about to close the grave, his body began to move, he removed his hand from the shroud, raised it and opened his eyes. I became fearful upon seeing this, but he smiled and said, ‘O Shaykh! Our Lord is very forgiving and merciful. He forgives those who do good and the sinners also.’ Saying this, he closed his eyes forever. (Hikayaat-ul-Saliheen, p. 78)

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                                  صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Dear Islamic brothers! Certainly, our Lord is very forgiving and merciful, and it is from His grace and benevolence, and a great mercy upon his slaves that He forgives them after they commit sins and gives them time to repent until their deaths. Thus, we should not be lazy in repenting, rather, we should repent immediately from all of our sins. Our Beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has also mentioned many virtues of repentance and the rewards that one attains through it. Let us listen to three statements of the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم regarding the virtues of repentance:

Virtues of repentance

1.   He صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, ‘اَلتَّآئِبُ مِنَ الذَّنۡبِ کَمَنۡ لَّاذَنۡبَ لَہ’, i.e. ‘The one who repents from a sin is like the one who has not committed a sin.’ ‘اَلتَّآئِبُ حَبِیۡبُ اللہِ’, i.e. ‘The one who repents is the friend of Allah Almighty.’ (Nawadir-ul-Usool, vol. 2, p. 760, Hadith 1030, selected)

2.   He صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, ‘Allah Almighty has spread out His mercy in the day and night for the disobedient person, through repentance, until the sun rises from the west.’ (Muslim, p. 1131, Hadith 6989, derived from)

3.   He صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, ‘If you commit so many sins that they reach the sky, and then you repent, Allah Almighty will surely accept your repentance.’ (Ibn-e-Majah, vol. 4, p. 490, Hadith 4248)

Dear Islamic brothers! You have heard that there are many virtues and blessings of repentance, undoubtedly, the wise person is the one who