What is the validity of citing the saying of Allah the Exalted, “If they desist, Allah will forgive them what has gone before,” in urging repentance?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you. Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says: What is the ruling on citing verses revealed regarding disbelievers to encourage believers to repent, such as the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Anfal 8:38]
Answer:
Yes, the verse is general, and the consideration is the generality of the wording, not the specificity of the cause. Even if it was revealed regarding disbelievers, it is general for everyone who repents to Allah the Exalted, whether a believer or a disbeliever. Yes,[Al-Anfal 8:38], yes, [Taha 20:82], yes,
May Allah reward you. Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says: What is the ruling on citing verses revealed regarding disbelievers to encourage believers to repent, such as the saying of Allah the Exalted:
if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them
إِن يَنتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُم مَّا قَدْ سَلَفَAnswer:
Yes, the verse is general, and the consideration is the generality of the wording, not the specificity of the cause. Even if it was revealed regarding disbelievers, it is general for everyone who repents to Allah the Exalted, whether a believer or a disbeliever. Yes,
if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them
إِن يَنتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُم مَّا قَدْ سَلَفَBut indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.
وَإِنِّي لَغَفَّارٌ لِّمَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا ثُمَّ اهْتَدَىٰ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [536 -858] ما صحة الاستشهاد بقوله تعالى (إن ينتهوا يغفر لهم ما قد سلف) في الحث على التوبة؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.