What Is Tawbah (Repentance)?

Tawbah (Arabic: توبة; also spelled tawba) is pronounced TAW-bah.

Meaning

The word literally means returning. When a person sins, they have moved away from God; tawbah is the journey back. Muslim scholars describe sincere repentance as having these parts:

• stopping the wrong action;
• genuinely regretting it;
• firmly intending not to return to it;
• and, if someone else was wronged, returning their rights or seeking their forgiveness.

Tawbah is between a person and God alone. There is no confession to a priest and no ritual required — just an honest heart turning back. Islam teaches that the first humans, Adam and his wife, repented and were forgiven, and that every human being can do the same. One of the most hopeful verses in the Qur’an speaks directly to people who feel they have gone too far:

۞ قُلْ يَٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ﴿٥٣﴾

Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

How Muslims use it

Muslims make tawbah whenever they fall short, often with the words astaghfirullah (I seek God’s forgiveness). One of God’s names is At-Tawwab, the One who constantly accepts repentance — so a Muslim never has to give up, even after repeating a mistake. A new Muslim’s past sins are wiped away, and sincere repentance can even turn a person’s past into a source of growth.

Example

“He felt ashamed of how he had spoken to his mother, so he made tawbah and went to apologise to her.”

Learn more in Will My Past Sins Be Forgiven?