Does sadness and hardship expiate sins absolutely?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He says: If a Muslim is afflicted with sadness, hardship, or the like, do they expiate his sins absolutely?
The Shaykh:
Minor sins expiate minor sins, but major sins are not expiated except through repentance or through the forgiveness of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, if they are less than shirk (associating partners with Allah). Yes.
The questioner:
Then he says, may Allah preserve you: Is it a condition for sins to be expiated that one intends to seek reward from Allah the Exalted in these calamities?
The Shaykh:
Without a doubt, if he loses patience, he commits a sin. If he loses patience over the calamities, he commits a sin. But if he is patient and seeks reward, he is rewarded for this, and Allah expiates his sins thereby. Yes.
He says: If a Muslim is afflicted with sadness, hardship, or the like, do they expiate his sins absolutely?
The Shaykh:
Minor sins expiate minor sins, but major sins are not expiated except through repentance or through the forgiveness of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, if they are less than shirk (associating partners with Allah). Yes.
The questioner:
Then he says, may Allah preserve you: Is it a condition for sins to be expiated that one intends to seek reward from Allah the Exalted in these calamities?
The Shaykh:
Without a doubt, if he loses patience, he commits a sin. If he loses patience over the calamities, he commits a sin. But if he is patient and seeks reward, he is rewarded for this, and Allah expiates his sins thereby. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل الحزن والنصب يكفّر الذنوب مطلقا؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.