حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ حُمَيْدِ بْنِ كَاسِبٍ الْمَدَنِيُّ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا جَعْفَرُ بْنُ بُرْقَانَ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ الْأَصَمِّ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: لَوْ أَخْطَأْتُمْ حَتَّى تَبْلُغَ خَطَايَاكُمُ السَّمَاءَ، ثُمَّ تُبْتُمْ، لَتَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ

Book [37]: Chapters on zuhd [Asceticism]
Chapter [30]: Repentance

Ḥadīth [4248]: It is narrated on the authority of Abī Hurayrah (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: “If your sins were to reach to the heavens and then you repented, Allāh would still accept your repentance.”

A person after committing a sin, should repent as soon as possible. However, due to negligence or being under the influence of one’s own whims or shaytan, if he cannot repent immediately, then he should repent whenever he regrets on his sins. One should abstain from thinking that his sins might not be forgiven because they are huge. Nevertheless, repentance should be from one’s heart and with conviction, not only by words.

• Reference: [4248 (5/363), Sunan ibn Mājah, Dārussalām (Eng)]

• Ṣaḥīḥ at-Targhīb (3138 (3/216))
• Al-Musnad al-Jāmi’ (14433 (17/762))
• Tuḥfatul Ashrāf (14830 (10/294))
• Al-Jāmi’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr [Suyūṭī] (7422 (1/455))
• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’ (5235 (2/929))
• Silsilah Aḥādīth aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥah (903 (2/571-572))

Grade:

• Ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayri (but this is a ḥasan isnād) by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna’ūṭ (Sunan ibn Mājah (4248 (5/319)))
• Ḥasan by Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ‘Alī Za’ī (Sunan ibn Mājah (4248 (1/778)))
• Ḥasan by Imām as-Suyūṭī
• Ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh al-Albānī (Sunan ibn Mājah (4248 (1/704)))
• Ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ by Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar ad-Da’wah, New Delhi (Sunan ibn Mājah (4248 (5/409)))