Tawba qabl al-Safar
Definition
Al-Ghazali recommends making sincere tawba — repentance — before undertaking any significant journey, because travel involves the genuine possibility of death, and the traveller who departs with unresolved sins and broken relationships carries a burden that compromises both the spiritual quality of the journey and their readiness for the possibility that they may not return. Settling debts, reconciling with those who have been wronged, making a will, and seeking forgiveness from family members are all part of the prophetically informed preparation for travel — practices that force the honest reckoning with mortality that ordinary life's comfortable permanence allows one to postpone.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Tawba qabl al-Safar.
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"This too is not repentance from repentance, but rather repentance from the lack of repentance. The portion of repentance that exists is an act of obedience that should not be repented from, while the missing portion is what requires repentance. Repentance from repentance can only be understood in one of these two ways."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume One
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"This is an illogical statement and not correct in itself. There might be a flaw, deficiency, or impediment in the repentance that prevents its perfection. The person may or may not be aware of this, and they should repent from the deficiency in their repentance and from not fulfilling its rights. This too is not repentance from repentance, but rather repentance from the lack of repentance."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume One
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"What they repent from might be considered among the greatest good deeds of others. In summary, the repentance of the true lovers who are knowledgeable of their Lord and His rights is the true repentance, while others are veiled from it. Beyond this is another repentance, which we should turn away from discussing. Chapter: The author of "Al-Manazil" explains that the station of repentance is not fully realized until one repents from everything other than the Truth, perceives the cause of repentance, and then repents from even seeing that cause."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume One
Appears in
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