THE ACCEPTANCE OF REPENTANCE

إِنَّمَا التَّوْبَةُ عَلَى اللَّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِنْ قَرِيبٍ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا {4:17}

[Q4:17] Innamat tawbatu 'alallaahi lillazeena ya'maloonas sooo'a bijahaalatin summa yatooboona min qareebin faulaaika yatoobul laahu 'alaihim; wa kaanal laahu 'Aleeman Hakeemaa.

[Q4:17] Repentance with ALLAH (SWT) is only for those who do evil in ignorance, then turn (to ALLAH (SWT) soon, so these it is to whom ALLAH (SWT) turns (mercifully), and ALLAH (SWT) is ever Knowing, Wise.

[Q4:17] Sesungguhnya penerimaan taubat itu disanggup oleh ALLAH (SwT) hanya bagi orang-orang yang melakukan kejahatan disebabkan (sifat) kejahilan kemudian mereka segera bertaubat, maka (dengan adanya dua sebab itu) mereka diterima ALLAH (SwT) taubatnya; dan (ingatlah) ALLAH (SwT) Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Bijaksana. 

IF THEY SINCERELY REPENT AND REFORM, ALLAH (SWT) accepts repentance because He is merciful.

ù  REPENTANCE HAS FOR ITS ELEMENTS:-

(i)    No premeditation but ignorance,

(ii)   Immediate realisation of the offence,

(iii) Enlightenment of the heart,

(iv) Detestation of the sin,

(v)   A resolve to avoid it in the future,

(vi) An earnest craving for ALLAH (SWT)'s forgiveness.

**It is stated that a faithful commits a sin, inspite of the knowledge of the law, under the satanic influence, in a fit of passion or in a moment of forgetfulness.

ä  ALLAH (SWT) DOES NOT ACCEPT THE REPENTANCE of those [1] who continue indulging in sin until death draws near, [2] nor of those who die disbelieving.

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(4:17) (And remember that) Allah's acceptance of repentance is only for those who commit evil out of ignorance and then soon repent. It is towards such persons that Allah turns graciously. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَ وَلَا الَّذِينَ يَمُوتُونَ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا {4:18}

[Q4:18]  Wa laisatit tawbatu lillazeena ya'maloonas saiyiaati hattaaa izaa hadara ahadahumul mawtu qaala innee tubtul 'aana wa lallazeena yamootoona wa hum kuffaar; ulaaa'ika a'tadnaa lahum 'azaaban aleemaa.
[Q4:18] And repentance is not for those who go on doing evil deeds, until when death comes to one of them, he says: Surely now I repent; nor (for) those who die while they are unbelievers. These are they for whom We have prepared a painful chastisement.

[Q4:18] Dan tidak ada gunanya taubat itu kepada orang-orang yang selalu melakukan kejahatan, hingga apabila salah seorang dari mereka hampir mati, berkatalah ia: Sesungguhnya aku bertaubat sekarang ini, (sedang taubatnya itu sudah terlambat) dan (demikian juga halnya) orang-orang yang mati sedang mereka tetap kafir. Orang-orang yang demikian, Kami telah sediakan bagi mereka azab seksa yang tidak terperi sakitnya.

THESE TWO VERSES (17 & 18) clearly state that the acceptance of repentance in the first depends upon the intention of the sinner, i.e.,

[1] The sinner should not have done it intentionally, i.e.,

[2] In ignorance of the law of retribution.

IT IS SAID THAT EVERY SIN A ‘MOMIN’, I.E., A BELIEVER COMMITS IN SPITE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW IS BASICALLY DUE TO HIS OR HER BEING DELUDED BY **SATANIC ATTRACTIONS AND **TEMPTATIONS. HOWEVER, if a sinner repents and amends his conduct soon in any case before death there is hope for his being pardoned.

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(4:18) But of no avail is repentance of those who do evil until death approaches any one of them and then he says: 'Now I repent.' Nor is the repentance of those who die in the state of unbelief of any avail to them. For them We have kept in readiness a painful chastisement. *27

*27. The Arabic word tawbah means 'to return, to come back'. A man's tawbah after he has sinned means that God's servant, who had turned away from his Master in disobedience, has repented, and has returned to obedience and service. On the other hand, tawbah on the part of God means that the attention of the Master, which had turned away from His erring servant, has once again turned towards him. In this verse, however, God makes it clear to His servants that tawbah is acceptable only from those who commit errors inadvertently and out of ignorance. Such persons will always find the door of God open for them whenever they turn to Him in repentance.
BUT this tawbah is not for those who pile sin upon sin throughout their lives in sheer indifference to God and who cry for pardon as soon as they see the angel of death approaching. The Prophet (peace be on him) has warned against this attitude in the following words: 'God accepts the repentance of a slave until the gurgling (of death) begins.' (Tirmidhi, 'Da'wat', 98; Ibn Majah, 'Zuhd', 30; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2, pp. 132 and 153, and vol. 3, pp. 425 - Ed.) For when the last leaf of a man's book of life has been turned, what opportunity remains for a man to return to righteous conduct? Likewise, if a person spends even the very last moment of his life in a state of disbelief and then on the threshold of the Next Life he comes to discover that the facts are quite contrary to what he had imagined, what sense is there for him to seek forgiveness?