are not accepted, as Allah says:

“But repentance is not for those who persist in evil deeds until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘Indeed, I repent now.’” [al-Nisa’ 4:18]

And He, Exalted is He, says:

“Then, when they saw Our punishment, they said, ‘We believe in Allah alone, and we reject that which we used to associate with Him.’ But their faith did not benefit them once they saw Our punishment.” [Ghafir: 84–85]

Repentance must be made immediately—that is, without delay—because persisting in a sin is itself a sin, and because a person does not know when death may suddenly overtake him, depriving him of the opportunity to repent.

If highway robbers repent, then if this is after they have been captured, their repentance is not accepted; but if it is before that, it is accepted. The evidence for this is Allah’s saying:

“Except for those who repent before you gain power over them. Then know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” [al-Ma’idah: 34]

The indication in the verse is that it ends with two noble Names, which signify forgiveness and mercy; and what His mercy and forgiveness, Exalted and Most High is He, entail is that He forgive and show mercy to these people.

It is understood from His saying, “before you gain power over them,” that if they repent after they have been captured, the punishment is not waived from them. The wisdom behind this is that, when they repent before being captured, this indicates that their repentance is sincere, and Allah accepts their repentance. But if they repent after being captured, the apparent indication is that they repent out of fear of exemplary punishment and penal consequences; therefore, their repentance is not accepted.

As for the disbeliever, his repentance is accepted even after he has been captured. Thus, if a hostile non-Muslim combatant openly displays enmity toward the Muslims, and we capture him, then he repents after we have captured