42nd Hadith - Repentance (Tirmidhi: 3540)

الحديث الثاني والأربعون 

عَنْ أَنَسٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ : سَمِعْتُ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ صَلَّى الله عليه وسلم يَقُوْلُ : قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى : يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، إِنَّكَ مَا دَعَوْتَنِي وَرَجَوْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ عَلَى مَاكَانَ مِنْكَ وَلاَ أُبَالِي، يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوْبُكَ عَنَانَ السَّماَءِ ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ، يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، إِنَّكَ لَوْ أَتَيْتَنِي بِقُرَابِ اْلأَرْضِ خَطاَياَ ثُمَّ لَقِيْتَنِي لاَ تُشْرِكْ بِي شَيْئاً لأَتَيْتُكَ بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً

رواه الترمذي وقال حديث حسن صحيح

42nd Hadith - Translation

From Anas Bin Malik (R.A.), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah S.A.W.) say:  

“Allah the Almighty has said: 'O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.”  (Tirmidhi: 3540)

Brief Narration

The main message of this hadith is calling upon Muslims to repent sincerely to Allah and to seek His forgiveness. 

This hadith mentions three ways which lead to Allah's forgiveness.

1- The first one is Al-Dua which means to supplicate Allah. Allah says in Quran:  

“And your Lord said: Call upon me, I will respond to you.” (Surah Ghafir: 40:60)

2- The second means that leads us to receive Allah's forgiveness is ‘istighfar’ (seeking forgiveness), even if someone has committed many sins. What is meant by seeking forgiveness is the ‘istighfar’ that is linked to repentance which in turn also necessitates that the Muslim gives up committing sins and does not persist on doing them. ‘Istighfar’ is a form of worship. The Muslim has to do and perform a lot of ‘istighfar’ every day. Allah commanded us to make ‘istighfar’ and praised those who perform ‘istighfar’. Allah says in Surah Al-Zumar (39:53): 

“O My servants, who have transgressed against themselves! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly He is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Surah Al-Zumar: 39:53)

“Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly gone far astray.” (Surah An-Nisa: 4:116)

It should be noted that these are not the only ways. Muslim scholars mention other means and ways of receiving forgiveness, as we have seen in previous hadiths, such as running into hardships, being put on trial, sickness, patience, the torture in the grave, avoiding the major sins, the horrible situations on the Day of Judgement, following the Prophet (S.A.W.) to perform the pillars of Islam, fasting specific days such as the 'Day of Ashura' (10th of Muharram) and the 'Day of Arafah' (9th of Dhu al-Hijjah) and the intercession (Shafaah) of the Prophet (S.A.W.) and the intercession of the believers (which is conditional to Allah's permission and He being pleased with the person).

(Reference: Commentary of Forty Hadiths of An-Nawawi by Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi)