Thursday 28 April 2011

Is repentance accepted if the hadd punishment is not carried out on a person?

 

Is repentance accepted if the hadd punishment is not carried out on a person?
I have a question that is confusing me. If a married or unmarried person commits the sin of immoral conduct, or major sins such as stealing, backbiting, riba, etc, and persists in doing that for a long time, then he comes to know Allaah and he repents sincerely to Allaah, seeking the Face of Allaah, and he seeks the forgiveness of those about whom he gossiped, and returns what he stole, and gives up riba (usury) and all the sins that there are between him and Allaah such as zina, drinking, failing to pray etc, but the hadd punishment is not carried out on him, will Allaah accept his repentance and his worship, no matter how great his sins were? Or is it possible that Allaah will not accept his repentance and his worship will be rejected? Will Allaah save him from the torment of the grave and from Hell? What should he do in order to avoid punishment and so that Allaah will be pleased with him?.

 

Praise be to Allaah.
 

 

You should note that it is not permissible for a Muslim to
think of the sins from which he has repented as being too great, for the
mercy, pardon and forgiveness of Allaah are greater than his sins. 

If the sins had to do with other people, then it is
obligatory to restore people’s rights to them. If the sin has to do with
something that is between a person and his Lord, then it is sufficient for
him to repent, seek forgiveness, regret what he did and resolve not to go
back to those sins. It is not a condition of repentance that the hadd
punishment be carried out on the repentant person. He should conceal himself
with the concealment of Allaah, Achieving sincere repentance is better than
confessing so that the hadd punishment may be carried out. 

This person has repented well and has given back to people
what is rightfully theirs, so he should not let the Shaytaan come and spoil
his repentance. 

It should be noted that Allaah turns the bad deeds of the
repentant into good deeds. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And those who invoke not any other ilaah (god) along with
Allaah, nor kill such person as Allaah has forbidden, except for just cause,
nor commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive
the punishment.

69. The torment will be
doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in
disgrace;

70. Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic
Monotheism), and do righteous deeds; for those, Allaah will change their
sins into good deeds, and Allaah is Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful.

71. And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds;
then verily, he repents towards Allaah with true repentance”

[al-Furqaan 25:68-71] 

The offenses which the sultan (Muslim ruler) hears of are the
ones for which the hudood punishments must be carried out. As for those of
which he does not hear, then it is better to repent from them and to conceal
oneself with the concealment of Allaah. 

The scholars of the Standing Committee said: 

If the shar’i ruler hears of offenses and they are proven by
sufficient evidence, then the hadd punishments must be carried out, and it
is not waived by repentance, according to scholarly consensus. The Ghaamidi
woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
asking him to carry out the hadd punishment on her after she had repented,
and he said concerning her: “She has repented in a manner that if the people
of Madeenah were to repent in this way, it would be sufficient for them.”
But despite that he carried out the shar’i hadd punishment on her. But no
one has the right to do that but the sultaan. 

But if news of that offence does not reach the sultaan, then
the Muslim should conceal himself with the concealment of Allaah and repent
sincerely to Allaah, so that Allaah may accept his repentance. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
22/15 

And they said –
responding to one who wanted to carry out the hadd punishment and who was
not sure that repentance from zina would be accepted – 

If a person repents to his Lord sincerely, then Allaah has
promised that He will accept his repentance, and will compensate him with
reward. This is by His kindness and generosity. Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning): 

“And those who invoke not any other ilaah (god) along with
Allaah, nor kill such person as Allaah has forbidden, except for just cause,
nor commit illegal sexual intercourse
and whoever does this shall receive the punishment.

69. The torment will be
doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in
disgrace;

70. Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic
Monotheism), and do righteous deeds; for those, Allaah will change their
sins into good deeds, and Allaah is Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

 [al-Furqaan 25:68-70] 

The conditions of repentance include: giving up the sin,
regretting what one has done and resolving not to go back to it. If the
matter involves the rights of other people, then one must also ask them for
forgiveness. 

It was narrated from ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit (may Allaah be
pleased with him) that when the women gave their oath of allegiance (bay’ah)
to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), he said:
“Whoever among you is faithful (to this oath), his reward will be with
Allaah. Whoever does any of these things (wrong actions) and is punished for
it, that will be an expiation for him. Whoever does any of these things and
Allaah conceals him, then it is up to Allaah: if He wills He will punish him
and if He wills He will forgive him.” 

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
encouraged sincere repentance. In the story of Maa’iz he said: “Why did you
not leave him alone, perhaps he would have repented and Allaah would have
accepted his repentance.” Maalik narrated in al-Muwatta’ from Zayd
ibn Aslam that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “O people, the time has come for you stop transgressing
the sacred limits set by Allaah.  Whoever commits any of these evil actions,
let him conceal himself with the concealment of Allaah, for whoever
discloses his actions, then we have to carry out the hadd punishment (that
is prescribed in) the Book of Allaah.” 

So you have to repent sincerely, offer prayers regularly in
congregation and do a great deal of good deeds.

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