Tawbah - Sincere Repentance
The process of returning to Allah through sincere regret, abandonment of sin, and resolution to improve.
Tawbah (التوبة) means 'return'—returning to Allah after straying. Sincere tawbah has conditions: feeling genuine regret, immediately stopping the sin, resolving not to return to it, and—if the sin involved others' rights—making amends. Allah loves those who repent, and His forgiveness covers all sins when approached sincerely. The Prophet (PBUH) said: 'The one who repents from sin is like one who never sinned.' Tawbah is not just for major sins but should be constant, as the Prophet sought forgiveness over 70 times daily despite being sinless.
And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
Al-Ghazali taught that tawbah is not only for obvious sins but for heedlessness (ghaflah)—the subtle distance from Allah that accumulates without dramatic wrongdoing.
Quran
Written about in
- What Islam says about forgiveness
Tawbah means return, and it carries conditions rather than feelings: genuine regret, stopping now, resolving not to repeat, and, where another person's right was taken, restoring it. That fourth condition is the one that makes repentance cost something.