Ways to overcome addiction to sin

Question
Asalamu alaykum wa ramatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. For the past year and a half, I
have been performing an evil deed, a deed so evil that I am thankful that Allaah
has hidden it from the people, as I am a well-respected community leader. I hav
e been hiring escorts despite being seen and respected by other Muslims. I have
a concern. I want to quit doing this, but I am addicted to this sin, how do I ob
tain the will to quit? I regret that I do not feel remorse for it. How can I fee
l remorse? Also, am I a hypocrite because people view me as pious even though I
see escorts? My other question is, would Allaah forgive me, even if I did this e
vil deed? I feel that I am not even worthy to call myself a Muslim when I sin. W
hat do I need to do to return to Allaah and never repeat this sin. Each time I c
ommit this sin, I keep promising to repent and quit it, but I never do so. Why d
o I keep failing to quit even though I have promosed myself to do this many time
s? What do I need to do to be able to promise to quit and actually stick with it
?
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 `alayhi w
a sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.
There is no doubt that what you are doing is evil.
There are many matters that will help you to repent from this sin and quit it, w
hich are as follows:
- To remind yourself and feel that this is a great sin and that it has evil cons
equences, such as bringing the wrath of Allaah and being deprived of the blessin
gs in livelihood and the blessing of ones lifespan, among other numerous great ev
ils. You should refer to the book Ad-Daa wad-Dawaa by Ibn Al-Qayyim may Allaah
have mercy upon him as he mentioned the consequences of evil sins, which woul
d urge any sane person to avoid them and quit them, in it.
- To remind yourself and feel that Allaah is watching you and is encompassing yo
u and that nothing is hidden from Him of your affairs; so you should not conside
r Allaah as the least important of those who are watching you.
- To keep company with righteous people and abide by the remembrance of Allaah.
- To earnestly supplicate Allaah to help you overcome your own self (desires), w
hich incites you to commit evil, as the hearts of the people are between two fin
gers of Allaah and He turns them as He pleases.
- Every time you commit a sin, you must repent and not despair of the mercy of A
llaah as Allaah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful, and He forgives you as long as
you seek His forgiveness and repent to Him.
- Every time you sincerely repent from your sin, a sincere repentance while fulf
illing its conditions, then Allaah will forgive you that sin. If you return to i
t again, then you should repent again and never despair until Allaah grants you
a sincere repentance after which you will never commit the sin again.
As regards hypocrisy, this is something that you must fear for yourself if you i
nsist on that evil, because the punishment of evil is to commit evil again.
If you realize the enormity of the sin and think about its consequences in case
you do not repent from it, as this could lead you to the blazing Fire, whose fue

l is men and stones, then there is no doubt that this would make you regret what
you did.
We ask Allaah to bless you with sincere repentance.
For more benefit on the conditions of sincere repentance, please refer to fatwa
86527.
Allaah knows best.