Hadith Qudsi about sincere repentance of a believer to Allah

TRANSLATION

Repent Sincerely to Allah

On the Authority of Anas bin Malik (R.A.) that the Prophet (S.A.W.) said:

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 DESCRIPTION

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. I-e Supplications (Dua), seeking forgiveness (Istighfar) and worship Allah and Allah alone (Tawhid).

It should be noted that these are not the only ways. Muslim scholars mention other means and ways of receiving forgiveness 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).