It's not too late to comeback to Allah | Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ once entered upon a young boy who was dying. He ﷺ asked him, “How are you?” The boy replied, “O Messenger of Allah, I swear by Allah that I have hope in Allah and I am scared over my sins.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “These two (qualities) do not gather in a slave’s heart in such a moment except that Allah gives him what he hopes for, and protects him from what he is scared of” (Tirmidhī).

Hope in Allah, known as rajā’ in Arabic, is to behold the vastness of Allah’s mercy and have full confidence in His generosity. Hope is an engine which propels the heart to its Beloved. Hope motivates us: if we didn’t have hope, we wouldn’t strive hard to please Allah. Hope makes our journey to Him beautiful.

Ibn al-Qayyim (raḥimahullāh) explains, “Hope (in Allah) is a necessity for the seeker, on his journey to Allah. The seeker would nearly perish if he lost hope even for a moment, for he moves between:

1) sins which he hopes will be forgiven;

2) shortcomings which he hopes will be rectified;

3) righteous deeds which he hopes will be accepted;

4) steadfastness which he hopes to attain and sustain;

5) closeness to Allah and a high rank with Him which he hopes to attain;

—and no seeker can ever afford to lose sight of these.”