A
Follow-up Comment on 'A Clarification Regarding Al-Nisaa
4: 48, 116 and Al-Furqaan 25: 68 - 70'
In
your recent queries section, "Clarification of
Al-Furqaan 25: 68 and Al-Nisaa 4: 48, 116" dated 17th February 2000 you
have explicitly stated that God would not forgive the sin of shirk. However
don't you think that if complete forgiveness was not possible for a person who
commits such a sin, there would be no point in "religion"?
For example, say if a non-Muslim realised that he/she was committing shirk and
wanted to become Muslim and repent for his/her sins, are you saying this
repentance would be impossible/pointless?
If so, what would be the point of inviting people into Islam when it will do
them no good? Your statement also seems to contradict if not nullify the fact
that the Prophet (pbuh) was always inviting members of the Quarish to repent and
fear Allah, and many of them did. Surely this could not have been in vain?
I find it difficult to agree with your opinion on this matter.
Essam
London, England
Reply
I
am extremely sorry about the misunderstanding that has resulted from my referred
response. I had not intended to imply what you seem to have construed from my
response. I had clarified in my original article – “Does
Allah Forgive Shirk?” -- on which Mr. Rehan Ahmad sent me the referred
question that sincere repentance – Taubah – and a true resolve to
correction does away with all sins, including Shirk. I therefore did not
feel the need to explicitly repeat this aspect. However, in my explanation of
the two verses, in my answer to the referred question, I tried to implicitly
refer to this aspect. I wrote:
Those
who are guilty of shirk, murder or fornication, and then do not repent,
shall face the everlasting punishment of hellfire, except that God shows mercy
on them and forgives them. However God has declared that He would never show
mercy on those who are guilty of shirk.
Please
note the underlined clause in the above quote.
Nevertheless,
because my statement gave you the impression that I had not intended, I would
therefore restate it, adding the qualifying clause in a more explicit way. I
hope this would remove, to the extent possible, all chances of misconstruing my
statement. I would, therefore request you to replace the above quoted statement
by the following statement:
True
and sincere repentance does away with all sins, including shirk. Those who are
guilty of shirk, murder or fornication, and then do not repent, shall face the
everlasting punishment of hellfire. In case of lack of repentance their
punishment shall in no case be reduced, except that God shows mercy on them and
forgives them. However God has declared that, in case of lack of repentance, He
would never show mercy on those who are guilty of shirk.
I
hope the above statement would clarify my point of view. As a further
clarification, what I understand from the referred verses is that:
Shirk,
murder and fornication are among those crimes that entitle a person to
everlasting punishment of hellfire;
However,
a person who repents and corrects himself, shall not only be forgiven –
even if he has committed the gravest of crimes, i.e. shirk – but God’s
abounding mercy and forgiveness shall convert his bad (punishable) deeds
into good (rewarding) ones;
In
case of lack of repentance a person who is guilty of shirk, murder or
fornication shall remain in hellfire forever, except that God has mercy on
him and forgives him;
God
has declared that, in case of lack of repentance, He would never show mercy
on those who are guilty of shirk. This implies that other crimes (even
murder and fornication) may be forgiven for whom God decides, even in case
of lack of repentance.
I
hope this explanation would clarify my stance completely and remove any
difference of opinion between us. However, in case any aspect of my explanation
is not clear, please feel free in writing back to me at your own convenience.
May
the Almighty guide us all to the path of His liking.
My
fondest regards to you and those around you.
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