If one says, "I seek forgiveness from Allah, the Great, who has no god but Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer, and I repent to Him," does this expiate minor and major sins?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: It was reported thatJami` at-Tirmidhi 3577Hasan (Darussalam). Does this mean that Allah expiates minor and major sins, or is repentance necessary?
The Shaykh:
What?
The questioner:
He says: Does this mean that Allah expiates minor and major sins?
The Shaykh:
This is seeking forgiveness from Allah; this is repentance. If one repents from major sins, Allah forgives him. This means repentance, and whoever repents, Allah forgives him for major and minor sins. But the issue is with the one who commits a major sin—other than shirk (associating partners with Allah)—and does not repent. Such a person is under the will of Allah: if Allah wills, He forgives him, and if He wills, He punishes him. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: It was reported that
Whoever says: “I seek forgiveness from Allah, the Magnificent, whom there is none worthy of worship but Him, the Living, Al-Qayyum, and I repent to him,” (Astaghfirullāhal-`Aẓīm alladhī lā ilāha illā huwal-Ḥayyul-Qayyūmu wa atūbu ilaih) then Allah will forgive him, even if he fled from battle.
من قال أستغفر الله العظيم الذي لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم وأتوب إليه غفرت له ذنوبه وإن كان قد فر من الزحفThe Shaykh:
What?
The questioner:
He says: Does this mean that Allah expiates minor and major sins?
The Shaykh:
This is seeking forgiveness from Allah; this is repentance. If one repents from major sins, Allah forgives him. This means repentance, and whoever repents, Allah forgives him for major and minor sins. But the issue is with the one who commits a major sin—other than shirk (associating partners with Allah)—and does not repent. Such a person is under the will of Allah: if Allah wills, He forgives him, and if He wills, He punishes him. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، من قال "أستغفر الله العظيم الذي لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم وأتوب إليه" هل فيه تكفير الصغائر والكبائر؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.