everyone knows it rises from the east!’

We answer: Indeed, that is what is commonly known, and that has been the uninterrupted pattern ever since Allah created the sun up to this very day. Yet toward the end of time Allah will command the sun to turn back along the path it came, reversing its course so that it rises from the west. When people behold this, they will all believe—even the disbelievers: Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Communists, and the rest; every one of them will profess faith. However, whoever had not believed before the sun rose from the west will find that this faith brings him no benefit.

Everyone will also seek to repent, but the person who failed to repent before the sun’s rising from the west will have his repentance rejected, for this event is a sign witnessed by all. Once the forewarned signs have appeared, neither repentance nor belief will avail.

The hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)—that Allah, glorified and exalted, accepts repentance until the sun rises from the west—carries the same purport as the narration of Abu Musa.

As for the hadith of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar: “Allah accepts His servant’s repentance so long as he has not begun to rattle,” meaning so long as the soul has not reached the throat, once the soul reaches the throat there is no longer any repentance. Other texts clarify that once death is present, repentance is of no avail, as He, the Exalted, says: “Repentance is not for those who keep doing evil until, when death confronts one of them, he says, ‘I now repent’” (al-Nisaʾ 4:18).

Therefore, my Muslim brother, hasten to repent to Allah from every sin, abandon whatever acts of disobedience you have been involved in, make up what you have neglected of obligatory duties, and ask Allah to accept your repentance. Allah alone grants success.