Rule: Repentance from a sin is valid even if one persists in another sin, unless the sin one persists in is of the same type as the sin from which one repented, in which case it is not valid.

The Shaykh : Some scholars said: Repentance from a sin is valid even if one persists in another sin, unless the sin one persists in is of the same type as the sin from which one repented, in which case one's repentance is not valid. An example of this is a man who repented from theft but began taking people's money by force. Previously, he would go to houses, break the locks and doors, and take the money. Then the man became more active and started taking money by force and coercion. He repented from theft. Is his repentance accepted? No, because this is of the same type as the first sin. Or another man who repented from unlawful sexual intercourse but did something of the same type. Is his repentance from unlawful sexual intercourse valid? For example, we do not say he repented from unlawful sexual intercourse with one woman and then committed unlawful sexual intercourse with another woman, may Allah protect us from that. But if he repented from the type of unlawful sexual intercourse to another type related to sexual intercourse, is his repentance valid? No. He repented from flirting with women and pursuing women, but he persists in the forbidden looking at women. Is his repentance valid? It is not valid. That is to say, some scholars distinguished and said: If the sin from which one repented is of the same type as the sin one persists in, then one's repentance from the sin from which one repented is not accepted, because the type is the same. And the matter in reality has a deep dimension.