The benefits of the verse: ((And repentance is not for those who do evil deeds until death comes to one of them...)).

This verse contains several benefits, among which is that repentance is cut off when a person is on the verge of death, meaning when death is present, based on His saying: . Another benefit is that the dying person’s words have no ruling, is that correct? Or should we say that his words used to seek repentance have no ruling because this state is not the time for seeking repentance? But if he says something else, is it considered? The answer is the first: the dying person’s words are not considered, because he is not fully conscious, he is not fully conscious, so his words are not considered.
Among its benefits is that it is a condition for the validity of repentance that it occur in the time in which repentance is accepted, which is before the onset of death. At this point, it is fitting for us to address the conditions of repentance. We have examined them and found them to be five. The first condition is sincerity for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such that the only thing motivating one to repent is the love of Allah, drawing near to Him, and fear of His punishment, not to gain something from this world or to ward off a blame in this world. Rather, what motivates one to repent is sincerity for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). The second condition is regret, regret for the sin one committed. If one repents without regret, then his repentance is either defective due to the incompleteness of its conditions, or it is very deficient. Some scholars raised an objection to this condition, stating that regret is an emotional reaction, and a person acts but does not merely react; how can one regret? The answer to this is very clear: regret is feeling that one has done wrong, feeling sad, and wishing one had not done it. This is the regret intended here, and it is something possible. It is something possible. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided us to the fact that a person can control his emotional reactions. He said: Even though anger is an emotional reaction, when anger arises... a person cannot stop it, but even so, he can control himself. Similarly, it is possible to stir up an emotional reaction, so calming an emotional reaction is possible, and stirring it up is also possible. The third condition is ceasing, ceasing from the sin. If one does not cease, then his repentance is a lie, and he is closer to mocking Allah than to honoring Him. How can one say he has repented from drinking intoxicants when he is addicted to them? How can one say he has repented from usury or interest when he is persisting in it? This is mocking Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If you were to come to a king among kings and say, "I have repented, I have repented, I will not insult anyone or say anything," but as soon as the king is distracted, even by someone speaking to him on his side, and that person says, even by gesture, "This king is no good," would that be repentance? Absolutely not, it is not repentance. So how about the King of Kings (Mighty and Majestic)? How can you repent to Allah from a sin that you are persisting in? That is not possible. If someone were to say, "We see some people say: And if the sin is a right belonging to a human being, then it is necessary to deliver it to him?" We say this condition does not depart from what we mentioned, which is ceasing, ceasing from the sin. If your sin is a right belonging to a human being and you are neglecting this right, then you have not ceased from the sin. If the right of the human being is money, give it to him. If it is blood, give it to him. If it is honor, seek his pardon. If it is money and those you wronged in it have died, what do I do? Look for their heirs. If you do not find them and it becomes difficult for you, then give it in charity. And at that point, do you give it in charity on behalf of the heirs or on behalf of the deceased? You give it in charity on behalf of the deceased. The deceased has died? When the deceased dies, does the right transfer to those in his wealth? To the heirs. So, you give it in charity on behalf of the heirs, along with seeking forgiveness from Allah for the deceased. Therefore, if you paid the money to the heirs, you have not repented a complete repentance until you seek forgiveness from Allah for the deceased, because in reality you have... between him and his wealth. Now, if the right is blood, such as if a man ran over a person and fled out of fear of the authorities, then he regretted and repented, what does he do? He goes to their guardians and says, "This is what happened." And similarly, if he killed him intentionally and regretted, he goes to their guardians and says, "I killed your companion intentionally." If it is backbiting, meaning honor, meaning he wronged a person in his honor, what does he do? Some scholars said he must seek his pardon. He must seek his pardon. He goes to him and says, "I backbit you, so pardon me." And some scholars objected to this issue, saying that if he goes and says, "I backbit you, so pardon me," perhaps the person’s pride in his sin will take over and he will say, "No." But it is necessary to distinguish: if the person knew that you backbit him, then it is obligatory for you to seek his pardon. But if he did not know and you do not fear that he will know, then it is sufficient to seek forgiveness for him, as stated in the hadith: So you seek forgiveness for him and speak well of him in the gatherings where you used to backbite him. The fourth condition is that one must resolve not to return in the future to what he repented from. If he repented, regretted, and ceased, but in his heart he thinks that if he were able to do the thing a second time, he would do it, then his repentance is not valid, because he did not resolve not to return. Rather, he must resolve not to return. If he tells himself that if this sin were to occur, he would return to it, then he has not repented. We must know the difference between our saying "the resolve not to return" or the condition of not returning. This is not a condition of not returning; the condition is that he resolves not to return. The difference between the two is apparent, because if you say it is a condition to resolve not to return, and he resolves not to return, but then his soul incites him afterward and he returns, then the first repentance is valid. But if you say it is a condition not to return, then if he returns afterward, his repentance is not valid. However, the scholars say it is a condition that he resolves not to return. The fifth condition is that the repentance must be in a time when it is accepted from the one who repents. If it is in a time when it is not accepted from him, such as if the term of life has arrived or the sun has risen from the west, then the repentance is not accepted. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: So if a person repents when the sun rises from the west or when the term of life arrives, it is not accepted from him. This was Pharaoh when drowning overtook him; he submitted, indeed he believed. He said: meaning Allah (Mighty and Majestic). But he did not explicitly name Allah; rather, he said: in an exaggeration of humility and following the Children of Israel after he had been arrogant over them and haughty toward them. Now he has become a follower of them the Muslims to Allah. So it was said to him: Do you repent? We ask Allah to grant us and you repentance before the arrival of the term of life. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it is a condition for the acceptance of repentance that one withdraws from all sins or not. Some said it is a condition, meaning one must withdraw from all sins, and if one repents from unlawful sexual intercourse while he is practicing usury or interest, then his repentance from unlawful sexual intercourse is not accepted, because true repentance is that which fills the heart of the servant with fear of Allah and reverence for Allah. And the one who repents from a sin while persisting in another does not achieve that in his case. Some distinguished and said: if the sin he is persisting in is of the same type as the sin he repented from, then his repentance is not accepted. But if it is of a different type, then it is accepted. An example of this: if he repents from looking at women, the forbidden looking, but he touches women in a forbidden manner, then here the type is the same, so his repentance from looking is not accepted because he is practicing its type. If the soul is attached to this type and does not cease from it, but if it is of a different type, then there is no harm. If he commits unlawful sexual intercourse and drinks intoxicants, his repentance from usury or interest is valid and accepted. And if he repents from drinking intoxicants while he is persisting in unlawful sexual intercourse, his repentance from it is accepted. The correct view is that repentance from a sin is accepted while persisting in another, but he does not deserve — I mean the one who repents — the description of "those who repent" in the absolute sense, or the description of the one who is completely free. Rather, he is one who has repented a restricted repentance. With what? With this specific sin. So the absolute description of the repentant is not deserved by him, but the description of repentance from this sin, which is a restricted description, is established for him, because this is justice. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded justice and equity, and He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the One who is just and equitable. And this is the correct view. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him), in "Madaraj al-Salikin", when he spoke about this issue, said: "And after that, this issue has a deep depth" meaning that it is not a light matter whose rulings are tossed around on the tongue, because it has a connection to the hearts, and the hearts are sensitive like a ball on the surface of water, trembling, held by nothing. So the issue is delicate and has a great depth. The foundation of repentance is the magnification of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), His glorification, fear of Him, and awe of Him. If a person achieves this, repentance becomes easy for him. But without that, repentance is difficult for him. We ask Allah to turn to us and to you in repentance.

The questioner : If repentance is of no benefit when the term of life arrives, then what is the benefit of the statement of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to his uncle Abu Talib: ?

The Shaykh : The answer to that is: This is a specific case. Just as Abu Talib benefits from the intercession of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to the exclusion of other disbelievers, so he may benefit from his Islam to the exclusion of other repentant people in this situation. This is one point. The second point is: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) did not assert with certainty that it would benefit him. What did he say? He said, "I will argue with Allah." The one who argues may have his argument accepted, or it may not be accepted. If this hadith does not indicate with certainty that it will be accepted, then it is of the ambiguous (mutashabih) type, which is to be understood in light of the clear (muhkam) type, meaning that repentance in this situation is not accepted.

The questioner : Is the question unclear?

The Shaykh : We answer this with two answers. The first answer is that one who does evil out of ignorance, which is the opposite of knowledge, is not held accountable for it at all, so repentance from it is not obligatory. The second is: that "ignorance" (jahl) is not used for the ignorance that is the opposite of knowledge, but rather it means foolishness.

The questioner : Is not the repentance of the disbeliever who said "There is no god but Allah", whom Usamah (may Allah be pleased with him) killed?

The Shaykh : This is a specific case, and we do not know if this Jew was near his death... he is close to it.