Allaah Accepts Repentance
From Abu Sa’eed -radiAllaahu anhu- that the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ who said:
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ قَالَ: وَعِزَّتِكَ يَا رَبِّ لَا أَبْرَحُ أُغْوِي عِبَادَكَ مَا دَامَتْ أَرْوَاحُهُمْ فِي أَجْسَادِهِمْ، فَقَالَ الرَّبُّ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى: وَعِزَّتِي وَجَلَالِي لَا أَزَالُ أَغْفِرُ لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَغْفَرُونِيُ
‘Indeed the Shaytaan said: By Your Honour my Lord I will continue to mislead Your worshippers as long as their souls are in their bodies.
So the Lord Tabaraka wa Ta’ala said: By My Honour and Magnificence I will still forgive them as long as they seek forgiveness from Me.’
[Collected by Al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, declared Hasan by Ibn Hajr, Ahmad Shakir and Albaani in Saheehah 1/212 & Saheeh Targheeb no. 1617]
From Anas bin Malik who said: I was with the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- and a man came and said: ‘
‘O Messenger of Allaah, indeed I have committed a sin which requires a major punishment, so apply it to me.’
Anas said: ‘The Prophet did not ask him about it. When the time for prayer came in he prayed with the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam. So when the Prophet had finished the prayer the man went to the Prophet and said : O Messenger of Allaah indeed I have committed a sin which requires a major punishment, so apply the Book of Allaah to me.’
قَالَ : أَلَيْسَ قَدْ صَلَّيْتَ مَعَنَا ؟ قَالَ : نَعَمْ ،
The Prophet said : ‘Did you not just pray with us? ‘
He answered: ‘Yes.’
قَالَ : فَإِنَّ اللهَ قَدْ غَفَرَ لَكَ ذَنْبَكَ ، أَوْ قَالَ : حَدَّكَ.
The Prophet said: ‘Indeed Allaah has forgiven for you your sin. Or he said: ‘your requiring a punishment.’
[Bukhari and Muslim]
The people of knowledge wrote chapters and collected Ahadeeth regarding the subject of concealing sins.
Bukhari in his book ‘Saheeh al-Bukhari’ wrote a chapter heading: ‘chapter: the believer conceals himself’
Bukhari in his book ‘al-Adab al-Mufrad’ – ‘Chapter: Whoever concealed sins of a Muslim’
Nawawee wrote the chapter headings in ‘Saheeh Muslim’ – ‘Chapter: The prohibition of a Muslim exposing the concealment of his own sins’
Ibn Majah in his ‘Sunnan’ – ‘Chapter: concealing a believer’s sins’
Baghawi wrote in ‘chapter: the prohibition of following up/chasing up the sins of the Muslims and chapter concealment of sins’ Ibn muflih al-Hanbalee in his book ‘al-Adaab ash-Sharia’.
Many of the scholars of tafseer mentioned this subject in the explanation of the Ayaat of repentance.
From Maymoon who said:
مَنْ أَسَاءَ سِرّاً، فَلْيَتُبْ سِرّاً، وَمَنْ أَسَاءَ عَلاَنِيَةً، فَلْيَتُبْ عَلاَنِيَةً فَإِنَّ النَّاسَ يُعَيِّرُوْنَ وَلاَ يَغْفِرُوْنَ، وَالله يَغْفِرُ وَلاَ يُعَيِّرُ.
‘Whoever does an evil deed secretly then he should repent secretly and whoever did an evil deed openly then he should repent openly. Indeed the people rebuke and condemn and do not forgive but Allaah forgives and does not condemn.
[Seera a’alam 9/8]