Never Despair: The Mercy of Allah and the Power of Repentance
[Arabic,إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ. ]
Indeed, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, seek His help, and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil within ourselves and from the consequences of our wrong actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide; whomsoever He leaves astray, none can guide. I bear witness there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah alone without partner, and Muhammad ﷺ is His servant and Messenger.
Part One: The Infinite Mercy of Allah
Brothers,
Today we speak about repentance, forgiveness, and the vast mercy of Allah. These are not abstract ideas—they are urgent realities for every single one of us. Every one of us sins. Every one of us slips. But what matters is not how many times we fall—it is whether we get back up and turn back to Allah, or whether we give up in despair.
There is a poison that kills more souls than any drug, any crime, any mistake. That poison is despair. It is the belief that your past has ruined your future. That what you did defines who you are forever. That Allah will not accept you because of where you have been or what you have done.
This poison does not come from Allah. It comes from Shaytan.
[Quran,12:87,"and do not despair of Allah's mercy. Surely no one despairs of Allah's mercy except the people who disbelieve."]
[Quran,39:53,"Say, ˹O Prophet, that Allah says,˺ 'O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah's mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'"]
Let these words sink in: Allah calls you His servant even after you have sinned. He does not say "O you criminals," or "O you failures." He says "O My servants." You are still His. You still belong to Him. And He is still calling you back.
Now listen carefully to what Allah says about those who turn back to Him:
[Quran,2:222,"Indeed, Allah loves those who always turn to Him in repentance and those who purify themselves."]
Allah does not just tolerate your repentance. He loves it. He loves those who repent. That means when you turn back to Him with a sincere heart, Allah loves you in that moment. Think about that. The Creator of the heavens and the earth—the One who needs nothing and no one—loves you when you turn to Him in humility and regret.
[Quran,4:110,"And whoever commits evil or wrongs themselves then seeks Allah's forgiveness will certainly find Allah All-Forgiving, Most Merciful."]
Notice the guarantee in this verse: "will certainly find Allah All-Forgiving." Not maybe. Not if you are lucky. Certainly. If you seek His forgiveness with sincerity, you will find Him ready to forgive.
But what about the really big sins? What about murder? What about a life of crime? What about someone who has hurt innocent people, destroyed lives, broken families?
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ answered this question with a story. Listen to it carefully, because this story destroys every excuse we make about our past.
The Story of the Man Who Killed One Hundred
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"There was a man from the Children of Israel who killed ninety-nine people. Then he went out seeking repentance and came upon a monk. He asked him, 'I have killed ninety-nine people. Is there any repentance for me?' The monk said, 'No.' So the man killed him and made him the hundredth. Then he asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth and was directed to a scholar. He came to him and said, 'I have killed one hundred people. Is there any repentance for me?' The scholar said, 'Yes. And who can stand between you and repentance? But go to such-and-such land, for in it are people who worship Allah. Go and worship Allah with them. And do not return to your land, for it is an evil place.' So the man set out, and when he reached halfway, death came to him. The angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him. The angels of mercy said, 'He came repenting, turning his heart to Allah.' The angels of punishment said, 'He never did any good deed.' Then an angel came in the form of a man to judge between them. He said, 'Measure the distance between the two lands. Whichever he is closer to, that is where he belongs.' They measured and found that he was closer to the land he was heading toward by a handspan. So the angels of mercy took him."]
In another narration, it says that Allah commanded the land of evil to move away and the land of goodness to come closer. Even the earth itself was made to testify in favor of this man's repentance.
Stop and think about what this story teaches us.
This man killed ninety-nine people. Not one. Not two. Ninety-nine human beings. Then he killed the monk—someone who should have given him hope—and made it an even hundred. One hundred murders. One hundred families destroyed. One hundred lives taken.
And yet, when he turned to Allah with sincere intention and took one step toward change, Allah forgave him. He died on the journey. He never reached the righteous land. He never prayed. He never fasted. He never gave charity. He did not perform Hajj or even one prostration.
But he turned his heart toward Allah and moved his feet in the direction of repentance—and that was enough.
What This Story Teaches About Allah's Mercy
First, no sin is too great for Allah. If He can forgive one hundred murders, what sin are you holding that you think is beyond His reach? Drugs? Theft? Assault? Lying? Abandoning your family? Betraying your brothers? Whatever it is, it does not compare to one hundred lives taken.
[Hadith,Muslim,"Allah says: 'O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you to face Me, not associating anything with Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as the earth.'"]
Second, the story teaches us that despair itself is a sin. The monk said, "No, there is no repentance for you." That was a lie from ignorance. And it cost the monk his life. When you tell yourself, "Allah will never forgive me," or "I am too far gone," you are repeating the same lie. You are closing a door that Allah has left wide open.
[Quran,3:135,"˹They are˺ those who, upon committing an evil deed or wronging themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness and do not knowingly persist in sin—and who forgives sins except Allah?"]
Third, the story shows that true repentance requires action. The scholar did not just say, "You are forgiven, go home." He said, "Leave your land. It is an evil place. Go to a land where people worship Allah."
Repentance is not just words. It is movement. It is changing your environment, your friends, your routine, your influences. You cannot repent from drugs and still hang around the same people. You cannot repent from violence and still engage in the same beefs. You cannot repent from lying and still surround yourself with liars.
The man in the story physically left his town. Here at LECI, you cannot always change your physical location. But you can change your spiritual location. You can change who you sit with in the chow hall. Who you talk to in the block. What you read. What you listen to. How you spend your rec time.
You can move toward the people who worship Allah and away from the people who mock Him.
[Quote,Imam An-Nawawi,Sharh Sahih Muslim,"This hadith proves that repentance from all sins is valid—even major sins and repeated murder—if the repentance is sincere and accompanied by a change of direction."]
[Quote,Ibn Hajar,Fath al-Bari,"The scholar gave not just a fatwa, but advice: leave evil environments and join righteous company. True repentance requires action, not just regret."]
Fourth, the story teaches that Allah judges by direction, not by distance. The man died halfway. He never reached his destination. But because he was heading toward the righteous land, Allah counted him among the righteous.
Brothers, you may never live to see the full results of your repentance. You may never become a hafiz, a scholar, or a perfect Muslim. But if you die heading in the right direction—if your face is turned toward Allah when death comes—then Allah may write you among the people of Paradise.
[Quote,Ibn al-Qayyim,Madarij as-Salikeen,"He did not pray, fast, or worship—but he turned his heart toward Allah and took a step. That step made him a man of Paradise."]
Fifth, this story shows us that Allah's mercy is not based on what we deserve. It is based on who He is. The man deserved punishment. He deserved hellfire. But Allah is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem—the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. His mercy is not reactive—it is proactive. It reaches out to you before you even reach for it.
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"Allah has divided mercy into one hundred parts. He kept ninety-nine parts with Him and sent down one part to earth. From that one part, all creatures show mercy to one another—even a mare lifts her hoof away from her foal lest she hurt it. And when the Day of Resurrection comes, Allah will complete His mercy."]
If all the mercy we see on earth—from mothers to children, from friends to strangers, from animals to their young—is only one percent of Allah's total mercy, what do you think the other ninety-nine percent looks like?
[Quote,Ibn al-Qayyim,Madarij as-Salikeen,"The door of repentance is so vast that if the heavens and the earth were filled with sins, one sincere tear of repentance would erase it all."]
Part Two: Turning to Allah in LECI
Now that we have understood the vastness of Allah's mercy and the story of the man who killed one hundred, the question becomes: What do we do with this knowledge?
Because knowledge without action is a proof against you, not for you.
The Conditions of Sincere Repentance
The scholars of Islam have outlined three essential conditions for repentance to be accepted:
First, you must stop the sin. You cannot claim to repent from stealing while you are still stealing. You cannot repent from gossip while your tongue is still spreading lies. Repentance begins with stopping.
Second, you must feel genuine regret. Not just fear of punishment, but true remorse that you disobeyed the One who created you, feeds you, gives you air to breathe and a heart that beats. Regret that you hurt others. Regret that you wasted time and damaged your soul.
[Hadith,Ibn Majah,"Remorse is repentance."]
Third, you must have a firm intention never to return to that sin. Not "I will try." Not "I hope I do not." But a real decision: I will not go back to this. I would rather die than do this again.
And if the sin involved wronging another person, there is a fourth condition: you must make it right. Return stolen property. Apologize to those you hurt. Seek their forgiveness. Free yourself from the rights you owe others, because Allah may forgive His rights, but He does not forgive the rights of His servants until they forgive you.
What Turning to Allah Looks Like at LECI
So what does real tawbah look like in a place like this?
It looks like waking up for Fajr when everyone else is asleep. It looks like lowering your gaze when the TV is on. It looks like walking away from a conversation when it turns to backbiting. It looks like controlling your anger when someone disrespects you, because you fear Allah more than you fear looking weak.
It looks like using your time to memorize Quran instead of watching the same reruns. It looks like writing letters to your family asking for forgiveness instead of making excuses. It looks like being honest when you could lie and get away with it.
It looks like sitting with the brothers who pray instead of the brothers who mock prayer. It looks like giving sadaqah from your canteen—even if it is small—to someone who has nothing. It looks like choosing silence over arguing, even when you are right.
Turning to Allah here means recognizing that even though you cannot control your physical surroundings, you can control your heart. Your intentions. Your actions within the limits you have.
[Quran,13:11,"Indeed, Allah would never change a people's state ˹of favour˺ until they change their own state ˹of faith˺."]
Allah does not ask you to do what you cannot do. He does not ask you to go to a different land when you are locked in. But He does ask you to turn your heart toward Him, to take whatever steps you can, and to trust that He will meet you more than halfway.
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"Allah says: 'Whoever draws near to Me by a hand span, I draw near to him by an arm's length. Whoever draws near to Me by an arm's length, I draw near to him by the distance between two outstretched arms. And whoever comes to Me walking, I come to him running.'"]
The Traps of Shaytan After Repentance
Brothers, understand this: Shaytan does not give up when you repent. He switches tactics.
Before you repent, he whispers, "Do it. It is not that bad. Everyone does it. You can repent later."
After you repent, he whispers, "It is too late. Allah will never forgive you. You are a hypocrite. You will just sin again anyway. Why even try?"
Both whispers come from the same source—the accursed enemy who has vowed to mislead the children of Adam until the Day of Judgment.
[Quran,7:16-17,"Iblis responded, 'For leaving me to stray I will lie in wait for them on Your Straight Path. I will approach them from their front, their back, their right, their left, and then You will find most of them ungrateful.'"]
One of his most effective weapons is to make you despair. To convince you that you are beyond hope. This is a lie.
[Quran,15:56,"He exclaimed, 'Who would despair of the mercy of their Lord except the misguided?'"]
Be ashamed of your sins—yes. But never be ashamed to return to Allah. Never let your past convince you that your future is sealed. Never let the number of times you have fallen stop you from getting back up one more time.
[Hadith,Tirmidhi,"All of the children of Adam are sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent."]
You are not perfect. None of us are. But we are trying. We are turning. We are moving in the right direction. And that is what counts.
[Quote,One of the Salaf,"I am more ashamed to doubt Allah's mercy than I am of my sins."]
Replace Sin with Obedience
One of the most practical pieces of advice from the scholars is this: Do not just stop the bad—start the good.
[Hadith,Tirmidhi,"Follow up a bad deed with a good one, and it will erase it."]
After sin, pray two rakah. Give something in charity. Recite Quran. Make dhikr. Help a fellow inmate. Teach someone to pray. Write a letter of forgiveness. Fast a day. Any good deed, no matter how small, can erase the bad that came before it.
This is the mercy of Allah. He does not just forgive—He replaces.
[Quran,25:70,"As for those who repent, believe, and do good deeds, they are the ones whose evil deeds Allah will change into good deeds. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful."]
Imagine that. Not just forgiven, but your sins actually transformed into good deeds. That is the promise of Allah to those who truly turn back to Him.
Your Past Does Not Define Your Future
Brothers, I know many of you carry heavy burdens. Things you did on the outside. Things you did in here. Things that were done to you. Things you wish you could take back.
But listen: your past does not define your future unless you let it.
The man who killed one hundred people could have given up after the first murder. Or the tenth. Or the fiftieth. Or after the monk rejected him. Or after he killed the monk. At any point, he could have said, "It is over for me."
But he did not. He asked again. He moved again. He tried again. And Allah forgave him.
You are not your worst mistake. You are not your worst day. You are not what people say about you or what the system labeled you. You are a servant of Allah, created with dignity, given free will, and invited to return no matter how far you have gone.
[Quran,17:70,"Indeed, We have honored the children of Adam."]
That honor is still yours. Allah has not taken it away. Do not take it from yourself by living in despair.
[Quran,3:133,"And hasten towards forgiveness from your Lord and a Paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those mindful ˹of Allah˺."]
Hasten. Run toward forgiveness. Sprint toward Allah's mercy. Do not walk slowly, doubting and delaying. Move now. Today. This moment.
Because none of us know when death will come. The man in the story died on the journey. He could have died facing the wrong direction. He could have delayed one more day.
But he did not. And neither should you.
Final Call
Brothers, if Allah forgave the man who killed one hundred, He can forgive you. If Allah loved those who repent, He loves you when you turn back to Him. If Allah promises to meet you halfway, He will not break that promise.
The question is not whether Allah is ready to forgive. The question is whether you are ready to turn.
Turn your heart. Turn your actions. Turn your companions. Turn your goals. Turn your life. Even if it is one small step. Even if you die halfway. Even if you never see the full result.
Just turn.
[Dua,رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ,Rabbanaa zalamnaaa anfusanaa wa il lam taghfir lanaa wa tarhamna lanakunanna minal khaasireen,Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be among the losers.]
[Dua,اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَىٰ عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ,Allaahumma anta rabbee laa ilaaha illaa anta khalaqtanee wa ana 'abduka wa ana 'alaa 'ahdika wa wa'dika mas-tata'tu a'oodhu bika min sharri maa sana'tu aboo'u laka bini'matika 'alayya wa aboo'u bidhanbee faghfir lee fa-innahu laa yaghfirudh-dhunooba illaa ant,O Allah, You are my Lord. There is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant. I try my best to keep my covenant with You and to live in hope of Your promise. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your blessings upon me and I confess my sins. Forgive me, for no one forgives sins except You.]
O Allah, just as You forgave the man who killed one hundred, forgive us. Purify our hearts, guard our tongues, protect our limbs, and grant us sincere repentance before our souls leave our bodies.
O Allah, do not let our past destroy our future. Make our sins a means of humility and transformation. Let us die closer to Your mercy than to our sins.
O Allah, replace our evil deeds with good deeds. Open for us the doors of repentance and keep them open until we meet You.
O Allah, protect us from the whispers of Shaytan that tell us we are beyond hope. Protect us from despair, from arrogance, from heedlessness.
O Allah, grant us the strength to leave evil environments and seek righteous company, even in the limited choices we have. Guide our hearts toward You and our feet toward Your obedience.
Our Lord, grant us the best of this world and the best of the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
We ask Allah to make us firm upon His straight path, to guide us and not let us go astray, to have mercy on us and forgive us.
Whatever good was said in this khutbah is from Allah alone, and whatever mistakes or errors are from myself and from Shaytan. I ask Allah to forgive me and you for any shortcomings.
I say these words of mine, and I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and you all. Seek His forgiveness—indeed, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[Arabic,أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا، وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ. ]