no leading jurist holds such a view. Rather, repentance is refused only once a person directly witnesses the realities of the Hereafter, as Allah Most High says:

“Allah only accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then repent soon afterward. It is they whose repentance Allah accepts, and Allah is ever All-Knowing, All-Wise.”

“Repentance is not accepted from those who continue doing evil until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘Now I repent,’ nor from those who die as disbelievers”—to the end of the verse.

Abū al-ʿĀliyah said:

“I asked the Companions of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about this. They told me: ‘Everyone who disobeys Allah is ignorant, and everyone who repents before death has repented soon afterward.’”

As for someone who repents when death is before his very eyes, he is like Pharaoh, who said, “I am Allah”:

“Until, when drowning overtook him, he said, ‘I believe that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of the Muslims.’”

Allah said:

“Now, when you had previously disobeyed and were one of those who spread corruption?”

This is a question expressing disapproval, through which He made clear that such repentance is not the accepted repentance that He has commanded. A question expressing disapproval conveys either negation, when it concerns declarative speech, or censure and prohibition, when it concerns performative speech. This instance belongs to the latter category. Similar is His saying, Most High:

“When their messengers came to them with clear proofs, they rejoiced in the knowledge they possessed, but they were engulfed by what they used to mock.”

“When they saw Our punishment, they said, ‘We believe in Allah alone, and we reject what we used to associate with Him.’”

“But their faith did not benefit them when