Tajdeed

Qur’an: Can Muslims earn Salvation without Repentance from Major Sin?

Bismillah

Introduction

The ultimate question is, what is it that leads one to enter the hellfire according to the Qur’an? Many people question whether the Qur’an sends all sinners to eternal damnation. Many cannot reconcile concepts such as Divine mercy, Divine promise and Divine justice. The short and clear answer to the question of Divine punishment is disobedience to the Almighty.

{Whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, verily, for him shall be the Fire. Therein they shall abide forever and ever} (Q. 72:23)

But as for those who are rebellious, the Fire will be their home. Whenever they try to escape from it, they will be forced back into it, and will be told, “Taste the Fire’s torment, which you used to deny.” (32:20)

If disobedience is the key to hellfire, then how does one enter heaven then? The relevance of this question is due to the innate nature of the human being which is inclined towards sin. The question is, how does one get forgiven if they are engaged in disobedience towards the Creator?

Can God Forgive all Sins without Repentance?

Before dealing with this issue, many Muslims would cite 4:48 to prove that God can or will forgive major sins without the major sinner repenting and abstaining from vile deeds.

Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will, for whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely fabricated a tremendous sin. (4:48)

The correct tafsir of 4:48 is that when the Qur’an says, “that which is less than shirk”, that refers to Allah forgiving the minor sins, not the major crimes. This is because other major sins such as lying about God, murder, theft and oppression are similar to Shirk in terms of severity because Shirk (the gravest sin) and other major sins are crimes that lead to Divine punishment, whereas other sins are not like that if the major issues are avoided.

Major Sin is like Shirk

Although Shirk is the worst crime in comparison to other sins, the sin of Shirk and the major sins are on a similar level due to these major sins leading to eternal punishment. It is understood that the sins that are less than shirk are the minor sins, not the major ones.

As seen, it is necessary to note that the Qur’an clearly differentiates between major and minor sin. Regarding this, Allah says: If you avoid the major sins forbidden to you, We will absolve you of your ˹lesser˺ misdeeds and admit you into a place of honour (4:31)

From these passages, we see that 4:31 and 4:48 are linked and need to be understood together.

Major & Minor Sins

The question then arises, is sin not sin? Why is Allah forgiving the minor sins but punishing the major sins if minor sins also entail disobedience? The answer to this question is seen in another verse related to this same topic. The researcher is obliged to carefully analyse all of the Qur’anic verses pertaining to a single topic to fully comprehend it, otherwise justice will not be done.

The Qur’an says: those who avoid major sins and shameful deeds, despite ˹stumbling on˺ minor sins. Surely your Lord is infinite in forgiveness. He knew well what would become of you as He created you from the earthand while you were ˹still˺ fetuses in the wombs of your mothers.So, do not ˹falsely˺ elevate yourselves. He knows best who is ˹truly˺ righteous. (53:32)

Some Muslims have confusion regarding what the major sins are but the criteria for a sin to be a major sin is seen vividly in these very verses themselves. The mentioned verses such as 4:31 explain that minor sins will not lead to punishment if the Believer strives to avoid major crimes, which means that the major sins are the offences that will be punished by God. Since God is informing humanity that he will bring punishment for the major sins, then to find the major sins, the Believer is required to search for the sins that are threatened with eternal hellfire, punishment and damnation in the Qur’an.

In verse 53:32, we gather that the reason why major sins are emphasised on is because they are shameful deeds and their evil is apparent. Also, what we understand is that God is showing that in these cases of minor misdeeds, the Believer does not intentionally commit the minor sins, instead he does it out of negligence and fallible human desires which causes him to err, to forget and then fall into desire.

Naturally, sins range from crimes such as murder to mistakes such as cursing and it is evident that it is easy for the human to fall into sins such as anger or cursing due to human limitation but how would a human kill an innocent soul out of negligence, forgetfulness or desire? On the contrary, the major sins cause complete disobedience, violating the sanctity of the commands of the Legislator. Therefore, it becomes obvious that intrinsically there is a difference between the severity of sins, and it is easier to stumble on some sins in comparison to others. Despite both major and minor sins being forbidden by God, there are varying levels of the forbidden acts.

Humans are prone to Sin

In relation to this argument, the latter part of verse 53:32 is significant because it explains that the human is made from earth and that God knows the intrinsic, innate traits of man and that the animalistic human nature is inclined towards desire, forgetfulness and carelessness which means that it is inevitable that they will fall into sin and mistake. In spite of this, the absolute priority of God are the essentialities of faith. In relation to this, God says that he will not punish the human being for small sins, if they fight and struggle to avoid the major sins, what this also entails is that major sin will be punished.

Intentions & Actions

Therefore, if one strives to establish the essentialities of faith, and one fights to avoid the fundamentals which are the clearly forbidden evil things that are threatened with punishment, then God will oversee the minor sins or misdeeds of the Believers because these minor sins are actually unintentional mistakes, not intentional rebellion.

Regarding the importance of intentions when committing actions, the Qur’an says, “However, thou will incur no sin if thou err; but [what counts is] what thy hearts intend – for Allah was Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful}” (Q. 33:5)

In this verse, we see that a possible reason why minor sins are forgiven is because the Believer exhibited his sincerity in avoiding major crimes for God’s sake. It can be seen that the minor sins are committed out of negligence and momentary temptation, not out of disobedience, which means that the sinner has to repent from minor sins as well when he remembers his mistakes.

An indicator that the minor sins are not committed intentionally out of disobedience is the verse which states: Allah only accepts the repentance of those who commit evil ignorantly ˹or recklessly˺ then repent soon after—Allah will pardon them. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (4:17)

Bringing the verses collectively to understand them holistically shows that avoiding major sins in Surah 4:31 proves the sincerity of man towards God because he strives from the best of his abilities to avoid the filthy crimes that are the major issues like Shirk, murder, rape, lying, stealing, drinking, gambling, eating the property of the needy orphans etc. On the other hand, as seen in Surah 53:32, minor sins are inevitably committed due to human limitation and thus these minor sins are not on the same level as major crimes because the major sin is described as fawahish, which means despicable, vile and filthy actions. This is precisely the reason why 4:48 mentions that God can forgive anything less than Shirk for whom He wills.

Similarly, Surah 4:17 demonstrates that the minor sin is committed out of ignorance, and Surah 33:5 stresses the role of intentions when committing actions, which again alludes to the role of error and mistake when committing minor sin. As a response, Allah will overlook these minor sins committed unintentionally or out of mistake, whilst the servant who strives to deal with the major issues like theft and murder, but the human should simultaneously repent from whatever sin they engage in.

As a result, this means that the human should not act freely to commit minor sins without concern, otherwise this will turn into intentional disobedience towards God Almighty, which is a major crime. Intentionally committing minor sins is also disobedience towards the Almighty, and regarding this the Qur’an says:

Whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger,

verily, for him shall be the Fire. Therein they shall abide forever and ever} (Q. 72:23)

Scale of Deeds

Moreover, if minor sins are committed without care, then the accumulation of minor sins can outweigh the good deeds committed by the mukallif (duty-bound servant of God).

Regarding the balance of good and bad deeds, the Qur’an explains: {Regarding the one whose balance is heavy [from good deeds], s/he will dwell in pleasure. Regarding the one whose balance is light, s/he will be in Hāwiya [i.e. Hell]} (Q. 101:6-9).

Nullification of Good Deeds

It is important to note that despite the scale of deeds, engaging in major sin can nullify good deeds. To prove this, Allah says in the Qur’an, “O believers! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak loudly to him as you do to one another,or your deeds will become void while you are unaware.” (49:2) In this verse we see that even great companions could get their noble deeds nullified and cancelled due to the severity of major sin. In addition to this specific circumstance, the Qur’an also describes disobedience to the Almighty as an action that nullifies good deeds. O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and do not cause your good deeds to be nullified. (47:33)

Condition for Divine Forgiveness

So, the question arises, how will the mukallif (duty-bound servant) be forgiven if he commits major sins? The Qur’an continuously highlights on the importance of repenting to God to be forgiven. In fact, if a grave sinner sincerely repents, the evil deeds will turn into good deeds by Divine grace.

The Qur’an states: Allah only accepts the repentance of those who commit evil ignorantly ˹or recklessly˺ then repent soon after—Allah will pardon them. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (4:17)

The following verse clarifies the importance of repentance towards God: However, repentance is not accepted from those who knowingly persist in sin until they start dying, and then cry, “Now I repent!” nor those who die as disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment. (4:18)

In Surah 4:18 it is seen that repentance towards God is a pro-condition for forgiveness for the crimes committed. As a consequence, Divine mercy is not given to the one who deceitfully repents moments before death, without rectifying their actions and by this type of repentance, they hope to get away with the major crime and rebellion against the law of God. The demand for proper repentance demonstrates that true repentance is done sincerely by replacing the sin with remorse and good action.

True Repentance & Insincere Repentance

Moreover, this verse is significant because when Allah mentions that repentance or tawbah is not accepted by mere words moments before death, what this implies is that God will also not forgive these sinners because this sort of insincere repentance is rejected by God. This argument is mentioned for those who argue that the major sinner can be forgiven even if he is engaged in major sin without proper repentance, but in this verse, repentance is not only asked for, but proper repentance is demanded for in order for Divine forgiveness to take place. Repentance needs to be asked for immediately without delay.

{Verily, I am the Most-Forgiving to the one who repents, believes, and perform righteous deeds. Then I guide him/her} (Q. 20:82)

The condition of repentance or forgiveness is seen in Surah 20:82 as well which mentions that after a Muslim repents to God, the Believer is then supposed to commit good deeds. Due to Divine grace, when the Muslim repents and does good deeds in place of the committed evil, God Almighty replaces the sin with good reward

This notion is seen in the verse which states: “unless he repents, believes, and perform righteous deeds. For those, Allah will replace their evil deeds with good deeds. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful}” (Q.25:68-70).

The proof that Divine mercy is conditional is also seen in another passage which says:

He admits whoever He wills into His mercy. As for the wrongdoers, He has prepared for them a painful punishment (76:31)

Conclusion

If one was to only read the first part of verse 76:31, they would assume that Divine mercy is unconditional, but the latter part of the text proves that the wrongdoers, the oppressors and evildoers are not shown mercy unless they repent and amend their ways.

The opponents of this paradigm bring the hypothetical scenario, which is “would it be unjust for a human being to forgive a criminal who kills and pillages” or “would it be right if Allah forgave a major sinner and an evildoer?”. The answer to this is that it depends on the context, if the sinner deserves mercy due to his repentance and remorse then this would not be a crime, but if he deserves punishment due to his immense evil and lack of remorse then this would be unjust. Otherwise Allah’s justice and mercy would be random and arbitrary, and random judgement cannot be attributed to the Creator because judges based on goodness, based on wisdom and what is right Allah judges with truth. (40:20).

By Abul Hasan al-Gabikani al-Shadi al-Shaddadi al-Hadhabani -al-Kurdi