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Concerning forgiveness, Allah emphasizes His generosity and kindness, in that He forgives whoever repents to Him from whatever evil they commit. The Qur’an reads what means:

*{And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah’s forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.}* (An-Nisaa’ 4:110)

`Ali bin Abi Talib said that Ibn `Abbas commented about this verse:

“Allah informs His servants of His forgiveness, forbearing generosity and expansive mercy. So, whoever commits a sin, whether major or minor, ‘but afterwards seeks Allah’s forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful’ even if his sins were greater than the heavens, the earth and the mountains.” (Reported by At-Tabari).

It is related on the authority of Abu Bakr that the Prophet said:

“No Muslim commits a sin and then performs ablution, prays two rak`ahs and begs Allah for forgiveness for that sin, but He forgives him.” He then recited the two verses which mean: *{And whoever does evil or wrongs himself…}* and *{and those who, when they have committed fahishah (evil thing) or wronged themselves with evil remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins…}* (Aal-`Imran 3:135) (Reported by Ahmad.)

If a believer makes mistakes - and we all do - we have to offer sincere repentance to be entitled to forgiveness. In Islam, sincere repentance is known as tawbah. This requires us to:

• Recognize and admit we have made a mistake.
• Ask forgiveness from Allah and if the sin was against a person, we have to ask forgiveness from that person also.
• We try to atone for the sin we have done if possible, by for example, returning money if we had stolen it.
• We make the intention never to do the sin again.

We are told many times in the Qur’an that Allah is the Oft-returning, Most Merciful. We understand from this that Allah is waiting for us to turn to Him in sincere repentance. If we are sincere then Allah will have mercy on us.

We are also advised to ‘cover a bad deed with a good deed’. This means, as soon as we know we have done something wrong we should immediately try to do something good, for Allah says what means:

*{…Lo! good deeds annul ill-deeds…}* (Hud 11:114)

Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that some of the people of shirk killed many people and committed zina, (illegitimate sexual intercourse) to a great extent. They came to Muhammad (peace be upon him) and said:

“What you are saying and calling us to is good; if only you could tell us that there is an expiation (way of making amends) for what we have done.”

Then, verses of the Qur’an were revealed with the following meaning:

*{And those who invoke not any other god along with Allah, nor kill such person as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse.}* (Al-Furqan 25:68)

What is meant in the previous verse (Al-Furqan 25:68) is also explained in:

*{Except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds.}* (Al-Furqan 25:70)

*{Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins [for those who repent and correct themselves]. Indeed, it is He Who is the Oft-forgiving, the Most Merciful. And turn [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.}* (Az-Zumar 39:53-54)

We can understand from what has been said here that what is meant is that Allah forgives all sins provided that a person repents. Additionally, one must not despair of the mercy of Allah even if his/her sins are many and great, for the door of repentance and mercy is expansive. Please always remember that the Qur’an reads what means:

*{Know they not that Allah accepts repentance from His slaves…}* (At-Tawbah 9:104)

I hope my answer helps you out. If you have any other inquiry, please don’t hesitate to send us again and Keep in touch.

Salam.

Useful Links:

The Door of Repentance Is Wide Open

I rolled down the slope of morality

Will Allah Accept my Tawbah?

Tears of Repentance…

Homosexuality… From an Islamic Stand

Islamic Stand on Homosexuality