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Fatwa CenterContinuing to sin while asking for repentance
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Please, according to the Quran, a hypocrite has some characteristics. His actions differ from what he says. My brothers, I want to know its meaning. I also want to know if its the same as this: I have been doing something wrong of which I know that it was wrong, a disobedience to Allaah. I asked for Allaah's forgiveness and yet, due to my weakness, I still went back to it. In fact, I have tried countless time to stop and have cried to Allaah for forgiveness; yet I went back, though my involvement in such deed has reduced as compared to before. Now, since I do ask for forgiveness and still go back to my former sin, can this also be considered an act of the hypocrites? I hope to get your response, please. If you could reply me directly to my email, that would make me happy.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
There are many characteristics for hypocrites stated in the Quran and Sunnah. Hypocrisy is of two types:
1- Hypocrisy in Belief: Some scholars call this form of hypocrisy 'Major Hypocrisy'. It is when the person shows Islam and hides kufr (disbelief).
2- Hypocrisy in Action: Some scholars call this form 'Minor Hypocrisy'. It is when the person has some of the manners of the hypocrites but is still a Muslim, and such hypocrisy does not take him out of the fold of Islam. Rather, such manners are sins entailing repentance to Allaah. Abu Hurayrah 
reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, “The signs of the hypocrite are three: When he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays the trust.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Whoever tells a lie, breaks a promise, or betrays the trust has one sign of hypocrisy, but this does not take him out of the fold of Islam. He is obliged to repent to Allaah of his sin.
You did not state the sin that you have been committing so that we can judge whether it is one of the signs of hypocrisy or not. In any case, the Muslim is enjoined to repent to Allaah of all sins. No matter how many times he commits any given sin, he must repent to his Lord and know that His Mercy encompasses all things and that He continues to accept the repentance of His slaves whenever the sinner turns to Him in repentance. Hence, you should repent to Allaah whenever you commit sins and never despair of His mercy. You should turn to Him in sincere repentance and know that Allaah forgives all sins and that the repentant is the same as the one who is sinless.
If you happened to commit that sin again, then you should never give up or get bored of repenting to Allaah again and again. Verily, as you continue to do so, you are teasing the Devil and earning the pleasure of your Lord. We ask Allaah to bless us and you with sincere repentance.
Allaah knows best.
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