The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

About a man who habitually commits forbidden acts but regularly observes the five daily prayers, sends blessings upon Muhammad one hundred times each day, and says one hundred times each day, “Glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, and there is no god worthy of worship except Allah”: will those sins be expiated through prayer and seeking forgiveness?

He replied:

Allah Most High says:

“Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.”

Whoever is a believer and performs a righteous deed for the sake of Allah Most High will not be wronged by Allah. Rather, He will reward him for it. As for the minor unlawful acts he commits, he deserves punishment for them, yet there is hope that Allah will turn to him in forgiveness. As Allah Most High says:

“And others have acknowledged their sins. They have mixed a righteous deed with another that was evil. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgiveness.”

If he dies without repenting, his affair rests with Allah, who knows best the measure of his good and evil deeds. We do not testify that he will enter either Paradise or Hell. This is contrary to the Khawārij and the Mu‘tazilah, who say that whoever commits a major sin has all his good deeds nullified.

Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah do not hold that good deeds are nullified in this way. Rather, those who commit major sins have both good and evil deeds, and their affair rests with Allah Most High.