Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As a teenager, i went through some turbulent years. I got involved with the wrong crowd and did some stupid things. One of these things i did was to drink alcohol. I never liked it but i did. After a few months i realise what a stupid thing i was doing and i quit that crowd. I swore i would never drink again and i never have. I have repeatedly asked Allah for forgivenes. But this still sometimes haunts me. Is there any way i can ever be forgiven? 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Is Alcohol sin forgiven?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Our Compassionate and Beneficent Lord is so Merciful, that all we need to do is ask for His Forgiveness, and He will, Insha Allah, forgive all our past sins. This is how magnanimous is the Mercy of our Merciful Lord, Allah Subhanah.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumar verse 53:(O Prophet) say, “O My servants, who have wronged their own souls: Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy; surely Allah forgives all sins. He is indeed the All Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqaan verses 68-71:(The true servants of the Merciful are those) who do not invoke any god but Allah; nor kill a soul unjustly, which Allah has forbidden; nor commit adultery. He who does this shall be punished for his sin, and his torment shall be doubled on the Day of Resurrection and he shall abide in a state of ignominy. Except the one who may have repented (after those sins) and have believed and done righteous deeds; for then Allah will change his evil deeds into good deeds. He is very Forgiving and Merciful. In fact, the one who repents and does righteous deeds, returns to Allah as one rightly should.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verses 17-18:Note it well that Allah’s acceptance of repentance is for those people only, who commit an evil in ignorance, and then repent of it soon after. Allah again turns kindly to such people, for Allah is All Knowing, All Wise. But there is no repentance for those people who persist in their evil deeds until the dying hour comes to anyone of them; then he says, “Now I repent!.” Nor is repentance for them who die as unbelievers. For such people, We have prepared a painful torment.

Thus all you need to do is have remorse and regret at the deeds that you did in ignorance, beg Allah for repentance and forgiveness, do good righteous deeds according to the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), and make a solemn pact and covenant with Allah that you will never ever turn back to those days of ignorance. You will Insha Allah find Allah very Forgiving and Merciful, Who has promised in His Glorious Book that not only will he forgive those sins, but change those bad deeds into good deeds! Glorified and Exalted is Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Our Merciful Lord has kept the doors of repentance and Taubah open for mankind until one’s appointment of death approaches him/her. If one sincerely repents and does sincere Taubah to Allah, He will, Insha Allah, forgive all our sins. When Allah even forgives the unforgivable sin of ‘shirk’ if one sincerely repents and turns to Him in Taubah, it is expected that our Merciful Lord will forgive all the other sins; provided that we turn to Him in sincere Taubah and repentance!

There is none (except the Messengers of Allah) who are free from committing sins! Your statement that the sins that you committed in ignorance haunt you even after you have made sincere Taubah to Allah Subhanah, is a sign of your faith and the fear of that One Inevitable Day, when all of us will be gathered in the Court of Allah to give a full accounting of our deeds! May Allah increase yours and our awareness and fear of the accountability of that Great Day, so that we may strive to live our lives within the boundaries commanded by Allah and His Messenger (saws).

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan