It is a question every person who has sinned eventually asks, sometimes with real fear behind it: my sins are many, and some of them are great. Does Allah forgive every sin? Even the major ones? Even shirk, the greatest sin of all? This page answers from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, with the explanations of the scholars, and the answer begins with a verse that leaves no one out. Allah ﷻ says, addressing His servants who have wronged themselves:
“Say [Allah says]: O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning greatly], do not despair of the mercy of Allah, for verily Allah forgives all sins. Verily it is He Who is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Allah’s words in Surah az-Zumar (39), verse 53, Tafseer as-Sa’di (Vol. 8, printed p. 316).
As-Sa’di explains who is being spoken to, and what they are being told:
“Here Allah tells His slaves who have transgressed against themselves (by sinning greatly) of His immense generosity, and He urges them to turn to Him before they are not able to do so.”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah az-Zumar (39), verse 53 (Vol. 8, printed p. 317).
“(do not despair of the mercy of Allah) that is, do not give up hope thereof, lest your actions lead you to doom and you say: Our sins are so many and our faults have accumulated, and we have no way to rid ourselves of them or relieve ourselves of them, then as a result of that you persist in sinning and accumulating sin until it brings upon you the wrath of the Most Gracious. Rather you should recognise your Lord by His names that are indicative of His generosity and kindness, and understand that He (forgives all sins) including the ascription of partners to Him, murder, fornication, riba (usury), wrongdoing and other sins, major and minor”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah az-Zumar (39), verse 53 (Vol. 8, printed pp. 317-318).
Forgiveness is not something Allah gives reluctantly. It belongs to who He is:
“(Verily it is He Who is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful) that is, forgiveness and mercy are His attributes, and these two attributes are essential and constant; He is always thus and His mercy is continually manifested throughout the universe. His Hands are constantly bestowing bounties throughout the night and day, and He continually bestows blessings and favours upon His slaves, secretly and openly. Giving is dearer to Him than withholding, and divine mercy takes precedence over divine wrath and prevails over it.”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah az-Zumar (39), verse 53 (Vol. 8, printed p. 318).
The Door Is Open for Every Sin
Repentance, tawbah, is the door, and it is open for every kind of sinner. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen explains what the word means:
“At-Tawbah lexically is from (the Arabic verb) taaba (he returned), Yatoobu (he will return) when he returns. In the Sharee’ah it means: returning from disobeying Allah – the Exalted – to His obedience.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 83).
He then sets out the levels of repentance, and he begins with the greatest sin a person can turn back from:
“The greatest and most essential is repentance from Kufr (disbelief) to Eemaan (faith). Allah, the Exalted, says: ‘Say to those who have disbelieved if they cease (from disbelief), their past will be forgiven’ (Al-Anfaal: 38). Then that is followed by repentance from Major sins. Then the third level is repentance from Minor sins. It is incumbent for the individual to turn to Allah – free is He from all imperfections – in repentance from all sins.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 83).
Allah makes the same promise to anyone who does wrong and then turns back:
“Yet whoever does evil or wrongs his own soul but thereafter asks Allah for forgiveness will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 110, Tafseer as-Sa’di (Vol. 2, printed p. 267).
“Then Allah says: (Yet whoever does evil or wrongs his own soul but thereafter asks Allah for forgiveness will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful) that is, whoever has the audacity to commit sin and transgression, then seeks forgiveness from Allah sincerely and in the proper manner, which requires admitting the sin, regretting it, giving it up and resolving not to go back to it, has a promise from the One Who does not break His promise of forgiveness and mercy. He will forgive the sin that he has committed and will erase its consequences of shortcomings and faults”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 110 (Vol. 2, printed p. 272).
And “wronging his own soul” is not a small category. As-Sa’di says of the same verse: “It should be understood that evil deeds in general include all acts of disobedience, small and great. Similarly, wronging oneself in general includes wronging oneself by ascribing partners to Allah as well as lesser sins.” (Vol. 2, printed p. 272.) Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah states it in one line: “The reality is that wronging oneself is a general category comprising all sins.” (Seeking Forgiveness, printed p. 45.)
Allah names the three worst sins together in one passage, shirk, murder and adultery, warns of the punishment for them, and then makes one exception:
“Those who do not call upon any other god besides Allah; and who do not kill, for that is forbidden by Allah, except in the course of justice; and who do not commit fornication or adultery, for whoever does any of these things will receive the punishment. The punishment will be doubled for them on the Day of Resurrection, and they will abide therein disgraced forever, Except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds; for them Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Allah’s words in Surah al-Furqan (25), verses 68-70, Tafseer as-Sa’di (Vol. 7, printed p. 47).
“(Except those who repent) from these sins and others, by giving them up immediately, regretting what has been done in the past and firmly resolving not to do that again (and believe) in Allah, with sound faith, which requires one to give up sin and do acts of obedience (and do righteous deeds) that are enjoined by the Lawgiver, seeking thereby the pleasure of Allah.”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah al-Furqan (25), verse 70 (Vol. 7, printed p. 51).
“(for them Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds) that is, He will change their words and deeds, that would have been bad, into good words and deeds. So their ascription of partners to Allah is changed into sound faith, and their disobedience into obedience, and what they committed of bad deeds in the past, then repented sincerely from every one of them, in obedience to Allah, will be turned into good deeds, as is the apparent meaning of the verse.”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah al-Furqan (25), verse 70 (Vol. 7, printed p. 51).
“(for Allah is Oft-Forgiving) to the one who repents, and He forgives great sins (Most Merciful) towards His slaves, as He calls them to repent after they challenged Him by committing major sins, then He guided them and enabled them to repent, then He accepted it from them.”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah al-Furqan (25), verse 70 (Vol. 7, printed p. 52).
What About Shirk?
Shirk needs its own word, because the Qur’an treats it in two ways, and both are true. For the one who turns back from it in this life, it is forgiven, like everything else: as-Sa’di’s explanation of “Allah forgives all sins” named it first, “including the ascription of partners to Him”, and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen put repentance from disbelief at the head of the levels of repentance. Explaining the hadith of the vast mercy, below, Shaykh al-Fawzan writes of the one guilty of shirk that he “will not be entitled to Allah’s forgiveness as long as he does not repent from it” (Explanation of the Forty Hadith, printed p. 377): while he does not repent. The door stands open for him as it does for everyone else.
But for the one who meets Allah still upon it, unrepentant, that same door is closed, and no other sin is spoken of this way:
“Allah does not forgive the ascription of partners to Him, but He forgives any lesser sin to whomever He wills. Whoever ascribes partners to Allah has indeed devised a heinous sin.”
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 48, Tafseer as-Sa’di (Vol. 2, printed p. 193).
“Here Allah tells us that He will not forgive the sins of one who ascribes partners to Him, but He will forgive lesser sins, whether minor or major, according to His will, if forgiveness is dictated by His wisdom.”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 48 (Vol. 2, printed p. 193).
“In direct contrast to that is the ascription of partners to Him (shirk), for the one who ascribes partners to Him has closed to himself the gates of forgiveness and has barred the gates of mercy.”
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, on Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 48 (Vol. 2, printed p. 193).
“This proves that the polytheist is prohibited from entering Paradise and that Allah will not forgive him, and this indicates that polytheism is the greatest sin because sins which are less than shirk are subject to Allah’s forgiveness.”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles (printed p. 100).
“So whoever dies upon Shirk, Allah will not forgive him; but whoever dies upon Tawhid, even if he was a sinner and evil doer committing major sins less than Shirk, Allah will forgive him. This shows the vastness of Allah’s forgiveness and pardon, and that such is only for faith and Tawhid.”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, Hadith Forty Two (printed p. 378).
Sins below shirk sit under Allah’s will, as Shaykh al-Fawzan explains on the same hadith: “Sins that are less than Shirk are under Allah’s will: if He wills, He punishes the one guilty of it, thereafter he would be brought out from the Fire and admitted into Paradise; and if He wills, He will pardon him from the beginning of the terror and he will not enter the Fire.” (Printed p. 377.) One point the scholars themselves differ over should be recorded as they left it: explaining the verse of forgiveness above, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen records that “some of the scholars have said that this threat covers all shirk, even lesser shirk” (Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles of Islaam, printed p. 77). The fuller discussion is on this site’s page What Is Shirk?, linked below. What is not differed over is the line itself: repentance wipes out every sin in this life, and the one sin Allah has declared He will not forgive is shirk carried, unrepented, into the meeting with Him.
The Vast Mercy of Allah
The fullest picture of this mercy is a hadith qudsi, words of Allah Himself related by His Prophet ﷺ. Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ saying: “Allah – Blessed is He and Exalted – said:
“O son of Adam, certainly, you do not supplicate to Me and hope in Me except that I forgive you for what comes of you (of sins) and I do not attach importance to that. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the heavens and then, you seek forgiveness of me, I will forgive you. O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with the like of the earth as sins (in number or size) and you meet Me, not joining any partner with Me; I will grant you the like of it in of forgiveness”
Reported by at-Tirmidhi, who said it is a hasan sahih hadith; quoted in Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, Hadith Forty Two (printed p. 375), whose explanation of this hadith is followed here and on this site’s page for the hadith, linked below.
“This is one of the Hadith Qudsi that the Prophet reported from his Lord, and it contains three expressions”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, Hadith Forty Two (printed p. 375).
On the first expression, calling upon Allah and hoping in Him:
“Man has violations and sins; but if he has good thought about Allah and turns to Allah in repentance without despairing of Allah’s mercy and seeking for forgiveness, Allah will forgive him all the sins.”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, Hadith Forty Two (printed p. 376).
“This contains encouragement to turn to Allah in repentance even if his sins were great. He should not say, ‘Allah will not forgive this sin.’ Allah the Exalted rather forgives all sins. So he should hasten and turn to Allah in repentance for Allah is free of want and the Most Generous.”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, Hadith Forty Two (printed p. 376).
“It also contains having good thought about Allah, relying on Him and not despairing of Allah’s mercy; and that one should not consider any sin too great to be repented from for Allah forgives all sins.”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, Hadith Forty Two (printed p. 376).
On the second expression, sins reaching the clouds of the sky:
“This shows that repentance wipes away previous sins no matter how abundant and great the sins are; even if they accumulate and get to the clouds, sincere repentance will destroy them.”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith, Hadith Forty Two (printed p. 376).
And Allah does not merely accept the one who returns; He loves his return. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Verily, Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His slave than a person who lost his camel in a desert land and then finds it (unexpectedly).”
Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim, from Anas ibn Malik; quoted by Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in his Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 98).
“Among the points of benefits in this Hadeeth is: proof of Allah’s Delight over His servant’s repentance when he turns to Him for pardon, and that He – free is He from all imperfections – greatly loves that. That is not because He needs our deeds and repentance – Allah is Self-Sufficient of us – but for the fact that He loves benevolence. He loves to pardon and forgive than taking retribution and punishing. Hence, He is delighted with the individual’s repentance.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 99).
What Sins Do to a Person
None of this makes sins light. The door is wide, but what stands behind a person who refuses to walk through it is heavy, in this world before the next. In a sermon devoted to the ill effects of sins, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said, and then repeated, because, as he put it, many people turn away from it:
“Whatever harm and hardship has befallen the people in their wealth or security, individuals or societies is due to their sins and their having neglected the commands of Allah and his prescribed laws, and their seeking judgement amongst the people by other than the prescribed laws of Allah – who created all of creation and was more merciful to them than their mothers and fathers, and He is the One who knows better than themselves what is most beneficial for them.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, The Ill Effects of Sins (printed p. 6).
“By Allah, sins affect the security of a land; they affect its ease; its prosperity; its economy; and they affect the hearts of its people. Sins cause alienation between the people. Sins cause one Muslim to regard his Muslim brother as if he were upon a separate religion other than Islam.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, The Ill Effects of Sins (printed p. 15).
Yet the verse he quotes for this carries forgiveness inside the warning itself:
“And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much.”
Allah’s words in Surah ash-Shura (42), verse 30, as quoted by Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in The Ill Effects of Sins (printed p. 7).
“And He pardons much”: even the harm that reaches a person is not the full account of what his sins earned. And the Shaykh’s own response to his warning is not despair but a call back:
“So fear Allah O servant of Allah and look to your affairs and repent before your Lord and correct your way towards Him. Know O nation that these punishments which have come upon you and these trials that have been inflicted upon you are your own doing and due to your sins.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, The Ill Effects of Sins (printed p. 11).
The Conditions of Repentance
Repentance that Allah accepts is not words alone. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen counts its conditions in his explanation of Riyad as-Salihin. The author of the book, Imam an-Nawawi, named three; the Shaykh observes that careful examination brings them to five:
“Repentance has three conditions according to the author – may Allah shower blessings on him; although careful observation shows that they reach up to five: The first condition: Sincerity with Allah; the individual should seek Allah’s Face with his repentance so that Allah will forgive him and pardon his sins. He should not intend to seek popularity or endear himself to the people or warding off some harm from the authorities or ruler with his repentance. He should only seek the Face of Allah and the home of the Hereafter therewith; and that Allah should pardon his sins.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 83).
The second is remorse:
“The second condition: He should be full of remorse for his past sins because a person’s feeling very sorry for what he has done indicates that he is truthful with his repentance. That is to say, he should be full of the pangs of guilt for what he has done; he should not feel at ease over the sin until he repents to Allah for it.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed pp. 83-84).
The third is leaving the sin itself, at once:
“The third condition: He should refrain from the sin he committed. And this is one of the most important conditions. Desisting from the sin implies that, if the sin is neglect of an obligation, desisting from it means to carry out the duty.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 84).
“But if the sin is regarding committing a sin; it is incumbent on him to refrain immediately and not remain upon it for any extra second.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 84).
Other people’s rights sit inside this third condition, not outside repentance: “If he had earned money through this prohibited means, it is compulsory on him to return it to its owner or seek acquiescence from him.” (Printed p. 84.) The fourth condition is resolve:
“The fourth condition: The determination never to repeat it in the future. If you still mean to do it again whenever an opportunity arises; then the repentance is not sound.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 87).
And the fifth is that it come while the door is still open: “The fifth condition: The repentance should be during the time repentance will be accepted.” (Printed p. 87.) Of the individual limit Allah says:
“And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and says: ‘Now I repent.’”
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 18, as quoted by Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in his Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1 (printed p. 88).
Shaykh al-Fawzan gathers the same conditions, in his explanation of the hadith of the vast mercy, as the meaning of sincere repentance itself: “One must stop the sin. One must make a resolve not to return to it. One should regret over what has occurred from him. If the right of the slaves is with him, he should restore it to them and seek for pardon from them.” Then he says: “This is sincere repentance, and it is that which destroys sins even if it reaches the clouds as contained in the Hadith.” (Explanation of the Forty Hadith, printed p. 377.) Seeking forgiveness, istighfar, belongs inside this and not apart from it. Shaykh al-Fawzan explains:
“Servants of Allah, seeking forgiveness means to request forgiveness from Allah along with erasing the sins and concealing the shortcomings. It is (also) a must that one refrains from the sins and disobedience. As for the one who seeks forgiveness with his tongue while remaining upon disobedience, (with this action of his), he is considered a liar; and seeking forgiveness does not benefit him.”
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Virtue of Seeking Forgiveness (p. 5 of the English translation).
Do Not Delay
The door is open now, and its openness is itself a generosity renewed every night and every day. Abu Musa al-Ash’ari reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Allah, the Exalted, will continue to stretch out His Hand in the night so that the sinners of the day may repent, and continue to stretch His Hand in the daytime so that the sinners of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west.”
Reported by Muslim; quoted by Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in his Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 101).
“This is out of Allah’s Generosity, the Mighty and Sublime. He accepts repentance even if it is delayed. If a person commits a sin during the day, Allah – the Mighty and Sublime – will certainly accept his repentance even if he repents at night.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 101).
But delayed repentance is a risk no one is promised time for:
“The hadeeth also contains the fact that: Allah – free is He from all imperfections – will accept the repentance of the servant even if it is delayed. However, it is obligatory to repent promptly because one would not know; he may be overtaken by death before he repents (if he seeks to postpone repentance). Hence, it is obligatory to hasten to ask for repentance; but yet, Allah will pardon the servant even if he delays repentance.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed pp. 102-103).
“Turn to your Lord [in repentance] and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you, for then you will not be helped.”
Allah’s words in Surah az-Zumar (39), verse 54, Tafseer as-Sa’di (Vol. 8, printed p. 317). As-Sa’di comments: “Hence Allah enjoins us to turn to Him and to hasten to do so: (Turn to your Lord) with all your heart (and submit to Him) in your physical actions.” (Vol. 8, printed p. 318.)
And seeking forgiveness is not a door a person uses once. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah calls it a lasting need of the servant:
“Asking for forgiveness removes the servant from hateful deeds to those that are loved, from the defective deeds to the complete deeds. It raises the servant from the lower status to the higher and more complete one.”
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Seeking Forgiveness (printed p. 51).
“He is in need of asking for forgiveness during the last hours of the night and at the ends of the day. He is eternally coaxed to it in his sayings and doings, in what is visible and in what is invisible, because of the benefit of it, the good that comes from it, and the harm it repels.”
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Seeking Forgiveness (printed p. 51).
“Seeking forgiveness wipes away what remnants of it, and it wipes away the sins that are the branches of Shirk, for all sins are branches of Shirk. So Tawhid removes the roots of Shirk while seeking forgiveness removes its branches.”
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Seeking Forgiveness (printed p. 52).
Shaykh al-Fawzan closes his sermon on the virtue of seeking forgiveness with the same charge, to keep at it: “Therefore, it is befitting for you, O Muslims, to be continuous and hold fast to seeking forgiveness at all times and to increase in it during the mentioned times and conditions in order to gain these virtues and obtain the good.” (The Virtue of Seeking Forgiveness, pp. 4-5 of the English translation.) Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen ends his chapter on repentance the same way, and his words are a fitting end here:
“Therefore, it is incumbent upon you, my Muslim brother, to hasten to repent to Allah – the Mighty and Sublime – from sins, you should refrain from your previous sins, uphold the obligations you held lightly and beg Allah to accept your repentance. Allah alone grants success.”
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 1, chapter “On Repentance” (printed p. 104).
So yes: Allah forgives every sin for the one who turns back to Him, the small and the great, and shirk itself at their head. I ask Allah to forgive us our sins, the first of them and the last of them, and to keep the door of repentance open to us until we meet Him.
Further Reading
- Repentance (Tawbah): what repentance is, its conditions, and when it is no longer accepted, from Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s explanation of Riyad as-Salihin.
- What Is Shirk?: the one sin Allah has declared He will not forgive for the one who dies upon it, and what protects a person from it.
- Hadith 42: The Vast Mercy of Allah: the hadith qudsi of this page with Shaykh al-Fawzan’s explanation.
References
- Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, Vols. 2, 7 and 8. International Islamic Publishing House, English Edition 1, 2018; translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. Used for: az-Zumar (39), verses 53-54 (Vol. 8, printed pp. 316-318), an-Nisa (4), verses 48 and 110 (Vol. 2, printed pp. 193, 267, 272), and al-Furqan (25), verses 68-70 (Vol. 7, printed pp. 47, 51-52).
- Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin (Sharh Riyaad as-Saaliheen), Vol. 1. Dar-us-Salam, 2016; ISBN 978-603-500-379-7. Used for: the chapter “On Repentance”: the meaning and levels of repentance and its five conditions (printed pp. 83-88), the hadeeth of Allah’s delight at His servant’s repentance (printed pp. 98-99), and the hadeeth of Allah stretching out His Hand with the call to hasten (printed pp. 101-104).
- Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, The Ill Effects of Sins. Al-Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution, First Edition, 1415 AH/1994 CE; translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood ibn Ronald Burbank; ISBN 1 898649 04 9. Owner-supplied copy. Used for: what sins bring upon people in their wealth, security and hearts, and the call to repent (printed pp. 6, 7, 11, 15).
- Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Explanation of Imam an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith. Dar Makkah International. (The held copy carries no edition statement or translator credit.) Used for: Hadith Forty Two, the vast mercy of Allah: the hadith text and its explanation (printed pp. 375-378).
- Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles. Authentic Statements Publications, First Edition, Sha’ban 1440 AH/April 2019; translated by Raha Batts. Used for: Paradise forbidden to the one who dies on shirk (printed p. 100).
- Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles of Islaam. Al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution, First Edition, 1418 AH/1997 CE; translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood ibn Ronald Burbank. Used for: the recorded view of some scholars on the scope of the threat in the verse of forgiveness (printed p. 77).
- Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, The Virtue of Seeking Forgiveness. A sermon published on the Shaykh’s official website (alfawzan.af.org.sa); translated by Abu Anas Atif Hasan. Owner-supplied copy. Used for: what seeking forgiveness truly is (p. 5 of the translation), and holding fast to it at all times (pp. 4-5).
- Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Seeking Forgiveness. Maktaba Dar-us-Salam (Darussalam), Riyadh, 1416 AH; ISBN 9960-717-81-X. (No translator is named in the copy.) Owner-supplied copy. Used for: wronging oneself comprising all sins (printed p. 45), and seeking forgiveness as the servant’s lasting need (printed pp. 51-52).
✓ Verified 2026-10-23 against the sources named in References above: every quotation on this page was checked against Tafseer as-Sa’di, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin and The Ill Effects of Sins, Shaykh al-Fawzan’s Explanation of the Forty Hadith, his Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles and his sermon The Virtue of Seeking Forgiveness, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah’s Seeking Forgiveness.