“Whosoever repents and does good, he returns to Allah in the manner that he should.” (Al-Qur’ān – 25:71)
Man’s nature prompts him to return to God for He alone is his last and real refuge. Morally, too, man should return to God. Also, pragmatically, it is good to return to God for there is no other way to save oneself from His punishment and to receive His rewards. This also means that such a person returns to a place worthy of returning – to a place where he finds the best of rewards, where penitents are not disdainfully repulsed because they had sinned but are favoured with forgiveness and rewards are lavished upon them because they repented; a place where there is no desire to count sins but instead there is an eagerness to see how far people are able to reform themselves after repentance; a place where one encounters a Lord Who, far from being bent upon punishing, greets all penitent sinners with infinite Mercy and Compassion.
This is good news for those whose life has been stained with various kinds of sin in the past but who later repent and firmly decide to amend their behaviour. This is a kind of a divine proclamation of general amnesty which for millions and millions of sinners provided a ray of hope and prompted them to reform themselves. It is only the hope of forgiveness which can save a sinner and bring him out of the vicious circle of sin; for a man in despair can easily turn into a devil.