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It is very important for our spiritual and emotional life to pay special attention to repentance, the greatest shelter against sins, in the following respects:

Reaction to Sin

One's reaction to a sin that he or she has committed is closely related to one's moral and spiritual situation. There may be an instance in which, because of a sin, you prostrate yourself before God and implore Him to forgive you. There may also be a case when such actions do not satisfy you, when your sorrow lights an internal fire in your heart. But we can hope that the sorrow disturbing your heart in the name of repentance may be more acceptable to God.

Repentance is indeed regret and an internal fever. In this respect, one should regard sins as being in the company of serpents and poisonous centipedes. Only such a firm attitude is acceptable from a believer, for any contrary one implies doubts about the outcomes of a sin in the Hereafter. Therefore, it is essential that every sin be confronted in an alert manner and, if committed, be succeeded by regret.

Sins Must Be Short-Lived

Since every sin engenders a new sin, whenever a person commits a sin, he or she must seek purification without delay. After all, no one knows when he or she will pass away. Those who are conscious of God cannot be at ease until they have cleansed themselves from sin. It is detrimental to a person's spiritual well-being if he or she allows a sin to survive for even one second. Moreover, such an attitude implies revering something that God does not like. Sins do not have the right to live. They must be ephemeral, because if they are not removed through repentance they become serpents constantly biting one's heart. And once the heart gets a stain, it is easier to get more. The end result is a vicious circle. Every sin engenders a new sin and, at last, bal rana 'ala qulubihim (83:14, trans. "Indeed, on their hearts is the stain of the (ill) that they do") becomes evident on them.

For this reason, it is very important to remind people of these realities and alert them to sins. Moreover, if you can do so, you must reveal the ugly nature of sin to people and make them renounce their sins.

Apparently, sensitive and alert souls can smell the offensive odor that sins exude.

Sins Must Be Regarded as Detestable

When repenting, one of the most important things is to view the particular sin as something detestable and disgusting. If we do not abstain from sins, believing that they are like being with serpents and scorpions and therefore deserve our disgust, we will not have the resolve to struggle against them through repentance. When you break a priceless crystal vase, for example, you feel sorrow. In the same way, every sin you commit cracks and dirties your life lantern. Thus it is necessary to feel regret and sorrow after each sin, at least to the degree of sorrow felt after breaking a crystal vase. Otherwise, you are not taking your sins and your repenta nce seriously.

The Correspondence between Sin and Repentance

One's repentance for a given sin must match the sin's degree of seriousness, for every sin resembles a well filled with pitch. In other words, it is easy to fall into but very hard to get out of (83:14).

Recognizing Sin

If we belittle the outcomes of a sin, we are committing another sin equivalent to the first one. For instance, if one considers fornication or violation of another's property rights as sins exaggerated by religion and says that "we benefit from them, so why consider them sins?," he or she is committing an even bigger sin. Thus, we have to resist sins and condition ourselves in this way: "O sins, the doors of my heart are locked, so your zeal to get into my heart is in vain."

"Run away from a sin as if it is a poisonous serpent or a centipede." Note that he likens sin to a serpent and a centipede, rather than a lion or a tiger. One can take measures before a lion or a tiger attacks, forthey attack bravely, whereas a serpent and a centipede attacks unexpectedly and maliciously. Backstabbing and treachery may be considered examples of such sins.

In short, vigilance against sins must be an attribute of a true believer. We have to keep in mind that vigilance against sins is an indication of our loyalty and fidelity to our Lord, the Almighty.

To realize the true nature of sins, we can look from the point of view of holy saying of Prophet Muhammad: Eznebe 'abdi zenben…,which is about a servant of God who sins and then repents. In this saying, the words used have a very deep meaning: zenb (sin) and zeneb (tail) come from the same root in Arabic. Thus, a believer who says: "O my Lord, I have committed a sin," means to say: "O my Lord, I have put on a tail again. In my present state, You may consider me a fox with a furry tail, a scorpion stinging others with its tail, or a serpent whose tail is a long part of its body! And that is me!" In other words, those who confess their sins in reality confess that they have scorned and belittled the humanity granted to them by God and, as a result, have fallen to the level of the animals.

Hz. Bara was from Madinah. His father was a Muslim too. He became a Muslim at a young age. He learned the Quran from Mus'ab bin Umayr and Ibn Umm Maktum, whom the Prophet had sent to the people of Madinah to teach Islam. When the Prophet Muhammad migrated, he had memorized several chapters of the Quran. He was among those who welcomed the Messenger of Allah and cheered when he arrived in Madinah during the Migration. He stated the following regarding the enthusiastic welcoming and cheering of the people of Madinah when the Prophet arrived: "I have not seen the people of Madinah rejoice so much for anything before."

Hz. Bara never wanted to leave the Prophet; he always wanted to be with him. He regarded listening to the talk of the Messenger of Allah as "the greatest success in life". Therefore, he learned so many things from the Messenger of Allah. He shed light on Muslims through the hadiths that he narrated. Today we learn many historical incidents from his narrations. For example, we learn about the Migration, the changing of the qiblah from Jerusalem to the Kaaba and the important stages of the battles of Uhud and Hunayn from his narrations.

Bara (R.A.) was a heroic mujahid of the Islamic cause. Despite his young age, he joined the army preparing for the Battle of Badr with a few friends of his. However, the Messenger of Allah stopped the army on the way and inspected it. He sent him and a few people who were young back. Hz. Bara was very upset because of this. Nevertheless, he participated in all of the wars with the Prophet beginning from the Battle of Uhud. He fought heroically in those battles and wars. He narrates a memory of his as follows:

"There was a well in Hudaybiyya. When we arrived there, we extracted all of the water from the well. There was no water left. When the Messenger of Allah was informed about it, he came beside the well and sat. Then he wanted a container with some water in it. He made wudu and gargled with the water that was brought. Then, he prayed and poured the water into the well. We left the well as it was for a while upon the order of the Messenger of Allah. Then, as much water as we wanted accumulated in the well. We and our animals used that water." 

Hz. The Bara had a separate place in the eye of the Prophet. He loved Bara very much. He sometimes gave Bara advice. Once he gave him the following advice:

"Make wudu when you go to bed; Lie on your right side and pray as follows: 'O Allah! I surrendered to you. I referred my work to you. I rely on you because I love you and I fear you. I take refuge only in you. My salvation depends on you. I believed in the Book and the Prophet that you sent.' If you do so and die that night, you will die as a Muslim. Let them be your last words." 

Bara was adherent to the Sunnah very much like the other Companions. He based all of his deeds on the Sunnah. Once, he met someone. He shook his hand and smiled. Then, he asked, "Do you know why I smile?" When the man said that he did not know, he explained the reason for this as follows:

"One day, I met the Messenger of Allah. He held my hand with his blessed hand; then smiled. He asked me why he had smiled. I gave the same answer as you have just given. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, "If two Muslims shake hands when they meet, praise Allah ask for forgiveness, Allah will forgive them." 

When Bara performed a prayer, he gave great importance to the straightness and order of the ranks and often mentioned the virtue of it. He explained why he did so as follows:

"When we stood up for a prayer, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) would touch our chests with his hands straighten the ranks and say: 'Do not let your ranks be irregular. Otherwise, this disorder will enter your hearts! '"

Bara wanted his children to act in accordance with the Sunnah as he himself did. He sometimes gathered his children and taught hadith to them. His son Yazid, who narrated many hadiths from him, narrates a memory about it as follows:

"One day, my father gathered us. He said, ‘Come here. I will teach you how the Messenger of Allah made wudu. For, I do not know how much I will be with you after this.’" 

Hz. Bara was among the scholars of the Companions. The Muslims asked him about the issues they could not understand. Bara knew not only the explanation of hadiths but also tafsir and fiqh. On one occasion, the verse that meant, "make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction" was in question. One of the people who were there asked, "Does a person who attacks polytheists not contribute to his destruction?" Bara gave him the following answer:

"No, because Allah Almighty orders us to fight in His way. For this reason, we are supposed to make jihad in the way of Allah. What is meant by destruction (danger) in the verse is to accumulate money and not to spend it in the way of Allah. "

Bara was extremely humble. He avoided answering the things that he did not know well; he could easily say, "I do not know." Or, he would refer the question to someone he believed to be more knowledgeable than him.

Once, he was asked a question. He referred the question to Zayd bin Arqam. He said, "Ask Zayd because he is better than me and he knows this issue better than me."

Hz. Bara (R.A.) narrated 305 hadiths from the Prophet. Some of them are as follows:

"The Prophet (pbuh) ordered us to do seven things and forbade seven things. He ordered us to (1) join the funeral and to go to the grave, (2) visit ill people, (3) accept invitations, (4)  help a person who is wronged, (5) act in accordance with a vow, (6) answer greetings, (7) say, 'yarhamukallah' to anyone who sneezes and says 'alhamdulillah'.

He forbade us to (1) use silverware, (2) wear golden rings, (3) wear silk, (4) wear atlas, (5) wear clothes having twisted silk, (6) wear thick silk, (7) lie in silk bed.” 

“Allah shows mercy on those who fill the first rank in prayer; angels pray for them. There is no step closer to Allah than the step taken to fill the ranks in prayer.” 

We participated in the funeral of one of Ansar with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). We arrived at the cemetery when the dead body was about to be buried. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sat down. We too sat down quietly and calmly as if we there was a bird on our heads. The Prophet (pbuh) drew something on the ground with a stick in his hand. He raised his head. He said, "I take refuge in Allah from the torture of grave" two or three times. Then, he said,

"When a believer is placed in the grave, two angels come as soon as his friends leave and when their footsteps are still heard. They make him sit and the following conversation takes place between them:

"Who is your Lord?"

"My Lord is Allah."

"What is your religion?"

"My religion is Islam."

"Who is the person sent by Allah to call you to the right path?"

"He is the Messenger of Allah."

"How did you learn this?"

"I read the Book of Allah and I believed in him; and I accepted his righteousness."

"This is the meaning of the verse of Allah: ‘Allah will establish in strength those who believe, with the Word that stands firm, in this world and in the Hereafter.’" (Ibrahim, 27)

"Then a voice will come from the sky: 'My slave has told the truth. Place him in a place that deserves Paradise. Dress him in clothes of Paradise. Open a door that overlooks Paradise for him!"

"If the person who dies is an unbeliever or a hypocrite, his soul is returned to his body when he is placed in the grave. Two angels come, make him sit and the following conversation takes place between them:

"Who is your Lord?"

"I do not know."

"What is your religion?"

"I do not know."

"Who is the person sent by Allah to call you to the right path?"

"I do not know."

"Then a voice will come from the sky: 'He has lied. Prepare for him a place that deserves Hell. Dress him in clothes of Hell. Open a door that overlooks Hell for him! '

As the chapters and verses of the Quran were sent down, the Prophet (pbuh) memorized them himself and made other people memorize them; in addition, he called one of the Companions and made him write down the revelation. Those people who wrote the revelation were called revelation scribes. The Prophet had a few revelation scribes. One of them was Zayd bin Thabit (r.a.). 

Zayd bin Thabit was from Madinah. His father was killed in a battle and he was an orphan. He was very intelligent. He became a Muslim before the Migration when he was a child. When he was 11, he could read 17 chapters of the Quran by heart. Upon the request of the Prophet (pbuh), Hz. Zayd recited the chapters he knew by heart. The Prophet became very pleased when he listened to Zayd and complimented him.

Zayd bin Thabit wanted to take part in the Battle of Badr, which was the first battle between the Muslims and the polytheists, but he was not included in the army of mujahids by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) since he was very young.

In the Battle of Badr, the Muslims had a glorious victory. More than 70 polytheists were killed and more than 70 polytheists were captured. The Prophet said a slave would be freed if he taught ten Muslims to read and write. Zayd bin Thabit was one of the Companions who learned to read and write from one of the slaves captured during the Battle of Badr.

After learning to read and write very well, Hz. Zayd bin Thabit started to write the revelation sent down to the Messenger of Allah. When Ubayy bin Ka'b, one of the revelation scribes, was absent, the Prophet would summon Zayd bin Thabit and dictate him the verses. Then, he made corrections if necessary.

Zayd bin Thabit narrates a spiritual state he witnessed while writing the revelation as follows:

"I was sitting next to the Messenger of Allah when some revelation was being sent down. Some heaviness fell on him. When the heaviness fell on him, his knees were on my knees. I swear by Allah that I had never seen anything heavier than the knees of the Messenger of Allah at that time. Then, this heaviness disappeared. He said to me, "Write O Zayd! I picked a scapula. I wrote verse 95 of the chapter of an-Nisa fully.  When Ibn Umm Maktum, who was blind, heard the virtues of mujahids, he stood up and said, "O Messenger of Allah! What is the situation of those who are blind, etc and cannot fight in the way of Allah?" I swear by Allah that heaviness fell on the Messenger of Allah again as soon as Umm Maktum finished his sentence. This time his knees were heavier. Then, the heaviness disappeared. He said to me, "Read what you have written." When I read what I had written, he added the phrase "without any excuse". Then, I added that phrase to the verse."

Apart from revelation, Zayd bin Thabit also wrote the letters to be sent to kings and leaders of tribes. He also wrote the treaties.

Upon the encouragement of the Prophet, he also learned Hebrew and Assyrian.

He narrates how he learned Hebrew as follows:

"The Messenger of Allah said to me, 'O Zayd! Learn the language of Jews for me. I do not trust in Jews related to my written documents.' I learned it in two weeks. When it was necessary to write something to Jews, I wrote it."

It is narrated that Hz. Zayd also learned Assyrian. We understand from this incidence that Islam gives importance to learning languages.

As it is known, the Hebrew letters that were sent to the Prophet were translated by Jewish translators. Or, the Prophet dictated the letters to be sent to them to Jewish translators.  

Zayd bin Thabit felt very sorry that he could not take part in the Battle of Badr due to his age He wished to join the jihad army very much when it was possible. Eventually, he was given a duty during the Battle of Khandaq, where Islamic heroes worked very hard. He could not dig but he helped the mujahids by carrying the soil that was dug out. When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saw his efforts, he appreciated him by saying, "What a nice boy!" After the task of digging the trench finished, the Prophet sent the children to their families but he did not send Abdullah bin Umar and Zayd bin Thabit. He allowed them to join the battle.

After the death of the Prophet, the election of the caliph was an urgent task. Ansar and Muhajirs showed different candidates. Zayd bin Thabit was 20 years old then. He was a very active person. He helped to unite the ideas and made the following offer:

"The Messenger of Allah was a muhajir. We were helpers of muhajirs. We will also be helpers of the one to be elected as the caliph"

Soon, the Companions paid allegiance to Hz. Abu Bakr. Thus, this important issue was settled easily.

The biggest service of Zayd bin Thabit, who was a person of the Quran, was about the Quran. He exerted great efforts regarding the issue. The Quran was not compiled in the form of a book as it is today when the Prophet was alive. The biggest share in the compilation of the Quran belonged to Zayd.

The revelation that came to the Prophet was written on pieces of paper, tanned leather, flat white stones and the scapulas of camels by revelation scribes. However, these things, on which verses and chapters of the Quran were written, were not stored in a certain place. The Companions that wanted them were allowed to take them. There were a lot of Companions who had memorized the whole Quran; so there was not a need for its compilation. When a lot of Companions who had memorized the whole Quran died during the Battle of Yamama after the death of the Prophet, such a need occurred.

The first person to feel this need was Hz. Umar (r.a.). He was worried that the number of hafizes would decrease in the course of time, that the things on which verses were written could be lost and that some verses could be forgotten. He talked to the caliph Hz. Abu Bakr about the issue. He suggested bringing together the documents of the Quran that were in various places and putting them between two covers. Hz. Abu Bakr hesitated when he heard this offer because he was offered to do something that the Messenger of Allah had not done. However, he found it reasonable on second thought. They found Zayd bin Thabit appropriate for the task.

Hz. Zayd bin Thabit was about 20 years old then. There were several reasons why they chose him for that task. First of all, he was the revelation scribe of the Messenger of Allah in Madinah. He was one of the Companions that had memorized the whole Quran and was one of the best reciters of it. He was very intelligent. Besides, Hz. Zayd showed all of the verses that he had written to the Prophet in the year when he died like Jibril who read the whole Quran to the Prophet. Therefore, Hz. Zayd was perfectly suited for such a lofty task. Besides, knowledge and qualifications were more important than age for such issues.

Hz. Abu Bakr and Hz. Umar decided to give the duty of compiling the verses of the Quran to Zayd bin Thabit. Then, they called him. When Hz. Zayd came Hz. Abu Bakr told Zayd about the conversation between him and Hz. Umar and said,

"You are a young and intelligent person. We cannot say anything against you. You used to write the revelation that came to the Messenger of Allah. Will you compile the Quran and check the verses?"

Hz. Zayd hesitated when he heard this offer just as Hz. Abu Bakr did. He said, "How will you do something that the Messenger of Allah did not do?" Then, he was convinced that it would be useful and accepted the duty. Hz. Zayd stated the following to indicate the difficulty of this duty

"I swear by Allah that if they had offered me to carry a mountain, I would have not found it more difficult than compiling the Quran."

He believed that it was necessary to fulfill such a holy duty though it was difficult. He started to seek the documents on which the verses of the Quran were written. He acted very cautiously. He did not accept the verses that were brought to him unless they proved that it had been written in the presence of the Messenger of Allah by two witnesses. He recorded them after that.

Thanks to the efforts of Companions, Hz. Zayd bin Thabit completed the task of compiling the Quran in one year, which was a very short time. Then, the Companions gathered. Hz. Zayd read the verses that he had compiled to them. They approved what he read and nobody objected. The pages of the Quran that were put between two covers were kept by Hz. Abu Bakr. After his death, they were kept by Hz. Umar; after Hz. Umar, his daughter Hz. Hafsa, who was also one of the wives of the Prophet kept them.

After fulfilling the duty of compiling the verses of the Quran during the caliphate of Hz. Abu Bakr, Zayd bin Thabit taught people qiraah (how to read the Quran) during the caliphate of Hz. Umar. He also issued fatwas. Hz. Umar, who was very strict about fatwas, prohibited the people except Zayd bin Thabit and a few Companions from issuing fatwas.

Whenever Hz. Umar went on an expedition, he left Zayd bin Thabit as his deputy. He appreciated his knowledge and virtues, saying, "The people find in Zayd what they cannot find in other people." He also advised the people who had questions about faraiz (how to divide inheritance) to ask Hz. Zayd. 

One of the important services of Zayd bin Thabit about the Quran was during the caliphate of Hz. Uthman.

The Quran (mushaf), which was compiled during the caliphate of Hz. Abu Bakr did not meet the needs of the people because it was only one copy. As days passed, Islamic conquests increased and the land where the Quran was dominant extended. Therefore, the people in the conquered places needed the people that would teach them the Quran and the Islamic law. Therefore, the Companions that recited the Quran nicely went to various cities. For instance, Abdullah bin Mas'ud went to  Kufa and Ubayy bin Ka'b went to Damascus. There were some differences in the qiraah style of these Companions.

Armenia was conquered by the Muslims of Iraq and Damascus. The people of Damascus read the Quran based on the qiraah of Ubayy bin Ka'b. The people of Iraq had not heard this style before. The people of Iraq read the Quran based on the qiraah of Abdullah bin Mas'ud. The people of Damascus had not heard this style before. There was not a resource they could refer to; therefore, the controversy between them could have increased and led to a conflict.

Hudhayfa al-Yamani who was present in the conquest of Armenia, witnessed this controversy. As soon as he arrived in Madinah, he informed Hz. Uthman, the caliph, about the situation. Hz. Uthman called the notables of the Companions to negotiate the issue. He consulted them. Consequently, they decided to reproduce a few copies of the Quran (mushaf) and send them to various cities. A committee of four people including Hz. Zayd bin Thabit was set up and given the duty of reproducing the only copy of the whole Quran. This committee reproduced seven - according to a narration - four copies. These copies were sent to big cities like Basra and Damascus.  Thus, the controversies about the qiraah of the Quran were prevented. Zayd bin Thabit definitely had the biggest share in this service.

Like during the caliphate of Hz. Umar, Zayd bin Thabit continued to serve as a fatwa issuer during the caliphate of Hz. Uthman, Hz. Ali and the first five years of the caliphate of Hz. Muawiya. Like Hz. Umar, they did not prefer anyone to Hz. Zayd regarding fatwa.

Hz. Zayd's method of fiqh and ijtihad was accepted in the period when he lived. Said bin Musayyab, a companion who was one of the seven fiqh scholars, did not accept what he heard from others before asking Zayd bin Thabit.

Thus, Zayd bin Thabit, who had great services in the sciences of the Quran and fiqh, also had great service in the science of hadith. He heard the hadiths that he reported directly from the Messenger of Allah and he learned hadiths from Hz. Abu Bakr, Hz. Umar and Hz. Uthman. Hz. Zayd reported 92 hadiths. One of them is as follows:

"I am leaving you two things. The first one is the book of Allah, which is like a rope between the sky and the earth. The second one is my Ahl al-Bayt (the people of my house), who will not leave me until I am given the Pool of Kawthar."

Hz. Zayd did not only become famous for his science and knowledge but he also became the symbol of high ethics. He was also known for his love of the Messenger of Allah. He loved the Messenger of Allah so much that he went to the Messenger of Allah after the morning prayer every day and served him.

Zayd bin Thabit did not fear anybody including governors about "advising the good and forbidding the evil" and always told the truth. Marwan, the governor of Madinah, invited him to his place in order to learn from his knowledge and merit; he made Zayd sit in his chair. Once, he called him again. After talking to Marwan for a while, the people approached him and asked him why the governor had called him.  Hz. Zayd said, "He asked me about some things that we heard from the Prophet." Then, he added:

"The Messenger of Allah said, ‘May Allah Almighty brighten the face of a person who hears a hadith from me, memorizes it and informs other people about it! For, there are some people who are not fiqh scholars but who carry fiqh. They convey it to people who are better at fiqh. There are three things that every Muslim needs to do:  (1) Not to leave sincerity and consent of Allah; (2) to give advice to administrators; (3) to maintain the spirit of congregation."‘

Zayd bin Thabit was regarded to be the Companion that read the Quran in the best way but he expressed his modesty and wish to learn as follows:

"If I knew a person who read the Quran better than me, I would go to him as far as my camel reached."

Zayd bin Thabit, who spent all of his life in the service of Islam, died in 45 (H). Everybody felt very sad when they heard his death. All Muslims were distressed by the death of this great scholar. Ibn  Umar said, "The most knowledgeable person died today." Ibn Abbas stated that many scholars were buried with their knowledge and pointed to Hz. Zayd's grave by saying, "Knowledge is buried like this."