The Meaning of the Hadith: (Whoever was in disbelief then embraced Islam and his Islam was good, what came before it of sins is wiped away)

The questioner : A question, O Shaykh... close to it

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So what is intended, of course, Does he mean by that that he did not apostatize from Islam?

The Shaykh : Of course, he is a Muslim, how could he not apostatize?

The questioner : I mean, whoever did wrong in Islam...

The Shaykh : I am going to tell you what is intended. A man who used to steal in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) then embraced Islam and continued to steal in Islam, he will be held accountable for both. A man who was a disbeliever, an associate of partners with Allah (mushrik), a man who was a disbeliever, an associate of partners with Allah, and with his shirk his conduct was bad; he used to steal, he used to oppress, he used to drink intoxicants, he used to... and so on. Then he embraced Islam. Islam wipes away what came before it. But this hadith serves as a specification for this phrase, for this general rule: So the one who embraced Islam and was, for example, a thief, by his Islam he is as one who has ended his disbelief and ended his theft. So he will be treated well in all the good deeds he does in his Islam, and he will not be held accountable for his sins in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). On the contrary, another man embraced Islam and used to steal, and with his Islam he continued to steal. So based on the general rule, Islam wipes away what came before it, one might imagine that this person is not held accountable for what he did in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) of theft. But this hadith restricts this rule and says that this one who embraced Islam and did wrong in Islam will be held accountable for his wrongdoing in Islam and his wrongdoing in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah).