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 Salaam Aleikum !!!!!!!!

Following are my questions?

1.Are sins forgiveable?

2.What are the sins which are not forgiveable?

3.If the believer starts repentence are his sins forgiveable?

4.Can Adultery be forgiven,if one starts repentence?

With Warm Regards,

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Answer:

Does repentance forgive sins

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Q-1: Are sins forgiveable?

Whatever deeds one might have done in one’s past, if one turns to Allah Subhanah in sincere Taubah and seeks forgiveness before one is faced with one’s appointment of death, Allah Subhanah has promised in His Glorious Quran that He will forgive all the sins of such a believer, even if one has committed the gravest sin of all: ‘Shirk’!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(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 indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

The conditions or ways to seek sincere Taubah or Repentance from the Merciful Lord are:

1. One is aware that he has sinned, and feels sorry and ashamed at his sin.
2. Makes a solemn covenant and promise with Allah that he will not repeat his sin again.
3. Turns to Allah and seeks forgiveness, before he has met with his appointment of death.
4. Is a believer and does righteous good deeds thereafter.

Thus regardless of the gravity and the number of one’s past sins, if one turns back to Allah seeking sincere repentance before one is faced with their appointment of death….If Allah Subhanah Wills to accept their repentance, He Will forgive them every one of their sins.

Q-2: What are the sins which are not forgiveable?

As long as one is alive and is not faced with the appointment of death, and this person turns in sincere repentance unto their Lord Creator seeking forgiveness….Allah Subhanah has promised to forgive each and every sin of such a person, absolutely regardless of the gravity and number of their sins.

But if one is faced with the appointment of death or dies while in the state of ‘polytheism’ (shirk), ‘disbelief’ (kufr) or ‘hypocrisy’ (nifaak)…..then Allah Subhanah has made it incumbent upon himself never ever to forgive such a person and Hell Fire would be such a person’s guaranteed eternal abode.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 72:

Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (invoking anything with Allah), Allah shall forbid for him Paradise, and Hell shall be his abode. And for such wrong doers there will be no one to help.

Allah says in the Quran: Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa Verse 48
Shirk (associating other deities with Allah) is the only sin that Allah does not forgive, and He forgives, whomsoever He pleases, sins other than this, for whosoever associates any other partner with Allah, does indeed forge a big lie and commits the most heinous sin.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imraan verse 10:

10 Those who reject faith (kufr), neither their possessions nor their (numerous) descendants will avail them aught against Allah: they are themselves but fuel for the Fire.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 80:

80 Whether thou (O Prophet (saws)) ask for their (the hypocrites) forgiveness or not (their sin is unforgivable!): if thou ask seventy times for their forgiveness Allah will not forgive them: because they have rejected Allah and His Messenger; and Allah guides not those who are perversely rebellious.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2332 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik ; AbuDharr

Allah's Messenger (saws) stated that Allah said, "Son of Adam, as long as you supplicate me and hope in me I will pardon you in spite of what you have done, and I do not care. Son of Adam, if your sins were so numerous as to reach the lofty regions of the sky, then you asked my forgiveness, I would forgive you, and I do not care. Son of Adam, if you were to meet me with enough sins to fill the earth, then met me, not associating anything with me, I should bring you as much pardon as would fill the earth."

Q-3: If the believer starts repentence are his sins forgiveable?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2357 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who repents of a sin is like him who has committed no sin."

No sooner than one turns back to their Lord seeking sincere repentance, at that very moment and instant, The Lord Most Merciful wipes out the sins of that person from their Book of Records!

Q-4: Can Adultery be forgiven,if one starts repentence?

When the Lord Most Gracious is ready to forgive sins as grave as ‘shirk’, ‘kufr’, and ‘nifaak’ (hypocrisy) provided one turns back to Him in sincere repentance before one’s appointment of death……surely one who has indulged in the sin of ‘zina’ or adultery can also be forgiven, provided one turns unto their Lord Most Gracious and seeks sincere repentance for their sin.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqaan verses 63-71:

The (true) servants of the Merciful are those who walk humbly on the earth. When the ignorant people behave insolently towards them, they say, “Peace to you”; (And those) who pass their nights in prostrating themselves and standing before their Lord and pray, “O our Lord, save us from the torment of Hell, for its torment is killing! It is an evil abode, and an evil resting place”. (And those) who, when they spend are neither extravagant, nor miserly, but keep the golden mean between the two extremes. (And those) who do not invoke any god but Allah Alone, 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, and He is very Forgiving and Merciful. In fact, one who repents and does righteous deeds, returns to Allah as one rightly should!

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan