Tawba (Arabic: توبة alternatively spelled: tevbe or tawbah, Turkish: tövbe)[1] is the Islamic concept of repenting to God due to performing any sins and misdeeds.
[5] The literal meaning of the Arabic word tawba is "to return" and is repeated in the Qur'an and hadith (sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad).
In the context of Islam, it means to turn or to retreat from past sinful and evil activities, and to firmly resolve to abstain from them in future.
[3] As with other topics, the act of atoning (for one's misdeeds) and seeking God's forgiveness has also been discussed in the Qur’an, and given much importance.
For those believers who have wronged themselves, the Qur'an asks them to become repentant, seek Allah's forgiveness, and make a sincere tawba.
Thereupon he said: You have been granted pardon.On the authority of Abu Umama (RA), the Messenger of Allah, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Surely the angel of the left holds the pen over a sinner or a criminal Muslim for six hours."
"Since the issue of tawba or repentance arises from Islamic religious context, it can be understood well when discussed from that perspective.
Muslims deny the authority of men to listen to another person's confessions and then pronounce him forgiven of his sin.
In numerous verses of the Quran, Allah describes Himself as being extremely generous, merciful, and forgiving towards His creations.
In verse 22 of sura Al-Hashr, for example, He assures: "He is Allah besides Whom there is no God; the Knower of the unseen and the seen; He is the Beneficent, the Merciful".
According to the Quran and Hadith, Allah's overarching mercy permits even the gravest sins to be pardoned by Him, provided the wrongdoer intends a sincere tawba.
Again, God says to the believers in a Hadith Qudsi:[22]"O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind.
"[22]According to Islamic Sharia, when an act of tawba is performed by a Muslim, Allah generally accepts it.
Islamic scholars agree upon the fact that if a person is not ashamed of his past misdeeds, or does not intend to forsake those, then his verbal announcement of tawba is an open mockery of repentance.
Muhammad said: A believer sees his sins as if he were sitting under a mountain which, he is afraid, may fall on him; whereas the wicked person considers his sins as flies passing over his nose and he just drives them away like this (and he moved his hand over his nose in illustration).
Another important perspective on repentance in Islam is that a person should always seek God's forgiveness even when they are not apparently guilty of any particular sin.
[23] This is because there are many subtle natures of sin involving immorality which escape notice, and also because it is a Muslim's duty to turn towards God.