17 
Repentance is defined as the inward’s aching over past sins. It is a fire that rages in the heart and a crack in one’s inside that cannot be sealed. And when taking into consideration the meaning of abstention, the definition of repentance then becomes: it is removing the attire of rejection and spreading the rug of loyalty. Sahl ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Tustarī said: ‘Repentance is replacing blameworthy actions with praiseworthy actions.’
The Prophet 
said: ‘All the children of Adam are sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent.’ People sin because of their human weakness, not because they are predestined to sin or it is in their nature to do so. There is also no concept of original sin in Islam, resulting from Adam and Eve eating from the Forbidden Tree in the Garden. In fact, the very first story in the Holy Qur’ān exonerates Eve from the burden of being the first one to eat from this tree. The Holy Qur’ān uses dual suffixed pronouns to refer to both Adam and Eve. So, they were both tempted and succumbed to temptation (and in a different chapter they both ate), and Satan caused their expulsion from the Garden. Adam received revealed words and Allah forgave him, these words explained to Adam the possibility of repentance and how to repent.
Every human being is born clean of any ancestral baggage, and everyone is responsible for his or her sins. And while it is most likely that people will sin – and that it is important to learn about sins in order to avoid them – one should know that repentance is the way out of a sinful life, and that Allah is the Forgiver, and He is also Oft-Forgiving because we sin often.
The Prophet reprimanded one of his Companions for cursing another Companion because he drank wine, saying that ‘he loves Allah and His Messenger.’ This is not to encourage wrongdoing; it is to show mercy towards people who have made mistakes in their lives.
The first step of repentance is to stop doing whatever sin one is engaged in, and to have a sincere intention not to do it again, and ask Allah for forgiveness. What more encouragement does one need than this verse of the Qur’ān that promises the sinner to turn his or her sins into good deeds: Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (Qur’ān 25:70)
17. Al-Ghazālī, Iḥyā’ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, edited by Sulaymān Dunyā, Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifah, pp. 4–5.
17 Flames of Repentance
17. Al-Ghazālī, Iḥyā’ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, edited by Sulaymān Dunyā, Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifah, pp. 4–5.