is either a disbeliever or a hypocrite. Yet people differ in these matters just as they differ in outward deeds: some wrong themselves, some follow a middle course, and some are foremost in good deeds. The texts of the Quran and Sunnah abound with evidence of this. Those who turn away from these matters in both knowledge and practice are no less blameworthy than those who neglect the outward deeds they have been commanded to perform, despite practising some of these inward deeds. Rather, whoever neglects what is commanded, whether inward or outward, deserves blame and punishment—even though inward deeds are the starting point and foundation of outward deeds, while outward deeds are their completion and branches, without which the inward deeds remain incomplete.
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As for His words:
“O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins.”
And in another narration:
“I forgive sins and do not mind doing so. So seek My forgiveness, and I will forgive you.”
Forgiveness encompassing all sins is of two kinds.
The first is forgiveness for those who repent, as in His words, Exalted is He:
“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy’”
through to His words:
“then you will not be helped.”
This context, together with the occasion of the verse’s revelation, makes clear that no sinner should despair of Allah’s forgiveness, however great his sins may be, for Allah