"A person who repents is not regarded as insistent on his sin even if he acts contrarily to his repentance seventy times a day." What is meant by that hadith?

Hadith No : 1874 Narrator: Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Text: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, " A person who repents is not regarded as insistent on his sin even if he acts contrarily to his repentance seventy times a day." Resource: Tirmidhi, Da'awat 119, (3554); Abu Dawud, Salat 361, (1514) Another translation of the hadith: "A person who repents is not regarded to have insisted even if he acts contrarily to his repentance seventy times a day." Will you write the correct text of that hadith? What is meant by that hadith?

Dear Brother / Sister,

وعن أبى بكر الصديق رَضِيَ اللّهُ عَنْهُ قال: قالَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ #: مَا أصَرَّ مَنِ اسْتَغْفَرَ، وَلَوْ عَادَ في اليَوْمِ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً [ أخرجه أبو داود والترمذي  

Hz. Abu Bakr as-Sıddiq (radiyallahu anh) narrates: "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"A person who repents is not regarded as insistent on his sin even if he acts contrarily to his repentance seventy times a day." [Tirmidhi, Da'awat 119, (3554); Abu Dawud, Salat 361, (1514)]

EXPLANATION:

1. Scholars explained the meaning of this hadith as follows:  

"If a person repents of a sin that he has committed and commits it again or commits another sin and repents again, this person is not regarded as insistent on his sin no matter how many sins he commits a day. A Musirr (insistent person) is a person who does not repent of his sins. Insistence means to commit a lot of sins. Ibn Malak says, "Insistence means to keep doing evil deeds, to continue committing sins continuously."

2. It is stated in this hadith that one must not give up hope of Allah’s forgiveness, that the door of God Almighty is always open to a person who definitely decides to give up sins and that the multitude, bigness and variety of the previous sins will not prevent the acceptance of such a repentance. As a matter of fact, the following is stated in a verse:

"…O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins..." (az-Zumar, 39/53)

(Prof. Dr. İbrahim Canan, Kütüb-ü Sitte Muhtasarı, Tercüme ve Şerhi)

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