It is narrated from Abu Huraira (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “I swear by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allah would destroy you and bring a community who sins and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and He forgives them.” (Muslim, Repentance 9.)
Allah Almighty states in the Noble Quran: “O believers! Return to Allah with sincere repentance that He may forgive your sins and admit you into gardens of bliss where rivers flow,” indicating how repentance should be and announcing its outcome. The word ‘nasuh’ here means purely for Allah, free from any impurities or blemishes, derived from ‘nasaḥa’ (to sew firmly), like the thread that sews a garment tightly. In other words, repentance is clinging to Allah’s rope. Nasuh repentance is entirely abstract; the servant remains steadfast in obedience without inclining towards disobedience. There is no trickery or cunning in it. The nafs cannot suggest sin or transgression to the owner of nasuh repentance. Just as the servant performs an action for desire with purity, he abandons it for Allah with the same purity and sincerity, until it culminates in a blessed end.
The stages of repentance are mentioned in three parts in Sufism: Repentance (returning), turning (inaba), and going back (evba). According to Abu Ali ad-Daqqaq (d.405/1014), the beginning of repentance is repentance (returning, ru’ju), its middle is turning (inaba), and its end is going back (evba). The one who repents out of fear of punishment is the owner of repentance. If a person repents hoping for reward and fearing punishment, he is also the owner of turning. But the one who repents leaving aside rewards and punishments, simply to fulfill the command, is the owner of going back. It is said that repentance is the characteristic of believers. For Allah Almighty says: “O you who believe! Turn to Allah in sincere repentance.” Turning (inaba) is the characteristic of the awliya (friends of God). For Allah Almighty says: “…and came with a heart penitent (turning).” Going back (evba), however, is the characteristic of messengers and prophets, for Allah Almighty said separately about Solomon (peace be upon him) and Job (peace be upon him): “He was indeed a most obedient [evvab] servant.”
These three concepts can also be explained as follows: The one who turns away from sin is the penitent (taib), the one who purifies himself from sins is the turning (munib), and the one who cuts off his connection with sin is the going back (evvab). In essence, repentance is a mandatory obligation. It should also be noted that Allah Almighty mentions those who repent in a separate category: “Indeed, Allah loves those who repent [from sin] much and those who purify themselves.” He has declared that He loves those who repent from sins that lead to being driven away and those who purify themselves, because of these actions.
Repentance is understood by four things: 1. Cutting ties with immoral companions and associating with the righteous; 2. Abandoning all sins and turning completely to obedience; 3. The love of this world leaving the heart and instead, the grief for the Hereafter settling in it; 4. A person trusting in the provision that Allah has entailed for him and not bearing such anxiety, and engaging in the commands of Allah.
However, like everything else, repentance also has degrees depending on the individual. As we mentioned earlier, everyone can find something in their life that requires repentance. If we were to subject this to a classification, it could be said that “the repentance of the masses is from sins, the repentance of the elite is from heedlessness, and the repentance of the elite of the elite is from the inclination of the heart towards anything other than Allah.” It should also be noted that everyone repents according to their own status and position. “There is repentance that is from slips, there is repentance that is from heedlessness, there is repentance that is from seeing good deeds, and again there is repentance that is from the heart being content with nothing but the Creator, comfortable with no one but the Creator.” Again, there is repentance that is repentance upon repentance.
Repentance is a mandatory obligation for every believer. No human being is exempt from repentance. For humans, sins are like diseases. Their cure is repentance. At the same time, through repentance, the servant exits the circle of anger and enters the gardens of Allah’s mercy and love.
Source: The Life, Works, and Views of Pir Abdulkadir Geylani, Prof. Dr. Dilaver Gürer