When people publicly sin, some people have this idea that they may have repented, and even if you didn’t know they repented, you must remain silent and have Husn Adh-Dhann.
This is wrong, and Allah mentioned 5 reasons for this in 5 Verses of that Qur’an; that merely repenting isn’t sufficient to absolve a person from blame or being critiqued for that sin.
- Allah said:
‘Except for those who repent and correct themselves and make evident [what they concealed]. Those – I will accept their repentance, and I am the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.’
[2:160]
- And Allah said:
‘Except for those who repent after that and correct themselves. For indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’
[3:89]
- Allah said:
‘Except for those who repent, correct themselves, hold fast to Allah, and are sincere in their religion for Allah, for those will be with the believers. And Allah is going to give the believers a great reward.’
[4:146]
- Allah said:
‘Except for those who return [repenting] before you overcome [i.e., apprehend] them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’
[5:34]
- Allah said:
‘Except for those who repent thereafter and reform, for indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’
[24:5]
So from these 5 Verses, Allah taught us that mere repentance isn’t sufficient unless the following accompanies it:
- Correcting yourselves i.e. abandoning what you were upon from falsehood and sin.
- Make evident i.e. disown what you used to engage in from falsehood and sin.
- Hold fast to Allah i.e. act upon the Sunnah and promote it.
- Sincere in their religion for Allah i.e. they do everything for Allah’s sake alone without practicing an iota of deception or in sincerity in Da’wah.
- Before they are apprehended i.e. when the cat is out of the bag, now it won’t matter if you say you repent unless the above 4 points are fulfilled.
So use this as a standard for everyone.
Why? This is the standard Allah mentioned. And we don’t have a say in this. Allah said:
‘It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.’
[33:36]
And Allah knows best.