Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:70
Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
His statement إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا — Allah the Exalted says: whoever commits the aforementioned deeds will undergo punishment (athām), إِلا مَنْ تَابَ — that is: except whoever returns to obedience to Allah the Blessed and Exalted by abandoning that and turning toward what is pleasing to Allah; وَآمَنَ — that is: and who affirms what the Prophet of Allah Muḥammad brought; وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا — that is: and acts in accordance with the works that Allah commands him, and abstains from what Allah forbids him.
His statement فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ : the exegetes have differed among themselves concerning the interpretation of this. Some said: its meaning is: for these, Allah will exchange the shameful deeds they committed in shirk for good deeds in Islam, so that He will change it by exchanging their shirk for faith, their words as people of shirk against Allah for words as people of faith in Him, and their fornication (zinā) for chastity and the married state.
— Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his statement فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ — he said: these are the believers who, before their faith, did evil deeds; Allah turned them away from that and changed them toward good deeds, and replaced the evil deeds with good ones.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his statement إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا ... to the end of the verse, he said: these are those who repent and then act in obedience; Allah then replaces their evil deeds with good ones at the moment they repent.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, who said: وَالَّذِينَ لا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ ... to the end of the verse was revealed concerning Waḥshī and his companions; they said: "How can we repent, while we have worshipped the idols, killed believers, and married women of the polytheists?" Upon this Allah revealed concerning them إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ . Allah exchanged for them the worship of the idols for the worship of Allah, exchanged their fighting alongside the polytheists for fighting together with the Muslims against the polytheists, and exchanged their marriage to women of the polytheists for marriage to believing women.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said, Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning his statement فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ — he said: the shirk by faith, the killing by restraint, and the fornication (zinā) by the married state.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning his statement وَالَّذِينَ لا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ — this verse is Meccan, revealed at Mecca; وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ — that is: the shirk, the killing, and the fornication together. When Allah revealed this verse, the polytheists of the people of Mecca said: "Muḥammad claims that whoever commits shirk, kills, and commits fornication will enter the Fire and that there is nothing good for him with Allah." Upon this Allah revealed إِلا مَنْ تَابَ — concerning the polytheists among the people of Mecca — فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ — that is: Allah replaces the shirk, the killing, and the fornication with: faith in Allah, entering into Islam — this is the replacement in the world. Allah also revealed concerning that: يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ — meaning them by it — لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا — meaning what there was in shirk; Allah says to them: أَنِيبُوا إلى رَبِّكُمْ وَأَسْلِمُوا لَهُ — He calls them to Islam. Both of the first-mentioned verses are Meccan, and the verse from al-Nisāʾ وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا ... the verse — this is Medinan, revealed at Medina, and there lie eight years between that and the verse that was revealed in al-Furqān; it is unclear and offers no way out.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Abū Tumaylah related to us, saying: Abū Ḥamzah related to us, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās was asked about the statement of Allah the Exalted: يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ and he answered it with two lines of verse:
"They were changed after his heat into autumn — and after the long swift breath into sad panting."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his statement وَالَّذِينَ لا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ ... to his statement وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا : the polytheists said: "By Allah, those who are with Muḥammad were formerly with us." Upon this Allah revealed إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ — he said: repented of shirk — he said: and believed in the punishment of Allah and His Messenger; وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا — he said: affirmed; فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ — he said: Allah replaces their evil deeds that they committed in shirk with good deeds as soon as they entered into faith.
Others said: rather, its meaning is: these — Allah replaces their evil deeds in the world on the Day of Resurrection with good deeds for them.
— Mention of who said that:
Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr al-Baṣrī related to me, saying: Quraysh ibn Anas Abū Anas related to us, saying: Ṣāliḥ ibn Rustum related to me, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab: فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ — he said: their evil deeds will become good deeds for them on the Day of Resurrection.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ḥāzim Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Maʿrūr ibn Suwayd, on the authority of Abū Dharr, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I know the one who is last to leave Hell (jahannam), and the one who is last to enter Paradise (janna). A man will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said: Set aside his major sins and ask him about his minor sins. He will then be told: You did this and that, and you did this and that. He will say: O Lord, I have indeed done things that I do not see here. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed until his molars became visible. He will then be told: In exchange for every evil deed you have a good deed."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The interpretation that is most correct is the interpretation of the one who interprets it thus: these — Allah replaces their evil deeds, their works in shirk, with good deeds in Islam, by transferring them from works that anger Allah to what is pleasing to Him.
We say that this is the most fitting interpretation of the verse, because the evil deeds have already passed with the quality they had, and because it is inadmissible to change the essence of something that has passed and has a certain quality into the opposite of that quality, unless one changes it with respect to the quality itself into another state. If that were so, it would amount to: the shirk of the unbeliever which was shirk in unbelief becomes, on the Day of Resurrection, by Islam, faith in itself, and all his acts of disobedience become obedience in themselves — and that is something no rational person will say.
His statement وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا — Allah the Exalted says: Allah was the One Who forgives the sins of whoever among His servants repents and returns to His obedience, and Who is merciful toward him in that He does not punish him for his sins after his repentance from them.
