authentic and fabricated hadiths, or between what may and may not be cited as evidence. Rather, they narrate everything related to the subject and cite it as evidence. Some have reported this as an opinion within Ahmad’s school or as a position transmitted from him. Yet the apparent position of his school, in agreement with the schools of all the other imams of the Muslims, is that such a person’s repentance is accepted, just as the repentance of someone who calls others to disbelief or turns people away from their religion is accepted.

The leaders of the Confederates—such as Abū Sufyān ibn Harb, al-Hārith ibn Hishām, Suhayl ibn ‘Amr, Safwān ibn Umayyah, ‘Ikrimah ibn Abī Jahl, and others—repented after their calls had led others to be killed while still disbelievers. They became among the finest Muslims, and Allah forgave them. Allah Most High says:

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

‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās had been among the foremost in calling others to disbelief and harming the Muslims. Yet when he embraced Islam, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him:

“O ‘Amr, did you not know that Islam wipes away what came before it?”

In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Ibn Mas‘ūd said concerning Allah’s words:

“Those whom they invoke themselves seek a means of drawing near to their Lord, each striving to be closest.”

“Some humans used to worship certain jinn. Those jinn embraced Islam, while the humans continued to worship them.”

This shows that those who embraced Islam were not harmed by others continuing to worship them after their conversion, even though they themselves had initially led those people astray.