The important thing is that when the awakening does take place, the person concerned seizes this opportunity and thanks Allah for giving him the chance to repent. According to Islam, the door to repentance and mending one's behavior remains open all the time. The only thing needed is for the person concerned to be genuine in his repentance and to resolve not to go back to his sinful ways. When repentance is genuine and sincere Allah accepts it and forgives the person's past errors. Our past sins do not stay with us, if we sincerely regret having done them.
Every human being is liable to err in future.
What is more is that we, the Muslim community, are commanded by Allah to overlook the past deeds of any person who declares that he has genuinely repented what he had done. Therefore, if someone used to drink alcoholic beverages and then he repents doing this, we treat him as one who does not drink. We never taunt him about his past drinking nor do we refer to him in our private conversations as a former drunkard. To us, he is as good as a person who never drank. The case of this reader is typical to people who come to realize that their past was nothing to be proud of.