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Ayah
Word by Word
إِنَّمَا
Only
ٱلتَّوۡبَةُ
the acceptance of repentance
عَلَى
by
ٱللَّهِ
Allah
لِلَّذِينَ
(is) for those who
يَعۡمَلُونَ
do
ٱلسُّوٓءَ
the evil
بِجَهَٰلَةٖ
in ignorance
ثُمَّ
then
يَتُوبُونَ
they repent
مِن
from
قَرِيبٖ
soon after
فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ
Then those
يَتُوبُ
will have forgiveness
ٱللَّهُ
(from) Allah
عَلَيۡهِمۡۗ
upon them
وَكَانَ
and is
ٱللَّهُ
Allah
عَلِيمًا
All-Knowing
حَكِيمٗا
All-Wise
إِنَّمَا
Only
ٱلتَّوۡبَةُ
the acceptance of repentance
عَلَى
by
ٱللَّهِ
Allah
لِلَّذِينَ
(is) for those who
يَعۡمَلُونَ
do
ٱلسُّوٓءَ
the evil
بِجَهَٰلَةٖ
in ignorance
ثُمَّ
then
يَتُوبُونَ
they repent
مِن
from
قَرِيبٖ
soon after
فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ
Then those
يَتُوبُ
will have forgiveness
ٱللَّهُ
(from) Allah
عَلَيۡهِمۡۗ
upon them
وَكَانَ
and is
ٱللَّهُ
Allah
عَلِيمًا
All-Knowing
حَكِيمٗا
All-Wise
Translation
The repentance accepted by Allāh is only for those who do wrong in ignorance [or carelessness] and then repent soon [after].1 It is those to whom Allāh will turn in forgiveness, and Allāh is ever Knowing and Wise.
Footnotes
1 - Scholars have also interpreted "soon" to mean before death.
Tafsir
The repentance that God accepts, that is, the one which He has prescribed for Himself to accept, out of His bounty, is only of those who do evil, an act of disobedience, in ignorance (bi-jahaalatin, a circumstantial qualifier, in other words, 'they are ignorant' while they are disobeying their Lord); then repent shortly thereafter, before the last gasps of death; God will relent to those, He will accept their repentance. And God is ever Knowing, of His creatures, Wise, in what He does with them.
"The Adulteress is Confined in her House; A Command Later Abrogated
At the beginning of Islam, the ruling was that if a woman commits adultery as stipulated by sufficient proof, she was confined to her home, without leave, until she died.
Allah said,
وَاللَّتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِن نِّسَأيِكُمْ فَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعةً مِّنكُمْ فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِي الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّىَ يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلً
And those of your women who commit illegal sexual intercourse, take the evidence of four witnesses from among you against them; and if they testify, confine them (i.e. women) to houses until death comes to them or Allah ordains for them some (other) way.
`Some other way' mentioned here is the abrogation of this ruling that came later.
Ibn Abbas said,
""The early ruling was confinement, until Allah sent down Surah An-Nur (Surah 24) which abrogated that ruling with the ruling of flogging (for fornication) or stoning to death (for adultery).""
Similar was reported from Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, Ata Al-Khurasani, Abu Salih, Qatadah, Zayd bin Aslam and Ad-Dahhak, and this is a matter that is agreed upon.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Ubadah bin As-Samit said,
""When the revelation descended upon the Messenger of Allah, it would affect him and his face would show signs of strain. One day, Allah sent down a revelation to him, and when the Messenger was relieved of its strain, he said,
خُذُوا عَنِّي قَدْ جَعَلَ اللهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلً الثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ وَالْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ الثَّــيِّبُ جَلْدُ مِايَةٍ وَرَجْمٌ بِالْحِجَارَةِ وَالْبِكْرُ جَلْدُ مِايَةٍ ثُمَّ نَفْيُ سَنَة
Take from me:Allah has made some other way for them. The married with the married, the unmarried with the unmarried. The married gets a hundred lashes and stoning to death, while the unmarried gets a hundred lashes then banishment for a year.""
Muslim and the collectors of the Sunan recorded that Ubadah bin As-Samit said that the Prophet said,
خُذُوا عَنِّي خُذُوا عَنِّي قَدْ جَعَلَ اللهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلً الْبِكْرُ بِالْبِكْرِ جَلْدُ مِايَةٍ وَتَغْرِيبُ عَامٍ وَالثَّيِّبُ بِالثَّيِّبِ جَلْدُ مِايَةٍ وَالرَّجْم
Take from me, take from me. Allah has made some other way for them:the (unmarried) gets a hundred lashes and banishment for one year, while the (married) gets a hundred lashes and stoning to death.
At-Tirmidhi said, ""Hasan Sahih"".
Allah said
وَاللَّذَانَ يَأْتِيَانِهَا مِنكُمْ فَأذُوهُمَا
And the two persons among you who commit illegal sexual intercourse, punish them both.
Ibn Abbas and Sa`id bin Jubayr said that;
this punishment includes cursing, shaming them and beating them with sandals.
This was the ruling until Allah abrogated it with flogging or stoning, as we stated.
Mujahid said,
""It was revealed about the case of two men who do it.""
As if he was referring to the actions of the people of Lut, and Allah knows best.
The collectors of Sunan recorded that Ibn Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah said,
مَنْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ يَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ قَوْمِ لُوطٍ فَاقْتُلُوا الْفَاعِلَ وَالْمَفْعُولَ بِه
Whoever you catch committing the act of the people of Lut (homosexuality), then kill both parties to the act.
Allah said,
فَإِن تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا
And if they repent and do righteous good deeds,
by refraining from that evil act, and thereafter their actions become righteous.
فَأَعْرِضُواْ عَنْهُمَا
leave them alone,
do not verbally abuse them after that, since he who truly repents is just like he who has no sin.
إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
Surely, Allah is Ever the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful.
The following is recorded in the Two Sahihs:
إِذَا زَنَتْ أَمَةُ أَحَدِكُمْ فَلْيَجْلِدْهَا الْحَدَّ وَلَا يُثَرِّبْ عَلَيْهَا
When the slave-girl of one of you commits illegal sexual intercourse, let him flog her and not chastise her afterwards.
because the lashes she receives erase the sin that she has committed.
Repentance is Accepted Until one Faces death
Allah
إِنَّمَا التَّوْبَةُ عَلَى اللّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوَءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍ
Allah accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness, and repent soon (afterwards);
Allah states that He accepts repentance of the servant who commits an error in ignorance and then repents, even just before he sees the angel who captures the soul, before his soul reaches his throat.
Mujahid and others said,
""Every person who disobeys Allah by mistake, or intentionally is ignorant, until he refrains from the sin.""
Qatadah said that Abu Al-Aliyah narrated that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to say,
""Every sin that the servant commits, he commits out of ignorance.""
Abdur-Razzaq narrated that, Ma`mar said that Qatadah said that,
""the Companions of the Messenger of Allah agreed that every sin that is committed by intention or otherwise, is committed in ignorance.""
Ibn Jurayj said,
""Abdullah bin Kathir narrated to me that Mujahid said, `Every person who disobeys Allah (even willfully), is ignorant while committing the act of disobedience.""'
Ibn Jurayj said,
""Ata bin Abi Rabah told me something similar.""
Abu Salih said that Ibn Abbas commented,
""It is because of one's ignorance that he commits the error.""
Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said about the Ayah,
ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍ
(and repent soon (afterwards)),
""Until just before he (or she) looks at the angel of death.""
Ad-Dahhak said,
""Every thing before death is `soon (afterwards).""'
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said about the Ayah,
ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍ
(and repent soon afterwards),
""Just before his last breath leaves his throat.""
Ikrimah said,
""All of this life is `soon (afterwards).""'
Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Umar said that the Messenger said,
إِنَّ اللهَ يَقْبَلُ تَوْبَةَ الْعَبْدِمَالَمْ يُغَرْغِر
Allah accepts the repentance of the servant as long as the soul does not reach the throat.
This Hadith was also collected by At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, and At-Tirmidhi said, ""Hasan Gharib"".
By mistake, Ibn Majah mentioned that this Hadith was narrated through Abdullah bin `Amr. However, what is correct is that Abdullah bin Umar bin Al-Khattab was the narrator.
Allah said,
فَأُوْلَـيِكَ يَتُوبُ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَلِيماً حَكِيماً
It is they to whom Allah will forgive and Allah is Ever All-Knower, All-Wise.
Surely, when hope in continued living diminishes, the angel of death comes forth and the soul reaches the throat, approaches the chest and arrives at the state where it is being gradually pulled out, then there is no accepted repentance, nor a way out of that certain end.
Hence Allah's statements
وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّيَاتِ حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الانَ
And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says:""Now I repent,""
and,
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا قَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ
So when they ﷺ Our punishment, they said:""We believe in Allah Alone..."" (40:84)
Allah decided that repentance shall not be accepted from the people of the earth when the sun rises from the west, as Allah said,
يَوْمَ يَأْتِى بَعْضُ ءَايَـتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ ءَامَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِى إِيمَـنِهَا خَيْرًا
The day that some of the signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good through his faith. (6:158)
Allah said,
وَلَا الَّذِينَ يَمُوتُونَ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ
nor of those who die while they are disbelievers.
Consequently, when the disbeliever dies while still a disbeliever and polytheist, his sorrow and repentance shall not avail him. If he were to ransom himself, even with the earth's fill of gold, it will not be accepted from him.
Ibn Abbas, Abu Al-Aliyah and Ar-Rabi bin Anas said that the Ayah:
وَلَا الَّذِينَ يَمُوتُونَ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ
(nor of those who die while they are disbelievers),
was revealed about the people of Shirk.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Usamah bin Salman said that Abu Dharr said that the Messenger of Allah said,
إِنَّ اللهَ يَقْبَلُ تَوْبَةَ عَبْدِهِ أَوْ يَغْفِرُ لِعَبْدِهِ مَالَمْ يَقَعِ الْحِجَاب
Allah accepts the repentance of His servant, or forgives His servant, as long as the veil does not drop.
They asked, ""And what does the drop of the veil mean?""
He said,
أَنْ تَخْرُجَ النَّفْسُ وَهِيَ مُشْرِكَة
When the soul is removed while one is a polytheist.
Allah then said,
أُوْلَـيِكَ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا
For them We have prepared a painful torment,
torment that is severe, eternal and enormous."
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