“O Allah! You are my Lord. There is no god but You. You created me and I am Your slave. I am true to Your covenant and promise as much as I am able. I seek refuge in you from the wrongs I have done. I admit to You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I admit to You my sins. So forgive me, for none forgives sins but You.”

The Prophet, Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Aalihi Wa Sallam said, “If somebody recites it (the above duaa) during the day with firm faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the morning he will be from the people of Paradise.”
(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 75, Number 318)
Undoubtedly, it’s the human nature and tendency to commit sins and to make mistakes, for man is created weak and imperfect. The sins vary from person to person, place to place and time to time. When we look back, when we were a kid; sins, wrongdoing, disobedience to our Lord were unfamiliar concepts. Later, when we grew up, we got well acquainted with all these. We then experienced the crescendo – the point of time where we began to sin more often…slowly we began to sin upon sin…
To err is human. But to deny it is inhumane. We are the progeny of the great progenitor Adam (a.s). And every son of Adam does transgress, as it is evident from the following hadith –
Rasool Allaah (Saw) said:
“Every son of Adam sins, and the best of those who sin are those who repent.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2499)
It is imperative to know that sins have an impact on our hearts. If you knew the corollary of sins on the heart, then you wouldn’t have ever wronged yourself!
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “If a believer commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart. If he repents, gives it up and seeks forgiveness, his heart is cleansed, but if he does more, then (that spot) increases until it covers his heart.” (Ahmad (8792) and Al-Tirmidhi (3334))
That is the “raan” (covering of sin) which Allah mentioned in the Qur’aan: “Nay! But on their hearts is the Raan (covering of sins and evil deeds) which they used to earn” (Al-Mutaffafeen 83:14)
Another interpretation of this same ayat called the covering of sins and wicked deeds over the heart as rust. Here’s the analogy between rust and sins –
Rust causes weakening of the metal bonds, which in turn causes damage to the metal structure. Likewise, sins lead to weakening of our bonds with Allah and thus detriment our Iman (faith).
Furthermore, rust decreases the aesthetic value of any metal object and similarly sins decrease the self-value of oneself in front of Allah. As soon as rust starts to develop, it spreads gradually all over the surface until it is removed. Analogously, when a person develops a habit of sinning, he persists and prolongs it until his conscience makes him aware of his actions.
The conscience of a person, in acknowledging what is right and what is wrong, is very significant. It is due to the consciousness which makes a person scrupulous. He scruples and hesitates because he regards the sin as improper and morally wrong and thus advances towards repenting to Allah. We all are born with this conscience, it’s part of our Fitrah, our nature. As we grow, we often ignore it, or the norms of the society causes us to change it.
Repentance is required for all sins, great or small, apparent or hidden. Since sin puts distance between the soul and Allah, during repentance the servant turns back to Allah. And when a soul repents and returns to Him, Allah turns back to His servant in acceptance and forgiveness. Thus Allah has named Himself as At Tawwab (The Acceptor of Repentance).
A prerequisite to repentance is the knowledge and admission of sin. Here, knowledge means acknowledging the consequences and aftermath of the sin committed and it also means to consider the reason due to which he fell into sin. Succinctly, admission of the sin means confessing about the sin to Allah.
Before repenting, a person should pinpoint the source of sin. Pondering upon the source and origin of sin will lead to its cessation if a person sincerely intends to repent.
Follow the three R’s after committing a sin – Regret, Repent and Reflect.
May Allah forgive the sins committed in the darkness of the night and in the brightness of the day…Ameen
Maha Bint Nayeem,
Writer, AAT