Once a man came to one of the early Muslims, Ibrahim ibn Adham (rahimahullah), asking about disobedience to Allah:

The Man said: "Oh Abu Ishaaq (Ibrahim ibn Adham), I have many sins, and I turn away from everything that invites me to improve my way of life."

Ibrahim said: "If you can fulfill five conditions, then sinning will never harm you, and you can fulfill your desires as much as you want."

"Tell me those conditions," exclaimed the man.

"As for the first, if you want to disobey Allah, then do not eat from His sustenance," said Ibrahim.

"What then will I eat, for everything on the earth is from His sustenance?" said the man.

"Listen," said Ibrahim "Are you being sensible when you eat from His sustenance while you are disobedient to Him?"

"No," said the man. "What is the second condition?"

"If you want to disobey Allah, then do not live in any of His lands," said Ibrahim.

"This is even worse than the first. All that is in the East and West belong to Him. So where then will I live?""Listen," said Ibrahim.

 "If you insist on disobeying Him while you eat from His sustenance and live in His lands, then at least look for some spot where He cannot see you, and disobey Him there."

"O Ibrahim!" exclaimed the man.

"How can I do that, when He even knows the deepest secrets that are in the breasts of men? What is the fourth condition?" he asked despondently.

"When the angel of death comes to take your soul, then say to him, 'Give me some respite, so that I can repent sincerely and perform good deeds.'"

"When the time comes, the angel will not accept that plea from me," said the man.

"Listen," said Ibrahim.

"If you cannot put off death in order to repent, then how do you expect to be saved?"

"Tell me the fifth condition," said the man.

"When the guardians of Hell-fire come to take you away on the Day of Resurrection, don't go with them."

"They won't let me!" exclaimed the man.

"Then how do you expect to be saved?" asked Ibrahim.

"Stop, stop! That is enough for me," said the man.
"I ask Allah to forgive me and I indeed repent to Him."

The man then dedicated his life to the worship of Allah from that day.

It’s one of those days. You woke up late and missed a make-up test for a test you missed before because you woke up late. You just got a call from your manager and you’ve been “laid off.” Your friends are being acting up. Your laptop died mid essay writing. You walked home soaking wet because you, like a genius, forgot your umbrella even though rain has been forecasted for three days. You just looked at your calendar and realised that it’s early March and assignment deadlines and final exams loom in the not so distant horizon, dark and threatening a violent storm. It seems like the hours of the day are getting shorter while your to-do list just keeps stretching out; there seems to be no relief in sight.

In situations like this, it’s so easy to wallow in misery and let bad feelings fester. So, here are a few reminders that insha’Allah will help to keep yours and my chin up!

 - Umar al-Khattab (radiallahu anhu)  whenever he faced any difficulty, he would be take heart and say:

1)     The calamity is not losing one’s deen. 
2)     It could have been worse.
3)     Allah forgives my sins for my suffering.
4)     Any loss after losing the Prophet (SAW) is nothing.

- The Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) said : “How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2999). 

- The Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wassalam) said: “The du’aa’ of the person who is in distress is: ‘Allaahumma rahmataka arjoo fa laa takilni ilaa nafsi tarfat ‘ayn wa aslih li sha’ni kullahu laa ilaaha illa anta (O Allaah, for Your mercy I hope, so do not leave me in charge of my affairs even for the blink of an eye; rectify all my affairs. There is no god except You)’”

 - And Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) has said in the Qur’an: (translation) “Verily with every difficulty there is relief.” [Ash-Sharh 94:6]

And really, at the end of the day, how bad do we really have it? There are people who have lost loved ones. There are people facing bombs, occupation, earthquakes, famine and homelessness. Allah has blessed us, and real calamities (may Allah protect us) and these off days are excellent in reminding us to be thankful. Alhamdulillah. 

Don’t be afraid of repentance. We all make mistakes. In day to day living we all slip and commit sin, whether privately or publicly, whether intentionally or accidentally. No one is exempt from this. However, Allah says in the Qur’an, “Say: O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful” [al-Zumar 39:53]. 

Allah, by His Mercy, has made the possibilities of forgiveness abundant and He has ordered us to seek His forgiveness through repentance. He says in the Qur’an, “O you who believe! Turn to Allaah with sincere repentance!” [al-Tahreem 66:8]. Without His Mercy and Forgiveness, human beings would not be able to live meaningful lives, striving to please Him.

This injunction to seek forgiveness is on all kinds of people in this ummah. They are: those who are foremost in good deeds, those who follow a middle course, and those who wrong their own selves by doing haraam things (cf. Faatir 35:32).

As is clear from the above, we should never ever become self righteous when seeking Allah’s forgiveness, as even the righteous people are told to seek forgiveness. The best of creation, Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said “O people, seek repentance from Allah. Verily, I seek repentance from Him a hundred times a day” [Muslim]*. 

So how does one go about repenting to Allah? The scholars say that there are three condition for repentance which ,when fulfilled, there is the hope that [the one seeking forgiveness] his repentance will be accepted, by Allaah’s leave. The three conditions are:

I) You should give up the sin
II) You should regret having done it
III) You should resolve never to go back to it

But we should not be daunted. in a hadith Qudsi*, Allah has said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.” 

What more can we hope for, other than that? And Allah make us amongst those who repent sincerely, and who are forgiven. Ameen.
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- I am not a scholar. My knowledge is extremely limited so my ability to speak on religious topics is miniscule and my authority in these matters in non existent.

- Therefore, most of the information in this article was taken directly from the website islamqa.com, especially these two articles: http://islamqa.com/en/ref/46683 and http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/135707 . This website is a collection of articles and Fatwas by recognized scholars.

- the italicized portion are taken word-for-word from the above website.