Question: Allah, exalted is He, says in Sura Aal ʿImran: “Indeed, those who disbelieve after having believed and then increase in disbelief—their repentance will never be accepted, and they are the ones who are astray” (3:90). And He says in another verse: “Say, ‘My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins’” (39:53). What do these two verses mean, and how can they be reconciled? Does the first verse mean that there are sins for which repentance will never be accepted, no matter how hard the sinner tries? Or does one verse abrogate the other? How should we understand this?

Answer: There is no contradiction between the two noble verses. The first verse concerns the apostate who does not repent and dies upon his apostasy—“Indeed, those who disbelieve after having believed and then increase in disbelief.” In other words, they never repented; rather, they persisted in their disbelief until death. Such people will not have their repentance accepted, even if they attempt to repent at the point of death, because Allah says, “Repentance is not [accepted] from those who continue to do evil until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘Indeed, I repent now’” (4:18), and He also says, “Whoever among you turns back from his religion and dies while he is a disbeliever—their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and they are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein” (2:217). In sum, the first verse applies to one who leaves the religion, persists in his apostasy, and does not repent until the very moment of death, at the stage of ghargara (the death rattle), as in the hadith: “Allah accepts the servant’s repentance so long as the soul has not reached the throat.” Once the soul reaches that point, repentance is no longer accepted.

As for the other verse—“My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah”—it addresses the person who repents before death actually arrives. Allah, majestic and exalted, will accept his repentance. Thus it is clear that there is no contradiction between the two noble verses.