A believer might sin, then feel regret, repent sincerely, and stop. But later, he slips again into the same sin—so he repents once more.
This may keep happening: sin, repentance, relapse, repentance. At some point, he might start doubting himself:
“Do I still have a chance to repent after falling so many times?”
That’s when Shaytan steps in and whispers: “You’re not serious. You’ll never change. Just stop repenting.”
But if he thinks with a clear mind, he’ll realize: “Each time I sinned, I repented sincerely. That sin is gone. If I fall again, I’ll repent again. What really matters is that I die in a state of repentance—even if I keep struggling.”
The Prophet (S A W) mentioned this in a famous hadith, he said that a servant committed a sin and asked Allah to forgive him, so Allah forgave him.
Then the man sinned again, repented again, and Allah forgave him again. This happened multiple times until Allah said:
“Let My servant do as he pleases, I will continue to forgive him.”
-Bukhari and Muslim, from Abu Hurayrah (R A)
Abdullah ibn Amr (R A) narrated that a man once asked the Prophet (S A W): “O Messenger of Allah, what if one of us sins?”
He (S A W) said: “It is written against him.”
The man asked: “Then if he repents?”
He (S A W) said: “It is forgiven for him.”
The man asked: “And if he sins again?”
He (S A W) said: “It is written against him.”
The man asked: “And if he repents again?”
He (S A W) said: “It is forgiven for him.”
The man asked: “Until when?”
The Prophet (S A W) said: “Until Shaytan himself despairs and gives up on him.”
-Imam Ahmad in Musnad, and Tabarānī in Al-Mu'jam
Never stop repenting. Repent now.
May Allah accept our repentance and forgive our sins. Amin 🤲