Text copied Link copied

Al-Fatawa – home

﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

Scholar
Search mode

Does Allah (Mighty and Majestic) forgive the repeated sin that the heart of its doer rejects?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Eid Abbasi : Does Allah forgive the repeated sin that the heart of its doer rejects? And does the word ignorance in the verse:
for those who do wrong in ignorance لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ
[An-Nisa 4:17]
mean lack of intention or lack of control over the senses?

The Shaykh : ... that the questioner intended something and fell short in his speech; because, as we have mentioned to you repeatedly, the difference between practical disbelief and creedal disbelief is something that, unfortunately, the majority of Muslims today do not know. What is it? It is either admitting the sin, in which case his sin and his disbelief are practical disbelief, or not admitting it. And here, when he says, what is it?

Eid Abbasi : The heart of its doer rejects it.

The Shaykh : The heart of its doer rejects it; well, if he does not reject it, he is not a Muslim. If a person commits a wrong and does not reject it, it means he has exited the circle of Islam, as stated in the hadith:
He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the least of faith. مَن رأى منكم منكرًا فليغيِّره بيده ، فإن لم يستطع فبلسانه ، فإن لم يستطع فبقلبه ، وذلك أضعف الإيمان
Sahih Muslim 49a
, and in another hadith: if he does not reject it with his heart, there is no faith in him, not even a mustard seed, do you see? So, for a Muslim who commits a sin to escape disbelief, creedal disbelief, he must reject the sin with his heart; otherwise, he is not a Muslim. Accordingly, the one who falls into a sin while admitting it, admitting that it is contrary to the command of his Lord and that he is a disobedient servant; he is left to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as He said:
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ
[An-Nisa 4:48]
. So, the one who committed the sin and admitted that it is a sin, and that he is a sinner before Allah; he is left to Allah; if He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will forgive him. But if he does not admit that it is a sin, he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah), and this is not forgiven by Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
Was there anything else in this question?

Eid Abbasi
for those who do wrong in ignorance لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ
[An-Nisa 4:17]
The interpretation of ignorance?

The Shaykh : Ignorance, of course, does not mean lack of knowledge, but rather contravention of the Shari'ah. The verse is intended to urge hastening to repentance and not persisting in sin, making excuses as some young people say, and indeed as some adults and elderly people say—and I do not say sheikhs—to their young sons who are growing up in obedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and following the guidance of the Messenger (peace be upon him). For example, he is keen to perform the five daily prayers in the mosque in congregation, keen to follow not just the Sunnah but the fard (obligatory) that the Messenger (peace be upon him) commanded. You find the fathers who deviate from the Sunnah saying, “Oh my son, it’s still early, you’re still in the beginning of your youth.” This is a very great error. So, the verse urges that a Muslim should not persist in sins on the excuse that he is young, that he has time and days ahead in which to repent. And who knows! Perhaps he will not see the morning if he spends the night, except that he is in his grave, or the reverse.
Therefore, the verse urges the Muslim to repent promptly and not delay repentance until he falls ill with a fatal illness. And although there is a leeway for the sinner, the transgressor, the criminal, that he can repent before the gasping of the soul, this is not perfection. This has examples in the Islamic Shari'ah. For example, it is well known that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the best deeds, he said:
Prayer at its time الصلاة لوقتها
; meaning, at the earliest time. Then he detailed for us the times for the five daily prayers. For example, I am concerned now with the time of 'Asr. The time of 'Asr is from the end of the time of Zuhr to the entry of the time of Maghrib. This is the time of 'Asr. So, if a man delays performing the 'Asr prayer until a few minutes before Maghrib, and says Allahu Akbar, and stands for the second rak'ah, and the mu'adhdhin of Maghrib says Allahu Akbar, has he prayed or not? He has prayed; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
And whoever catches a rak'ah of the 'Asr prayer before the sun sets, he has caught it ومَن أدرك ركعةً من صلاة العصر قبل أن تغرُبَ الشمس فقد أدرك
As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 6:219
. But he caught it barely; meaning, by the skin of his teeth. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith:
That is the prayer of the hypocrite: he delays the 'Asr prayer until the sun is about to set, then he stands to pray it, not mentioning Allah in it except a little تلك صلاة المنافق يتأخَّر بصلاة العصر ؛ حتى إذا كادت الشمس تغرب قام يصليها لا يذكر الله فيها إلا قليلًا
. This man has prayed, but he did not pray the prayer that is what? The desirable one, which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) urged. Likewise, the verse commands the disobedient Muslim to hasten to repentance. Repentance is not that he delays this repentance until the arrival of the term; that is: complete repentance. But if he repents before the soul reaches the gasping, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) also, out of His grace, accepts this repentance. But this is the repentance of the shortcoming and the incapable, not the repentance of the preceding and the righteous.
Other than that?
Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

Similar fatwas