What is Tawbatun Nasuh?
What is Tawba Nasooh? How should it be made? What is the importance of Tawba Nasooh? How is Tawbatun nasuh made? How has Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) described Tawba Nasooh?
“O ye who believe! Turn unto Allah in tawbatun nasuh (sincere repentance)!" (At Tahrim, 8)
Nasooh means to abandon a sin, to resolve and endeavor not to repeat it with complete commitment.
“Tawba Nasooh” is the tawba (repentance) which is made just for the sake of Allah swt with great sincerity and which is clean- pure and far from mistakes and stains.
Tawba Nasooh (sincere repentance) is to clean the heart from the sin leaving no trace of it and moreover, to cure the wound made by the sin in the heart and compensate its damage to faith and deeds.
Tawba Nasooh is the tawba that is made to abandon the sin permanently
Tawba Nasooh is such a tawba that when a person commits a sin and reconsiders it, he repents so much that he never ever repeats his sin till the end of his life. This is “tawba nasooh”, in other words the tawba that is made for the purpose of never repeating the sin. (Ahmad bin Asim Antake)
For a proper tawba, it isn’t enough to make istigfar only with the tongue. The intention and the deeds should confirm the tongue. The most superior, valuable and accepted tawba is to ask Allah swt for His forgiveness definitely quitting the sin and never returning to it again. This is called “Tawba Nasooh”. (Islamic Fıqh Encyclopaedia)
Description of Tawba Nasooh by Our Prophet (pbuh):
When Our Prophet (swt) mentioned about Tawba, Muaz bin Jabal (ra) asked what tawba nasooh was and the Prophet pbuh replied:
“ Tawba Nasooh is to be regretful for the sin that was committed, to ask for forgiveness of Allah (swt) (magfirah), not to return to the same sin again.” (Bayhaqi)
Hassan Basri (ra) interprets Tawba Nasooh as:
1. To be regretful and ashamed in the heart.
2. To make istigfar and to seek forgiveness of Allah with the tongue
3. To quit the sin with the parts of the body
4. To resolve to never repeat the sin.
How should Tawba Nasooh be made?
There are four essentials to follow for a Tawbatun nasuh:
1. Istighfar with the tongue
2. To abandon the sin with the part of the body committed the sin
3. To resolve to never repeat the sin that was committed
4. To leave the harmful friends who are encouraging to commit sin.
The one who makes tawba nasooh is “brought into Gardens underneath which rivers flow”
“O ye who believe! Turn unto Allah in tawbatun nasuh (sincere repentance)! It may be that your Lord will remit from you your evil deeds and bring you into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, on the day when Allah will not abase the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their light will run before them and on their right hands; they will say: Our Lord! Perfect our light for us, and forgive us! Lo! Thou art Able to do all things.” (At-Tahrim, 8)