Delay of Six Hours

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “The angel on the left holds up his pen (refrains from writing down) for six hours after a Muslim commits a sin. If the person regrets it and asks Allah for forgiveness, he casts it aside (does not write it down), otherwise he writes it down as one (sayi’ah).” [Mu’jam at-Tabaraani al-Kabeer]

Of the two angels with each person (Kiraaman Kaatibeen) the one on the right records the person’s good deeds while the angel on the left records his/her bad deeds.

Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) loves us so much that He hates to have negative entries made in our record of deeds. Thus, He (subhana wa ta’ala) has ordered the angel on the left to wait a period of six hours before recording any of our bad deeds.

If during this period we repent, regret the misdeed, and ask Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) for forgiveness, then that bad deed is cast aside and not included in our record. SubhanAllah!