A reading from the commentary with the Shaykh's annotations.

The reader: His statement: Ibn Hajar said: "This ruling applies to both men and women, and it is mentioned in the masculine form for the sake of predominance. His statement:

and his Islam becomes good

فحسن إسلامه

means that his Islam became good due to his belief, sincerity, and entering into it in both the inner and outer aspects, and that he should keep in mind the nearness of his Lord to him and His knowledge of it, as indicated by the explanation of ihsan in the hadith of Jibril's question, as will come later. His statement:

Allah forgives

يكفر الله

is with a dammah on the ra, because:

If

إذا

although it is one of the conditional particles, it does not require the jussive, and the answer was used in the present tense, even though the condition is in the past form, it means the future. In the narration of al-Bazzar:

Allah forgave

كفر الله

so he harmonized between them. His statement:

was his azlaf

كان أزلفها

is as in the version of Abu Dharr, and for others:

its previous deeds

زلفها

and it is with a light lam, as checked by the author of al-Mashariq, and al-Nawawi said it is with a heavy lam, and al-Daraqutni narrated it through the route of Talhah ibn Yahya from Malik with the wording:

No servant embraces Islam and improves his Islam except that Allah writes for him every good deed he did previously and erases from him every sin he did previously

ما من عبد يسلم فيحسن إسلامه إلا كتب الله له كل حسنة زلفها ومحا عنه كل خطيئة زلفها

with a light lam in both, and al-Nasa'i has something similar, but he said:

its previous deeds

أزلفها

and azlaf with a heavy lam, and azlaf means one thing, namely: to advance and bring forward, as al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said. And he said in al-Muhkam: azlaf al-shay' means to bring it near, and azlaf it, whether light or heavy, means to bring it forward. And in al-Jami' al-zalfah occurs in good and evil. And he said in al-Mashariq: azlaf with a light lam means to gather and acquire, and this includes both matters. As for al-qurbah, it does not occur except in good. So on this basis, the narration of other than Abu Dharr is stronger, but what is transmitted from al-Khatib al-Baghdadi supports it. And it is established in all narrations what was omitted from the narration of al-Bukhari, which is the writing of the good deeds done before Islam. And his statement:

Allah wrote

كتب الله

means that it was ordered to be written, and al-Daraqutni through the route of Zayd ibn Shu'ayb from Malik with the wording:

Allah says to His angels: Write

يقول الله لملائكته اكتبوا

so it was said that the author intentionally omitted what others narrated because it is problematic according to the principles. And al-Maziri said: The disbeliever's drawing near is not valid, so he is not rewarded for the good deed that comes from him in his shirk, because one of the conditions of the one who draws near is that he knows the one to whom he is drawing near, and the disbeliever is not so. And al-Qadi 'Iyad followed him in stating this problem, and al-Nawawi considered it weak and said: The correct view, which the experts are upon, and some of them transmitted consensus on it, is that if the disbeliever does beautiful actions like charity and maintaining family ties, then he embraces Islam and dies upon Islam, the reward for that is written for him. As for the claim that it contradicts the principles, it is not established, because some of the disbeliever's actions may be considered in this world, like the expiation for zihar, for he is not required to repeat it if he embraces Islam, and it suffices him. He ended. And the truth is that it does not follow from writing the reward for the Muslim in his state of Islam, as a favor from Allah and His goodness, that this is because his deed that came from him in disbelief is accepted. The hadith only included the writing of the reward and did not address acceptance ... ".

The Shaykh : And this is weak. Can there be reward without acceptance?
If the reward is mentioned, acceptance is necessary. But it is conditioned by what?
By Islam. Or it is possible that his azlaf was of a kind whose benefit extends, like charity and freeing slaves. If he gives charity and frees a slave in his state of disbelief, he is not rewarded for it, except perhaps in this world. But if he embraces Islam and his Islam becomes good, he is rewarded for it in the Hereafter.
And if it were said that Allah forgives all his sins, that his azlaf was by Islam, and then after that, if he works with good deeds in Islam, it would be a compensation, there would be no problem.
The reader: He will mention it, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes?
The reader: It seems he will mention it.

The Shaykh : Later, I mean.
The reader: He will mention it now, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Fine.
The reader: "And it is possible that acceptance becomes contingent upon his Islam, so it is accepted and he is rewarded if he embraces Islam, and if not, then not. And this is strong. And Ibrahim al-Harbi and Ibn Battal and others from the early scholars, and al-Qurtubi and Ibn al-Munir from the later scholars, affirmed what al-Nawawi affirmed. Ibn al-Munir said: The claim that it is written for him in his state of disbelief is contrary to the principles. As for Allah adding to his good deeds in Islam the reward of what came from him that he thought was good, there is no obstacle to it, just as if He favored him initially without any deed, and just as He favors the incapable with the reward of what he used to do while he was capable. So if it is permissible to write for him the reward of what he did not do at all, it is permissible to write for him the reward of what he did without fulfilling the conditions. And Ibn Battal said: It is for Allah to favor His servants with what He wills, and no one has the right to object to Him. And others argued that whoever believes from the People of the Book is given his reward twice, as indicated by the Qur'an and the authentic hadith. And if he died upon his first faith, nothing of his good deeds would benefit him, but it would be like scattered dust. So this indicates that the reward of his first deed is written for him, added to his second deed. And by the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when 'A'ishah asked him about Ibn Jud'an ... ". Jud'an, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : With a fathah on the apparent reading, and some of them said with a dammah.
The reader: "About Ibn Jud'an and what he used to do of good, does it benefit him? He said:

as he did not ever say: O my Lord, pardon my sins on the Day of Resurrection.

إنه لم يقل يوما رب اغفر لي خطيئتي يوم الدين

Sahih Muslim 214

So this indicates that if he said it after he embraced Islam, what he did in disbelief would benefit him. His statement:

and after that starts the settlement of accounts

وكان بعد ذلك القصاص

Sahih al-Bukhari 41

means the writing of the recompense in this world, and it is raised because it is the name of kana, and it is permissible for kana to be complete, and the past tense was used to indicate the certainty of occurrence, so it is as if it occurred, like His saying:

and the companions of Paradise called out

ونادى أصحاب الجنة

And his statement:

the good deed

الحسنة

is a subject, and 'with ten' is the news, and the sentence is introductory. And his statement:

up to seven hundred

إلى سبعمائة

is connected to an implied meaning, namely: ending. Al-Mawardi reported that some scholars took the apparent meaning of this limit and claimed that the multiplication does not exceed seven hundred, and he refuted him with His saying:

And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills

والله يضاعف لمن يشاء

[Al-Baqarah 2:261]

And the verse is possible for both matters: it is possible that the intended meaning is that He multiplies that multiplication by making it seven hundred, and it is possible that He multiplies the seven hundred by increasing upon it. And the one who explicitly refuted him is the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, narrated by the author in the chapter of softening hearts, and its wording is:

the Glorious and Great Allah recorded ten to seven hundred virtues and even more to his credit

كتب الله له عشر حسنات إلى سبعمائة ضعف إلى أضعاف كثيرة

Sahih Muslim 131a

.".

The Shaykh : Authentic, the speech is clear.
The reader: "His statement: Except that Allah may pardon it ... ".

The Shaykh : ... It does not appear to me in the hadith that the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): means that if the disbeliever embraces Islam and his Islam becomes good, Allah forgives all his sins that were his azlaf.