Does repentance expiate what came before it, because I have repented and I am afraid that Allah will not accept it?
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The questioner:
May Allah reward you. The sender, Abu Fahd, says: Five years ago, I was not careful about prayer or fasting, and I committed many sins, to the extent that on some days I cursed Allah, the Messenger, and the religion three times, in three separate instances. I am now, praise be to Allah, a repentant person to Allah and I am careful about prayer and fasting, but I am afraid that Allah will not accept my repentance after those sins. So what do you advise me to do?
The Shaykh:
Praise be to Allah who guided you to repentance.
The presenter:
Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh:
And as long as you have repented with a sincere repentance, then repentance erases what came before it, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And in the hadith: Sunan Ibn Majah 4250Da’if (Darussalam) So you must continue in your repentance, and what has passed will not harm you. [Al-Anfal 8:38] [At-Tahrim 66:8] [An-Nur 24:31] Will they not repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. So as long as you have repented to Allah with a sincere repentance, praise be to Allah, and what has passed will not harm you. And as for your regret over what happened, this is a sign of the sincerity of the repentance. Because one of the conditions of repentance is regret over what has passed. So this is a sign of good, and praise be to Allah. Yes.
May Allah reward you. The sender, Abu Fahd, says: Five years ago, I was not careful about prayer or fasting, and I committed many sins, to the extent that on some days I cursed Allah, the Messenger, and the religion three times, in three separate instances. I am now, praise be to Allah, a repentant person to Allah and I am careful about prayer and fasting, but I am afraid that Allah will not accept my repentance after those sins. So what do you advise me to do?
The Shaykh:
Praise be to Allah who guided you to repentance.
The presenter:
Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh:
And as long as you have repented with a sincere repentance, then repentance erases what came before it, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Islam expiates what came before it.
الإسلام يجب ما قبله.The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.
التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب له،Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them
قُل لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِن يَنتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُم مَّا قَدْ سَلَفَO you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًاAnd turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5711- هل التوبة تجب ما قبلها لأني تبت وخائف ألا يقبلها الله؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.