Thus, although the Companions and the Successors said that every sinner is ignorant—as explained at length elsewhere—these words also encompass someone who knew that the act was forbidden. This shows that a person may be doing evil even without having heard the message clarifying what is forbidden, and that he may repent of it, whereupon Allah forgives him and has mercy on him, even though he does not deserve punishment until the message has reached him and the proof has been established against him.

Since repentance and seeking forgiveness may concern neglected obligations, as well as acts one did not know were sinful, it becomes clear how much falls within their scope. When repentance and seeking forgiveness are mentioned, many people think of reprehensible deeds they have committed and whose reprehensibility they knew through common knowledge, such as sexual immorality and manifest injustice. As for what is adopted as religion, only those who know it to be false recognize it as sinful. Examples include the religion of the polytheists and the altered religion of the People of the Book: these require repentance and seeking forgiveness, yet their adherents believe themselves to be rightly guided. The same applies to all religious innovations. Hence, a number of the early Muslim scholars—including al-Thawrī—said: “Innovation is dearer to Iblīs than sin, because people repent of sin but do not repent of innovation.”

This is the meaning of the statement reported from a number of them: “Allah has barred every adherent of innovation from repentance.” It means that he does not repent of it because he believes himself to be rightly guided. Were he to repent, Allah would accept his repentance, just as He accepts the repentance of a disbeliever.

And whoever says, “There is no acceptance of