“Repentance is regret of the heart, the tongue's confession, and the resolve not to return to the sin.”
— Jafar al-Sadiq[commonly attributed] Commonly cited definition of repentance in Shi'i devotional and ethical literature; attributed to Ja'far in later anthologies
Commentary
This definition of repentance, widely quoted in Shi'i ethical writing, sets out three conditions of true turning to God: inward regret, verbal acknowledgment, and firm intention not to repeat the wrong. The tripartite account gives the moral life a structure that the believer can examine and fulfil. Heinz Halm, in Die Schia (1988), notes that the ethical literature of the Imami tradition often combines legal precision with the cultivation of inner states, and this definition exemplifies that combination. Hossein Modarressi's study of formative Shi'i thought (1993) describes how ethical traditions of this kind were transmitted and anthologised after the death of the Imams. Marshall Hodgson observes that the theme of repentance was prominent in early Islamic piety across several schools. The definition is attributed to Ja'far in later collections, and its wording varies in different versions of the ethical literature.
Commentary
This definition of repentance, widely quoted in Shi'i ethical writing, sets out three conditions of true turning to God: inward regret, verbal acknowledgment, and firm intention not to repeat the wrong. The tripartite account gives the moral life a structure that the believer can examine and fulfil. Heinz Halm, in Die Schia (1988), notes that the ethical literature of the Imami tradition often combines legal precision with the cultivation of inner states, and this definition exemplifies that combination. Hossein Modarressi's study of formative Shi'i thought (1993) describes how ethical traditions of this kind were transmitted and anthologised after the death of the Imams. Marshall Hodgson observes that the theme of repentance was prominent in early Islamic piety across several schools. The definition is attributed to Ja'far in later collections, and its wording varies in different versions of the ethical literature.