Wants to repent of fornication
25-12-2001 | IslamWeb
Question:
There is a lot of emotion put into this but I'll keep it short. I committed fornication. I am single, and I need to know what to do to repent, I really want to repent, but I'm afraid God will not accept it because I knew it was Haram and yet I did it several times. All of a sudden I woke up, and couldn't stop crying for what I had done. He forced me to do it the first time, he is Muslim too. After that, it was almost like a threat, that he wanted to marry me, and I guess to him the only way he could do that was to take away my virginity, because my dad had said no the first time. He still harasses me, but all I care about is repenting. Please help me. No one knows, if some guy wanted to marry me, what do I say to him? I'm really scared I might die before Allah forgives me, but please let me know of some Dua's, supplications, Salah to do. Now I pray at night, read more Qur'an, but I need and want to know more. Is there a way to know if I'm forgiven? Sometimes I feel that this happened to me because I was moving away from Allah, but I'm back and willing to do anything for His forgiveness. If I lived in an Arabic Islamic place, I would ask for the lashes penalty, that way I feel my heart is at ease.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Zina is a major sin and Allah warned us against it. Allah Says (what means): {And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse. Verily, it is a Fahishah [i.e. anything that transgresses its limits (a great sin)], and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allah forgives him).} [Quran 17:32].
If you have committed this sin, repent to Allah, feel very sorry for what you have committed and promise to Allah never to commit this sin again. If you do this, know that Allah accepts the repentance of those who repent to Him. Allah Says (what means): {Say: "O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.} [Quran 39:53].
You should not tell what you have done to anyone. Since Allah has concealed your sin so do not reveal it to anyone. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Whoever commits any of these bad acts, he should screen himself with the cover of Allah and never reveal it as whoever discloses to us what he has committed we will apply retributive measures on him”.
So, if anybody wants to marry you do not mention to him what you have committed.
Malik reported in his Book of Hadith that a man offered to marry the sister of another. The latter told the former that his sister committed Zina before. When Caliph Omar Ibn Al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, heard the news he called the brother of the girl and said to him angrily: “Who told you to disclose this information?”
If someone wants to marry you do not tell him anything about your past sins unless he makes it a condition from the very beginning that he wants to marry you only if you are virgin. In this case, you could tell him that you are not accepting his offer without disclosing to him the reason. You should also pray to Allah as much as you can. Ask Him for forgiveness.
In addition, the Sharia does not require you to ask for the "lashes penalty" even if you live in a country where the Sharee’ah is applied.
Allah knows best.