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Tawba Naṣūḥ (Arabic: توبة نصوح, lit. sincere repentance) is a Quranic expression in Qur'an 66:8, meaning pure repentance to God after which the person does not return to sin. The term "Nasuh" in the Qur'an does not refer to a person's name; however, in fictional literature, it has been interpreted as a character's name, and stories have been created about him. In a story mentioned by the Muslim poet Mawlawi, a man named Nasuh, who was a bathhouse attendant (dallak) and resembled women (appearing as a woman to others), worked in the women's bathhouse. One day, a major problem arose for him that was about to lead to his scandal. Eventually, he repented, and God saved him.

Nasir Makarim Shirazi, a Shi'a jurist and exegete, believes that Qur'an 66:8 mentions five fruits for Tawba Nasuh: forgiveness of sins, entry into Paradise, lack of humiliation on the day when truths are revealed, the light of believers moving before them and on their right, and the fifth fruit is that their attention to God increases, and they request the completion of their light and the full forgiveness of their sins.

Tawba Nasuh; Pure and Irreversible Repentance

Tawba Nasuh is a Quranic expression that God commands believers to perform at the beginning of Qur'an 66:8.[1] This command is considered to be advisory.[2] In al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, it is narrated from Imam al-Sajjad (a) that he used the expression Tawba Nasuh[3] and prayed: "And guide me to Tawba Nasuh (sincere repentance)."[4]

Muslim scholars disagree on the meaning of the expression "Tawba Nasuh",[5] and some have listed up to twenty-three opinions regarding it.[6] Some Shi'a[7] and Sunni[8] sources have narrated a hadith from Prophet Muhammad (s) stating that "Tawba Nasuh" refers to a repentance after which a person does not return to sin again, just as milk does not return to the udder. This narration is considered to describe the highest degree of Tawba Nasuh.[9] A similar content has been narrated in Shi'a sources from Imam al-Sadiq (a)[10] and in Sunni sources from Umar b. al-Khattab.[11] It has been explained that sincere repentance (tawba nasūḥ) creates such a transformation within a person that the path back to sin is completely closed off.[12]

There is another interpretation of the meaning of Tawba Nasuh based on its lexical meaning.[13] Based on this, some Shi'a[14] and Sunni[15] scholars have interpreted Tawba Nasuh as pure repentance for God. In this sense, repentance is real and decisive, allowing for no hesitation or weakness.[16] Heartfelt regret and verbal Istighfar,[17] advising oneself to repent,[18] and other factors[19] have also been mentioned in explaining Tawba Nasuh. Also, in a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a), Fasting on Thursday and Friday is considered Tawba Nasuh,[20] which al-Shaykh al-Saduq, a Shi'a scholar, considers to be an introduction to performing repentance.[21]

Effects of Tawba Nasuh

Qur'an 66:8, after commanding Tawba Nasuh,[22] mentions effects for this repentance.[23] Nasir Makarim Shirazi, a Shi'a jurist and exegete, believes that Qur'an 66:8 mentions five fruits for Tawba Nasuh: forgiveness of sins, entry into Paradise, lack of humiliation on the day when truths are revealed, the light of believers moving before them and on their right, and the fifth fruit is that their attention to God increases, and they request the completion of their light and the full forgiveness of their sins.[24] Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, a Shi'a exegete, has suggested that not being humiliated applies only to the Prophet (s), while the presence of light and the request for its increase applies to the believers who were with the Prophet.[25]

Imam al-Sadiq (a) said that when a servant performs Tawba Nasuh, God loves him and covers his sins in this world and the Hereafter. In explaining this, the Imam says that the two angels assigned to the person forget his sins, and it is inspired to his body parts to conceal his sins. When this person meets God, there is nothing to testify against his sin.[26] Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Sunni scholar, believes that Major Sins are only forgiven through Tawba Nasuh.[27]

Stories about Tawba Nasuh

"Nasuh" in Qur'an 66:8 is considered an adjective for Repentance,[28] referring to no specific individual.[29] However, later in fictional literature, Nasuh was interpreted as the name of a person, and stories were created for him.[30] These stories were named "Tawba Nasuh" based on the Quranic expression.[31] Of course, some details of these stories have been criticized and considered fabrications of poets' minds, unrelated to the Tawba Nasuh mentioned in the Qur'an.[32]

"Tawba Nasuh" is the title of a 254-verse poem by an anonymous poet, which is an educational and ethical story about repentance and persistence in it.[33] In this story, a man named Nasuh, who is a bathhouse attendant and resembles a woman, works in a women's bathhouse, and everyone thinks he is a woman. One day, a problem arises in the bathhouse that could lead to a scandal. Eventually, he repents and abandons that act. Then he goes to the desert with his family. There, too, he is tested, and he passes those Divine tests successfully.[34]

Mawlawi also cited a version of this story in the fifth book of his Mathnawi.[35] In Mawlawi's version, Nasuh goes to a gnostic ('Arif) and asks him to pray for his repentance. The gnostic tells him to go, for God will grant him repentance. However, he continues to work in the women's bathhouse until the King's daughter loses an earring in the bathhouse. They intend to search everyone, and Nasuh finds himself on the verge of scandal. Nasuh repents sincerely, and at that moment, the earring is found. After that, Nasuh quits washing women.[36]

In 1982, a movie about repentance titled "Tawba Nasuh" was made in Iran, directed by Muhsin Makhmalbaf and starring Faraj Allah Salahshur.[37] In this film, a person named Lutf Ali Khan, a veteran bank employee, suffers a stroke and dies. However, during the burial, those around him realize that he is alive. This return from death makes him think, and he decides to seek forgiveness from everyone who knows him. The film is the story of his seeking forgiveness and his repentance.[38]

Notes

  1. ↑ Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, vol. 18, p. 197.
  2. ↑ Ṭayyib, Aṭyab al-bayān, vol. 13, p. 78.
  3. ↑ Al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya, Supplication 47, p. 231.
  4. ↑ Al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya, p. 231.
  5. ↑ Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, vol. 19, p. 301.
  6. ↑ Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, vol. 18, p. 197.
  7. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 10, p. 478.
  8. ↑ Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 245.
  9. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 24, p. 291.
  10. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 432.
  11. ↑ Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 245.
  12. ↑ Anṣāriyān, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ yaʿnī chi?".
  13. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 2, p. 616.
  14. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 10, p. 51; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 10, p. 478.
  15. ↑ Ghazālī, Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn, vol. 11, p. 149.
  16. ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Taḥqīq, vol. 12, p. 139.
  17. ↑ Samarqandī, Tanbīh al-ghāfilīn, p. 49.
  18. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Tafsīr jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ, vol. 4, p. 321.
  19. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 6, p. 22.
  20. ↑ Ṣadūq, Maʿānī al-akhbār, p. 174.
  21. ↑ Ṣadūq, Maʿānī al-akhbār, p. 174.
  22. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 24, p. 291.
  23. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 10, p. 51.
  24. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 24, p. 292.
  25. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 19, p. 336.
  26. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 431.
  27. ↑ Qarḍāwī, "al-Taṭahhur min al-dhunūb".
  28. ↑ Thaʿlabī Nīshābūrī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 9, p. 350.
  29. ↑ Dhūlfaqārī, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ".
  30. ↑ Dhūlfaqārī, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ".
  31. ↑ Dhūlfaqārī, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ".
  32. ↑ Bihishtī, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ", pp. 771-772.
  33. ↑ Dhūlfaqārī, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ".
  34. ↑ Dhūlfaqārī, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ".
  35. ↑ Mawlawī, Mathnawī-yi maʿnawī, Book 5, "Ḥikāyat dar bayān-i tawba-yi Naṣūḥ".
  36. ↑ Dhūlfaqārī, "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ".
  37. ↑ Ṭāliqānī, "Majnūn-i tawba-kār az gūr barkhāsta".
  38. ↑ "Tawba-yi Naṣūḥ", Sūreh Cinema.

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