all of them into Paradise without undergoing any punishment. Both of these positions flatly contradict the mass-transmitted Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and the consensus of the early generations of this ummah and its leading imams.

The unsoundness of both views is made clear by two verses in Allah’s Book. He, the Exalted, says:

“Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him, but He forgives anything less than that for whom He wills.”

Allah has thus informed us that He will not forgive shirk (associating partners with Him), while He may forgive whatever is short of that for whomever He wills. This cannot be interpreted—contrary to what some of the Muʿtazilah maintain—as referring only to those who repent, for Allah forgives shirk when a person repents from it, and He likewise forgives lesser sins for the repentant. In that case the matter would not be tied to His will. Now, when Allah mentions forgiveness that is granted to those who repent, He says:

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Surely Allah forgives all sins; He is indeed the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’” ⦗al-Zumar 39:53⦘

Here forgiveness is stated in the most general and unrestricted terms: Allah forgives any sin from which the servant repents. Whoever repents of shirk, Allah forgives him; whoever repents of major sins, Allah forgives him; whatever sin a servant repents from, Allah forgives him.

Thus, in the verse dealing with repentance, forgiveness is universal and unqualified, whereas in the other verse it is specific and conditional: shirk is singled out as the one sin that will not be forgiven, and forgiveness for anything else is made dependent on Allah’s will.