What is the interpretation of Allah’s saying: “And He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills”?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says: Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) interpreted the phrase of Allah the Exalted,[An-Nisa 4:48], by saying that "dun" here means what is less than shirk (associating partners with Allah), and not what is other than shirk. What is the meaning of this statement?
Answer:
This is clear. This was said by someone other than Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen. They say that shirk is not forgiven except through repentance, whereas sins less than shirk are under Allah’s will: if Allah wills, He forgives them, and if He wills, He punishes their doer, then takes him out of the Fire and enters him into Paradise after the punishment. Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:48] for whom He wills.
This questioner says: Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) interpreted the phrase of Allah the Exalted,
but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills
وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُAnswer:
This is clear. This was said by someone other than Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen. They say that shirk is not forgiven except through repentance, whereas sins less than shirk are under Allah’s will: if Allah wills, He forgives them, and if He wills, He punishes their doer, then takes him out of the Fire and enters him into Paradise after the punishment. Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما تفسير قوله تعالى ﴿ويغفر ما دون ذلك لمن يشاء﴾؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.