“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’”

Allah Most High also says:

“Do they not know that Allah accepts repentance from His servants and receives their charities, and that Allah is the Accepter of Repentance, the Most Merciful?”

And He says:

“He is the One who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons their misdeeds.”

There are other such verses.

The second means is seeking forgiveness, as related in the two Sahīh collections from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said:

“When a servant commits a sin and says, ‘My Lord, I have committed a sin, so forgive me,’ He says, ‘My servant knows that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them. I have forgiven My servant.’ Then he commits another sin and says, ‘My Lord, I have committed another sin, so forgive me for it.’ His Lord says, ‘My servant knows that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them. I have forgiven My servant, so let him do whatever he wishes.’ He said this on the third or fourth occasion.”

In Sahīh Muslim, it is related that he said:

“If you did not sin, Allah would do away with you and bring a people who would sin, then seek forgiveness, and He would forgive them.”

It may be said that seeking forgiveness, understood in this way, is accompanied by repentance, as stated in the hadith:

“One who seeks forgiveness is not persisting in sin, even if he returns to it a hundred times a day.”

It may, however, be said that seeking forgiveness without repentance is both possible and does occur. A detailed discussion of this belongs elsewhere. For if this seeking of forgiveness is accompanied by repentance, the ruling applies to everyone who repents. If it is not accompanied by repentance, it applies to some of those who seek forgiveness: those who, while seeking forgiveness, may experience such fear of Allah and such a turning back to Him that their sins are erased. This is like what is related in the hadith of the card, in which the words “There is no deity