Forgiveness of sin in islam

familygirl

the_new_mr wrote:

Well, to address this quickly without going off-topic...

I don't know if it's true to say that a lesbian would necessarily be considered as outside of Islam. I'm not 100% sure of this so don't quote me on it. But I would imagine that it would be considered to be a sin like any other (albeit a major sin) and one that someone could potentially repent from (such as alcohol, murder, etc).

I am wondering about forgiveness of sins in islam. Does a muslim confess sins and repent for any wrong doing? I have been told that all sins will ultimately count against you, is this true? I have quoted the_new_mr from a previous post as I was very confused when I read it. Why is that alcohol and murder are used in the same sentence; are you saying that such things are major sins and will not be forgiven? Surely murder must be considered a major sin, but alcohol?

I guess what I am asking is the differences between christianity and islam when it comes to sinning and forgiving. Christians are supposed to confess all of their sins, be truly sorry, and repent for their wrong doing - in doing so they will be forgiven. Is there an equivalent action in islam?

the_new_mr

The way to forgiveness for any sin in Islam is simply to sincerely repent to God alone for your sin and to sincerely wish to never commit that sin again. Should someone commit the same sin after having sincerely attempted to give it up then the doors of forgiveness are still open.

Indeed, even if someone doesn't repent for their sins, they may still be forgiven by God as He is the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate. I understand that the only sin that will not be forgiven unless repented is the sin of association in worship of God. Although I guess there is still the possibility that God may forgive the person if they were sincerely following what they thought was right and were misinformed. That judgment belongs to God alone though so I wouldn't really want to hypothesize in that area.

In short, all sins (murder, drinking alcohol, adultery etc) may be forgiven in Islam if the sinner truly repents and they need only express this sincerity to God directly.

Some fitting verses to the topic from the Quran:

Al-Imran:134-135
"who spend [in His way] in time of plenty and in time of hardship, and hold in check their anger, and pardon their fellow-men because God loves the doers of good; and who, when they have committed a shameful deed or have [otherwise] sinned against themselves, remember God and pray that their sins be forgiven - for who but God could forgive sins? - and do not knowingly persist in doing whatever [wrong] they may have done."

Al-Maida:8-9
"O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity; and never let hatred of any-one lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: this is closest to being God-conscious. And remain conscious of God: verily, God is aware of all that you do.; God has promised unto those who attain to faith and do good works [that] theirs shall be forgiveness of sins, and a mighty reward;"

Al-Noura:22
"Hence, [even if they have been wronged by slander,] let not those of you who have been graced with God’s favour and ease of life ever become remiss in helping [the erring ones among] their near of kin, and the needy, and those who have forsaken the domain of evil for the sake of God, but let them pardon and forbear. [For,] do you not desire that God should forgive you your sins, seeing that God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace?"

Al-Ahzab:35
"VERILY, for all men and women who have surrendered themselves unto God, and all believing men and believing women, and all truly devout men and truly devout women, and all men and women who are true to their word, and all men and women who are patient in adversity, and all men and women who humble themselves [before God], and all men and women who give in charity, and all self-denying men and self-denying women, and all men and women who are mindful of their chastity, and all men and women who remember God unceasingly: for [all of] them has God readied forgiveness of sins and a mighty reward"

Ash-Shura:40
"But [remember that an attempt at] requiting evil may, too, become an evil: hence, whoever pardons [his foe] and makes peace, his reward rests with God - for, verily, He does not love evildoers."

Al-Fath:29
"MUHAMMAD is God’s Apostle; and those who are [truly] with him are firm and unyielding towards all deniers of the truth, [yet] full of mercy towards one another. Thou canst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves [in prayer], seeking favour with God and [His] goodly acceptance: their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration. This is their parable in the Torah as well as their parable in the Gospel: [they are] like a seed that brings forth its shoot, and then He strengthens it, so that it grows stout, and [in the end] stands firm upon its stem, delighting the sowers. [Thus will God cause the believers to grow in strength,] so that through them He might confound the deniers of the truth. [But] unto such of them as may [yet] attain to faith and do righteous deeds, God has promised forgiveness and a reward supreme."

familygirl

thanks for that.:)

Just wondering - do you know all of those quotes from the Qur'an from memory or do you go look them up directly from it.

the_new_mr

You're welcome

Unfortunately, I can't recall all verses from memory. With some verses (such as Al-Ahzab:35 or Ash-Shura:40), I can roughly remember the text of verse so I look it up (but can't usually remember where the verse is in the Quran... to my shame). With the other verses, I did a search for forgiveness and then selected a few of the verses that came up. Even in cases where I know the verse off by heart, it's usually a good idea to look it up anyway to make sure I don't write the wrong text.

The following site is the one I usually use. Very good site.
http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch/