believed, then disbelieved, then believed, then disbelieved, then increased in disbelief. It has been said that this is because, when an apostate repents, his disbelief is forgiven; but if he subsequently disbelieves and dies a disbeliever, his faith comes to nothing, and he is punished for both his first and his second disbelief. Thus, in the two Sahīh collections, Ibn Mas‘ūd reported:

“The Messenger of Allah was asked, ‘Will we be held accountable for what we did in the time of ignorance?’ He replied, ‘Whoever does well in Islam will not be held accountable for what he did in the time of ignorance, but whoever does evil in Islam will be held accountable for both his earlier and his later deeds.’”

Had He said, “Those who believe, then disbelieve, then increase in disbelief—Allah will not forgive them,” these would have been the same people He mentioned in Āl ‘Imrān, saying:

“Indeed, those who disbelieve after having believed, then increase in disbelief—their repentance will never be accepted.”

Rather, He mentioned that they believed, then disbelieved, then believed again. This describes the apostate who repents. If such a person then disbelieves and increases in disbelief, his previous disbelief will not be forgiven either. But if they believed, then disbelieved, then believed, then disbelieved, then believed again, they would not have increased in disbelief and would therefore not fall within the scope of the verse.

When jurists disagree over accepting the repentance of someone who has repeatedly apostatized, or accepting the repentance of a zindīq (heretic), their disagreement concerns only the outward legal ruling, because his repentance cannot be trusted. If, however, he has inwardly repented sincerely to Allah, then he falls within His words:

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

What we actually maintain is that the repentant person is not punished, either in this world or in the Hereafter