What Should I Do About Old Sinful Messages After Repenting?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

What should I do about old sinful or irreverent messages I posted on Discord in the past, when I have sincerely repented and deleted what I could, but cannot access or remove the remaining messages? What is the general rule?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all beings, and may peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace)

No, you’re not obliged to go back into those environments to delete your old messages and words. Generally, with online chatter, things move on very fast, so it will be in the past.

However, if your words were something that is being used repeatedly, such as an article that you wrote that promotes a sin or something like this, then you should go back and delete it to prevent others from sinning through your past activity. This would be under the general framework of not assisting others in sin. (Maydani, Lubab)

In general, however, if you’ve repented, you don’t need to do anything further. Repentance, according to Imam al-Nawawi in Riyadh al-Saleheen, entails:

• Stopping the act
• Resolving not to go back to it
• Finding remorse
• If there are any financial rights involved, repaying the people to whom they are owed.

If you’ve done the above, you can assume that those words are forgotten and not go back to that environment. That would be bad for you. Allah knows best.

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.