Repentance of the one sentenced to death before execution
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Another woman says: My husband is in prison, and he has been sentenced to death. He does not pray, and he drinks intoxicants. When he learned that he would certainly be executed, he wanted to repent now. Does he have a chance of repentance, even if it is only an hour before the execution?
Answer:
Yes, and as for the one who is prevented from repenting, the door of repentance is open even if it is only minutes before the killing. If he repents, Allah accepts it. If he sincerely repents from his disbelief, shirk (associating partners with Allah), intoxicants, and the like, the door of repentance is open. Allah says:[An-Nur 24:31] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 4250Da’if (Darussalam) If he repents before he is killed, even when he is being taken out of prison for execution, if he repents with a sincere repentance, feels remorse for what has passed, and resolves not to return to it, then if he is saved from the killing, Allah will accept his repentance if he is sincere. So repentance has three conditions: remorse for the past, abandoning the sin, and a sincere resolve not to return to it. If he does that before he is killed, his repentance is valid.
As for what concerns the rights of people, that is necessary; it is a fourth condition. If he has rights owed to people or injustices committed against them, he must pay them to them or seek their forgiveness before he is killed, if that is possible for him. But the rights of people are not like disbelief. If his repentance is sincere, Allah will compensate for the rights of people on the Day of Resurrection; Allah the Exalted will settle them. What is important is his repentance to Allah for abandoning the prayer, and for what he is doing, such as drinking intoxicants and other sins. We ask Allah for safety. Yes.
Another woman says: My husband is in prison, and he has been sentenced to death. He does not pray, and he drinks intoxicants. When he learned that he would certainly be executed, he wanted to repent now. Does he have a chance of repentance, even if it is only an hour before the execution?
Answer:
Yes, and as for the one who is prevented from repenting, the door of repentance is open even if it is only minutes before the killing. If he repents, Allah accepts it. If he sincerely repents from his disbelief, shirk (associating partners with Allah), intoxicants, and the like, the door of repentance is open. Allah says:
And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَfrom sin is like one who did not sin
من الذنب كمن لا ذنب لهAs for what concerns the rights of people, that is necessary; it is a fourth condition. If he has rights owed to people or injustices committed against them, he must pay them to them or seek their forgiveness before he is killed, if that is possible for him. But the rights of people are not like disbelief. If his repentance is sincere, Allah will compensate for the rights of people on the Day of Resurrection; Allah the Exalted will settle them. What is important is his repentance to Allah for abandoning the prayer, and for what he is doing, such as drinking intoxicants and other sins. We ask Allah for safety. Yes.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ ابن باز Alsheikh Binbaz»، 434 حكم من تزوجت برجل لا يصلي ثم تاب بعد ذلك للإمام ابن باز — youtube.com (2:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.