which is authentic, to ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās:

“Do you not know that Islam wipes away what came before it?”

Here, the Arabic definite article refers to what was already understood, and the Islam understood among them was Islam practised well.

His words:

“But whoever does evil after embracing Islam will be held accountable for both his earlier and his later deeds”

mean that if he persists in the sins he used to commit, he will be held accountable for both his earlier and his later deeds. This is what the scriptural texts and justice entail: whoever repents of a sin is forgiven that sin, but it does not follow that his other sins must also be forgiven.

One who embraces Islam has repented of disbelief, as Allah Most High says:

“When the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, then let them go their way.”

And He says:

“Tell those who disbelieve that if they desist, their past will be forgiven.”

That is, if they desist from what they have been forbidden, their past will be forgiven. Ceasing to commit a sin is repentance from it. Whoever ceases to commit a sin is forgiven his past commission of it. But if someone does not cease to commit a particular sin, it does not follow that his past commission of it must be forgiven merely because he has ceased to commit another sin. And Allah knows best.