here, and there is no doubt that music does not compare to films and series that are a complete package of prohibitions and corrupters of the heart. However, the point is simply that I became convinced that I must leave music for the sake of Allah, and that it was hindering me on my path to Him. At that time, people used tapes, there were no CDs or flash drives or anything. I remember when I held a tape with more of my favorite music clips, I broke it with my own hands as a declaration of burning the ships, a declaration of "breaking the bridges" that would bring me back to something I became convinced of its prohibition. And by Allah, He indeed replaced it with something better.

Therefore, I congratulate the youth who told me, "I deleted, I erased, I crossed out the films and their channels." May Allah bless your hands. When Allah revealed: "O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to idols], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful" [Al-Ma'idah: 90]. What did the Companions do? They broke the jugs of wine, the barrels of wine, and the wine flowed into the streets. Islam prohibits the wasting of money in general, but this breaking was like a declaration of breaking the attachment to wine from the hearts of the Companions.

Islam, O youth, means submitting to Allah, meaning there is no such thing as keeping a line of return, no such thing as one foot forward and one foot back, but rather turning to Allah without looking back, and you are certain that He will not let you go astray, because you are certain of His mercy and wisdom, glorified be He. "And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our command when they were patient."

A monk came after that and said, "Can I repent? I killed ninety-nine souls." He killed ninety-nine souls. "No, there is no repentance for you." "Why is there no repentance? Ruin upon ruin." The monk killed him, completing the hundred. The man, the poet within him, knew that Allah is more merciful than to turn him away and not accept his repentance, but he did not know what to do. He asked the most knowledgeable person on earth, who directed him to a scholar. He asked him, "Can I repent?" He said, "Yes, and who can prevent you from repentance? Go to such and such land, for there are people who worship Allah, so worship Allah with them, and do not return." Look, "and do not return to your land, for it is a land of evil."

You know the hadith about how this man went out and died on the way, so the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him. Allah changed his geography, leaving the land so that the man would be closer to the land of the righteous and enter him into His mercy. The point, O youth, did this man go out to the land of the righteous on an exploratory experimental trip to see if he liked it? Did he go out on a trial? Never. But he went out sacrificing his home, his companions, and his past, determined, it seems, to adhere to the command of the scholar who said to him, "And do not return to your land, for it is a land of evil." He will not return to disobedience. A man who burned his ships and turned to Allah sincerely. He did not do this except while being certain of Allah and His mercy and that He would not let him go astray, and for this reason, Allah forgave him even though he killed a hundred souls.

When you draw near to Allah with this sincere intention, what happens? The answer comes in the great hadith qudsi narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, where the Most Merciful says, "And whoever comes to Me by a span's length, I will come to him by a cubit's length. And whoever comes to Me by a cubit's length, I will come to him by a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I will come to him running."

O brother, what is this beauty? What is this beauty in our religion? What is this mercy, generosity, and divine affection? By your Lord, after this, will you try His obedience as an experiment, or will you throw yourself into His mercy with trust, submission, love, and glorification? Do you find it difficult to cut off the connection with the forbidden? Remember the saying of your Lord, glorified be He, in the hadith qudsi narrated by Muslim: "O My servants, all of you are astray except those whom I have guided, so seek guidance from Me, and I will guide you." Your Lord, who turns to you and commands you with obedience, tells you to seek help from Him. And whoever relies on Allah, He is sufficient for him. The highest rank of reliance is to rely on Allah in helping you to adhere to obedience.

So if you say to yourself, "I will try obeying Allah and leaving disobedience," allow me to tell you that you will fail the experiment. And the reason is known from your statement. For Allah is certain of Him and does not experiment. Allah is certain of Him and does not experiment. You will not taste the sweetness of faith if you want to try righteousness for a period and expel sins from your heart, but say to them, "Stay close, for I may need you again if my life dries up and I do not get what I hope for in comfort in the relationship with Allah." Then you give religion a chance and sit waiting for it to bring you conquests, revelations, and inspirations, until if nothing happens from that, you excuse yourself and say, "I tried religiosity and it did not bring me happiness."

No, turning to Allah is not an experiment. Meaning, when I decide to obey Allah, I will not do any forbidden act. And if I do a forbidden act, I will be a liar in my turning to Him. No, I do not say that to you. Thieves of evil will attack your heart, and they are the sins, but you see them at that moment as thieves and deal with them as thieves, so you seek help from Allah to expel them. "And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and do not persist in what they have done while they know" [Al-Imran: 135]. There is no persistence in the forbidden nor justification for the forbidden. So I fear that this is a trivialization and a bad opinion of Allah and not giving Allah His due right.

Therefore, this is the first reminder for those who said, "We will leave the forbidden" so that they may continue, and for those who hesitate until they turn. The reminder is to burn the ships with trust, faith, and submission to whom you are turning to, glorified be He. And expel sins from your life and deal with their attacks on you as thieves, seeking help from Allah against them.

Now, let's assume that my repentance was not in this form and that I fell into disobedience after repenting from it. Or rather, let's assume that I repented sincerely and burned my ships, and then after that, I returned to disobedience. Do I give up? Meaning, is it a one-time opportunity in life? Never. But you keep repenting and see where the flaw was to fix it and do not despair. And by the way, my beloved brother Dr. Ayman Khalil Abu Malal has a beautiful series titled "Managing Sins," eight short, beautiful, and nice episodes that I recommend.

Securing Repentance: Attaching to a Beloved

We said that the second thing we need, youth, after we spoke about the first, which is burning the ships, the second is attaching to a beloved. Attaching to a beloved so that you may continue in repentance. Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, has a very beautiful saying: "A person does not leave a beloved except for another beloved who is more beloved to him." A person does not leave a beloved except for another beloved who is more beloved to him, or out of fear of something disliked. The corrupt love is only removed from the heart by righteous love or by fear of harm. The corrupt love is only removed from the heart by righteous love or by fear of harm.

Meaning, in order to bear leaving what you are accustomed to of prohibitions, you need to have a motivation. What is this motivation? That you have another beloved whom you love more than these prohibitions. Who is more deserving of this love than Allah and His Messenger? To the extent of your love for Allah and His Messenger, it will be easy for you to leave prohibitions for the sake of Allah the Exalted.

Alright, and if the love of Allah is weak in my heart? Sacrifices increase love. When you leave the forbidden for the sake of Allah sincerely, meaning without return, Allah will reward you by making you taste the sweetness of faith. The sweetness of faith is much more beautiful than the sweetness of disobedience, making it easy for you to bear leaving disobedience. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Three things, if found in a person, he will find the sweetness of faith with them." What is the first one? "That Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to him than anything else." This love, people, is something you can acquire. When you leave the forbidden for the sake of Allah, Allah will make you taste the sweetness of faith that will make you dispense with the sweetness of disobedience.

Yes, but be careful, be careful of a very important point. This also requires you to draw near to Allah with effort. Do not sit after leaving the forbidden, content with your hands, and say, "I have left the forbidden, where is the good life?" No, be careful: "Whoever does good, whether male or female, and he is a believer, We will surely cause him to live a good life." If you do not find this good life, where is the flaw? In Allah's promise? Far be it from Allah. Allah's promise does not fail, but most people do not know. Allah the Exalted did not promise you the good life merely for leaving the forbidden, but: "Whoever does good, whether male or female, and he is a believer." You do good deeds and you are a believer, having complete certainty in Allah's wisdom and mercy.

Many of the youth are accustomed to laziness, so for him, leaving the forbidden means sitting and not learning what benefits him in his religion nor working with zeal and activity, then he does not find the pleasure of faith. No, what is required of you is to work. You read the Book of Allah the Exalted and learn it to love Allah the Exalted and glorify Him. You learn the biography of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to love him.

Be careful when you leave disobedience, symptoms of withdrawal may appear to you, like those that appear when quitting smoking or drugs, Allah protect us and you. You may go through a period where you feel pain from leaving what you were used to. Never mind, this is a test of sincerity. This is a test of sincerity. They suffered at first, but Allah aided them and replaced them with something better than what they were in.

And we are now, youth, in front of a great opportunity. Ramadan is at the door. Let us take from it a great spiritual charge. "And take provision, for the best provision is righteousness." We want this time to soar high, youth, after we used to advance then retreat, ascend then descend. No, this time is a real approach, not experimental, that will be a turning point in our lives, Allah willing.

Piety is Not Deprivation of Pleasures

And I conclude my word to you with an article I wrote titled: "Does Piety Mean Deprivation of Pleasures?" Does piety mean deprivation of pleasures? Listen:

If we think that uprightness means piety means dryness of life and deprivation of pleasures, then we have not understood our religion. It is the replacement of great, lofty pleasures for lowly pleasures. Uprightness is the replacement of great, lofty pleasures for lowly pleasures.

You used to delight in seeing a girl with makeup, and today your soul delights when your call is the reason she is covered and obedient to her Lord, Glorified and Exalted be He. You used to delight in attracting the attention of the youth to yourself, and today you delight in diverting their attention to the issues of their nation and the path of its glory. You used to delight in secret disobedience, and today your soul almost soars to the throne when a tear of love and longing for Allah descends from you in your seclusion, so that the saying applies to you: "And a man who mentions Allah alone, so his eye overflows with tears."

You used to delight in words of love and await from them or await from him: "I love you." And today you delight in hearing the words of your heedless male or female colleague saying to you: "You have made me love Allah and Islam." And you replay the tape of these words because they are on your heart and your heart is more beautiful than any melody they hear. You used to delight in wasting time with your companion and not caring about the burning of his mother's heart as she sees him lost, and today you delight in being a cause of his righteousness and earning her pleasure.

Your joys of yesterday were tainted and clouded, done with the feeling of guilt, and today your pure joy increases because Allah is pleased with you and your obedience and your turning to Him. You used to need to forget Allah to enjoy disobedience. You used to need to forget Allah to enjoy disobedience. And today, what pleases you most is Allah looking at you while you obey Him.

All of this requires you to move with your religion after your guidance to draw from your influence in the lives of people oil that fuels the flame of light in your heart to remain, and then you overflow with more light upon them. And in these meanings, I had previously composed verses long ago saying:

My joy is in knowledge I acquire that elevates and purifies the soul My joy is in tears I shed with longing for Allah, I conceal them For the tear outweighs in the balance all the earth and what is in it My joy is in a hadith I read about the best of people and their guidance So I feel the breaths of my beloved, peace be upon him So I feel the breaths of my beloved in my ribs, warming them My joy is in seeds I sow, perhaps my Lord will water them So I see one who neglected the Fajr prayer praying in the first row And a girl after her adornment has taken refuge in the veil of perfection Or one who disobeyed his mother now clinging to her feet in humility My joy is to be a source for children in the craft of their noble future The strength of faith and defiance that repels the plot of my enemies

Allah is Generous, youth, Allah is Generous. If you turn to Him sincerely, it is impossible for Him to reward you by drying up your life and depriving your heart of pleasures. If you do not find these pleasures, then review the sincerity of your turning to Him. I ask Allah to strengthen the guided ones and to bind the hearts of the hesitant ones and to gather us with you in the shade of His Throne and then in His Paradise. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.