Is it ever too late to repent and to be forgiven?

[A-Believer-25]

I want to know, how forgiving is Allah? I know Allah forgives all sins, but what I am asking about is does Allah forgive any sin that a person commits a bunch of times, like for an example, what would happen if a person sins, then repents, sins, then repents, and the cycle continued for a thousand times? If he has finally learned how to stop and regrets what he did, is it too late for him?

[ژاله]

its never too late to repent, as long as you are alive, or you dont see the sun rising from the west, or you dont meet 3izraeel A.S.. Alhamdulillah you have finally realized and are determined never to do that sin again, Allah Ta'ala is the most forgiving if you seek forgiveness. you are not late.

[Muslim Woman]

The Door of Repentance Is Wide Open

“Do they not know that it is Allah Who accepts the repentance of His servants and receives (approves) their charity, and that Allah is the Relenting, the Compassionate?” (At-Tawbah: 104)

“Say: ‘O My servants who wronged against their souls, do not despair of Allah’s mercy! For Allah forgives all sins; for He is indeed Forgiving, Compassionate.’” (Az-Zumar: 53)

Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah accepts the repentance of His servant so long as death has not reached his collar bone.”

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/S...=1119503543086

[Asiyah3]

Persisting in sin
Question: What will happened to that person doing same sin again and again ?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

If a person commits sin time after time, his sin is forgiven every time if he follows his sin with repentance – if his repentance each time is sincere. The evidence that it is permissible to repent time after time is the fact that those who apostatized from Islam at the time of Abu Bakr were brought back to Islam by Abu Bakr and he accepted that from them, although he knew that they had been kaafirs, then they entered Islam, then they went back to kufr, then they came back to Islam. All the Sahaabah accepted their repentance despite the fact that what the apostates had done was worse than what a sinning Muslim does. So the repentance of a sinning Muslim, even if he sins repeatedly, is more likely to be accepted than repentance on the part of a kaafir time after time.

But what we are saying is subject to the condition that the first and subsequent cases of repentance be sincere and from the heart, not simply an outward show of repentance.

What we are saying should not be understood to mean that we are encouraging sin and that it may be committed time after time, and that the Muslim should take the mercy of Allaah and the fact that Allaah accepts repentance as an excuse to commit sin. No, our intention is to encourage the sinner to repent time after time. We want to put the mind of the Muslim who wants to come back to Allaah at rest, and tell him that the gate of mercy is open, and that Allaah’s forgiveness is greater than his sin, so he should not despair of the mercy of Allaah and he should keep turning to Him.

Al-Bukhaari (7507) and Muslim (2758) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that his Lord said: “My slave commits sin, then he says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ …”

Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali said:

Ibn Abi Dunya narrated with his isnaad that ‘Ali said: “The best of you is every tempted one who repents (i.e., every time he is tempted by this world, he repents).” It was said, “What if he sins again?” He said, “He should ask Allaah for forgiveness and repent.” It was said, “What if he sins again?” He said, “He should ask Allaah for forgiveness and repent.” It was said, “What if he sins again?” He said, “He should ask Allaah for forgiveness and repent.” It was said, “For how long?” He said, “Until the Shaytaan is defeated.”

Ibn Maajah narrated a marfoo’ report from Ibn Mas’ood which says: “The one who repents from sin is like the one who did not commit sin.” (Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah, 3427).

It was said to al-Hasan: Shouldn’t one of us feel too shy to ask his Lord to forgive his sin, then do it again, then ask for forgiveness, then do it again? He said: The Shaytaan wishes that you would have this attitude, so do not tire of asking for forgiveness.

And it was narrated that he said: I do not think this is anything other than the attitude of the believers, i.e., every time a believer sins, he repents.

‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez said in his khutbah: O people, whoever commits sin, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent. If he does it again, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent, and if he does it again, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent. For it is sin which hangs around a person’s neck, and doom comes from persisting in sin.

What this means is that a person will inevitably commit the sins that it is decreed he will commit, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Every son of Adam has his share of zina (adultery) written for him, and that will inevitably catch up with him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2657).

But Allaah has given people a way out from the sins they commit and sin is erased by repentance and seeking forgiveness. If they do that then they will get rid of the evil of sin, but if they persist in sin, then they will be doomed.

Jaami’ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hakam, 1/164-165.

And Allaah knows best.

Source: http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/9231

[A-Believer-25]

Thank you everyone for answering! May Allah reward you!

I have another question.

What about the repentance of an apostate who committed apostasy a lot of times? In the Quran it says (But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray. 3:90) and (Those who believe, then reject faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject faith, and go on increasing in unbelief,- Allah will not forgive them nor guide them on the way. 4:137)

Does this mean that there is a limit for how much times a person can repent from apostasy? I know any other sin can be forgiven by Allah but what if a person enters Islam, leaves it, enters it, then leaves it again then the same cycle continued for a long time then when he stopped doing this grave sin, repents again for the final time for that sin, can he/she still be forgiven even though he/she left Islam many times? I know this kind of question is disturbing but I just want to try to understand the mercy of Allah better.

[Woodrow]

Thank you everyone for answering! May Allah reward you!

I have another question.

What about the repentance of an apostate who committed apostasy a lot of times? In the Quran it says (But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray. 3:90) and (Those who believe, then reject faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject faith, and go on increasing in unbelief,- Allah will not forgive them nor guide them on the way. 4:137)

Does this mean that there is a limit for how much times a person can repent from apostasy? I know any other sin can be forgiven by Allah but what if a person enters Islam, leaves it, enters it, then leaves it again then the same cycle continued for a long time then when he stopped doing this grave sin, repents again for the final time for that sin, can he/she still be forgiven even though he/she left Islam many times? I know this kind of question is disturbing but I just want to try to understand the mercy of Allah better.

Allaah(swt) is all merciful and oft forgiving. but us humans have very many limitations. We weaken our sincerity each time we repeat a sin. At some point we forget what sincerity is and we become incapable of asking for forgiveness with sincerity. So there is a limit to how often we can be forgiven, but the limit comes from our own nature and arrogance. We become hardened and falsely believe we can demand Allaah(swt) to forgive us. Our self assurance and arrogance destroys our ability to sincerely repent.

How foolish us mortals can be. We can lie to ourselves, but Allaah(swt) knows when we have lost the ability to be sincere in our repentance.

[A-Believer-25]

Allaah(swt) is all merciful and oft forgiving. but us humans have very many limitations. We weaken our sincerity each time we repeat a sin. At some point we forget what sincerity is and we become incapable of asking for forgiveness with sincerity. So there is a limit to how often we can be forgiven, but the limit comes from our own nature and arrogance. We become hardened and falsely believe we can demand Allaah(swt) to forgive us. Our self assurance and arrogance destroys our ability to sincerely repent.

How foolish us mortals can be. We can lie to ourselves, but Allaah(swt) knows when we have lost the ability to be sincere in our repentance.

How can we restore our sincerity?

[Woodrow]

How can we restore our sincerity?

If a person has a desire to restore their sincerity, I believe they are well on their way to do so. It takes a lot of sincerity for a person to recognize or even care they have not always been sincere.

Make Du'a and have part of your du'a be a promise to try to be more sincere.

Sincerity has to be practiced, until it becomes a part of life.

[A-Believer-25]

If a person has a desire to restore their sincerity, I believe they are well on their way to do so. It takes a lot of sincerity for a person to recognize or even care they have not always been sincere.

Make Du'a and have part of your du'a be a promise to try to be more sincere.

Sincerity has to be practiced, until it becomes a part of life.

Thanks for the advice!

[Woodrow]

Thanks for the advice!

Please make du'a that my efforts with the Lakotah Nation will be fruitful. I feel Du'a asked by you will be many times more sincere than any I could ask.

[A-Believer-25]

Please make du'a that my efforts with the Lakotah Nation will be fruitful. I feel Du'a asked by you will be many times more sincere than any I could ask.

I sure will, inshallah.

[Woodrow]

I sure will, inshallah.

Jazakallah Khayr Ahki and you will be in my duas

[A-Believer-25]

Jazakallah Khayr Ahki and you will be in my duas

Thank you! May Allah reward you!