Despondency is a characteristic of the Kuffaar. Why? Because, the fact of the matter is there’s no need for us to feel despondent. Allah has promised His love to those who adopt taqwa, but also those who repent frequently. That’s not a green light to sin, but it means that if, at times of weakness, we do, we can always turn back to Allah.
The method of tawbah is simple: 1) stop doing that sin immediately, 2) regret doing it, 3) make the firm intention never to return to it again, and lastly, if that sin imposes on the rights of another, than ask him for forgiveness, and make sure that anything that must be done to make it up to him is taken care of.
Even the greatest amount of sins, even the most despicable of sins cannot compare to Allah’s infinite forgiveness. We are reminded of that when we read the du’a for Salat-ut-Tawbah:
اللهم مغÙرتك اوسع من ذنوبى Ùˆ رØمتك ارجى عندى من عملى
Translation: O Allah! Your forgiveness is wider than my sins and I have more hope in your mercy than in my own deeds.
We cannot exhaust Allah’s forgiveness and mercy, so never feel that you cannot turn to Allah and beg Him for forgiveness. He is always listening, and He will always be there for us, as long as we put in the effort. How do we know?
It is reported in the Sahihain, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (s) said, “Allah Almighty says, ‘I am in My slave’s opinion of Me and I am with Him when He remembers Me. When he remembers Me by himself, I mention him by Myself. If he mentions Me in a gathering, I mention him in a better gathering….When he comes to me walking, I come to him running.†Subhanallah! If we walk towards Him, then He runs towards us.
So what are we waiting for? Let’s get to walking.
Source: http://annoor.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/leave-despondency-for-the-kuffar/