Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:17
The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do wrong in ignorance [or carelessness] and then repent soon after. It is those to whom Allah will turn in forgiveness, and Allah is ever Knowing and Wise.
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.
The explanation of His word: إِنَّمَا التَّوْبَةُ عَلَى اللَّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ("Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word, exalted is His praise: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance (bi-jahāla)," He means: There is no acceptance of repentance with Allah for any of His creatures whatsoever, except for those of the believers who commit evil out of ignorance = ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِنْ قَرِيبٍ ("and who thereafter repent soon"). He says: Allah does not turn back toward any of His creatures with that which He loves—namely, forgiveness toward him and the effacing of his past sins—except toward those who commit the sins they perpetrate out of ignorance on their part while believing in their Lord, and who then turn anew to obedience to Allah and repent of it by turning to that which Allah has commanded them—namely, regret over it, the seeking of forgiveness, and the abstaining from returning to anything of the like—before death overtakes them. And that is "the soon (al-qarīb)" which Allah, exalted is His mention, named when He said: ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِنْ قَرِيبٍ ("and who thereafter repent soon").
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning the explanation of it, the exegetes have spoken. Except that they differed over the meaning of His word: "out of ignorance (bi-jahāla)."
Some of them said concerning it what we have said concerning it, and held that his committing of the evil itself is "the ignorance" that was intended.
Mention of who said that:
8832 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: that he used to relate that the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Every sin that a servant commits occurs out of ignorance.
8833 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "for those who commit evil out of ignorance," he said: The companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gathered together and held the view that everything by which Allah is disobeyed is "ignorance," whether it occurs intentionally or otherwise.
8834 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "for those who commit evil out of ignorance," he said: Everyone who disobeys his Lord is ignorant until he abandons his disobedience.
8835 - Al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance," he said: Everyone who acts in disobedience to Allah, that occurs from him out of ignorance until he turns back from it.
8836 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance"—as long as he disobeys Allah, he is ignorant.
8837 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Faḍīl ibn Ghazwān related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Naḍr, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance," he said: Whoever commits evil is ignorant; out of his ignorance he committed the evil.
8838 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: Whoever disobeys Allah is ignorant until he abandons his disobedience = Ibn Jurayj said: And ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr informed me, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: Everyone who acts in disobedience is ignorant at the moment he acted with it = Ibn Jurayj said: And ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ said to me something of the like.
8839 - Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning the word of Allah: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance and who thereafter repent soon," he said: "The ignorance"—everyone who commits anything of the acts of disobedience toward Allah is continually ignorant until he abandons them. And he recited: هَلْ عَلِمْتُمْ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ بِيُوسُفَ وَأَخِيهِ إِذْ أَنْتُمْ جَاهِلُونَ ("Do you know what you did to Yūsuf and his brother when you were ignorant?") [Surah Yūsuf: 89], and he recited: وَإِلا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّي كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَكُنْ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ ("And if You do not turn their guile away from me, I shall incline toward them and be among the ignorant") [Surah Yūsuf: 33]. He said: Whoever disobeys Allah is ignorant until he abandons his disobedience.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of His word: "for those who commit evil out of ignorance" is: they commit that intentionally on their part.
Mention of who said that:
8840 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid: "they commit evil out of ignorance," he said: The ignorance is the intent.
8841 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, something of the like.
8842 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance," he said: The ignorance is the intent.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of it is: Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil in this world.
Mention of who said that:
8843 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance," he said: The entire world is ignorance.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of these statements with respect to the explanation of the verse is the statement of him who said: Its explanation is: Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil, and their committing of the evil is itself the ignorance in which they were ignorant—whether they pursued the sin intentionally, or were ignorant of what Allah has prepared for its people.
That is because it does not occur in the language of the Arabs that one calls him who does something intentionally "ignorant of it," unless it is thereby meant that he is ignorant of the measure of its benefit and harm, in which case it is said: "he is ignorant of it," in the sense of his ignorance of the nature of its benefit and harm. But when he has knowledge of the measure and extent of its benefit and harm, and pursues it intentionally, then because of his purposefulness toward it, it is not permissible that it be said: "he is ignorant of it," because "the one who is ignorant of a matter" is the one who does not know it and is not acquainted with it at the moment he undertakes it = or [the one who] knows it, in which case the one who does it—since that which he does is an error—is likened to the ignorant one who undertakes the matter while being ignorant of it, and thus misses the place of correctness in it, so that it is said of him: "he is truly ignorant of it," even though he has knowledge of it, because of his undertaking a matter that is undertaken only by the people who are ignorant of it.
And such is the meaning of His word: "they commit evil out of ignorance." It is said of them: "they commit evil out of ignorance" = even though they undertake it while having knowledge of the extent of Allah's punishment of its people, and undertake it intentionally, with their knowledge that it is forbidden to them = because that act of theirs belongs to the acts that are undertaken only by him who does not know the magnitude of Allah's punishment of its people, in the nearness of this world and the farness of the Hereafter. Thus it is said of him who undertakes it while having knowledge of it: "he undertook it out of ignorance," in the sense that he performed the act of those who are ignorant of it, not that he was truly ignorant.
* * *
And some of the linguists have claimed that the meaning of it is: that they did not know the true nature of the punishment which it contains, and thus did not know it as the knower knows it, even though they knew that it was a sin; and therefore it was said: "they commit evil out of ignorance."
Abū Jaʿfar said: If the matter were as the proponent of this statement said, then it would necessarily follow that there is no acceptance of repentance for him who did know the true nature of what it contains. That is because He, exalted is His praise, said: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance and who thereafter repent soon," to the exclusion of others. Then it would necessarily follow, for the proponent of this statement, that for the knower who committed an evil while having knowledge of the true nature of what it contains, and who then repented soon, there is no acceptance of repentance. And that is contrary to what is firmly established as transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: namely, that with respect to every repentant one it is to be hoped that Allah accepts his repentance = and to his word: "The gate of repentance remains open as long as the sun does not rise from its west" = and contrary to the word of Allah, mighty and exalted is He: إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا ("except him who repents and believes and does righteous deeds") [Surah al-Furqān: 70].
* * *
The explanation of His word: ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِنْ قَرِيبٍ ("and who thereafter repent soon").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differed over the meaning of "the soon (al-qarīb)" in this place.
Some of them said: The meaning of it is: then they repent in their health, before their illness and before their death.
Mention of who said that:
8844 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and who thereafter repent soon"—and the soon is before death, as long as he is in his health.
8845 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Faḍīl related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Naḍr, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and who thereafter repent soon," he said: in life and health.
* * *
And others said: Rather, the meaning of it is: then they repent before they behold the Angel of Death.
Mention of who said that:
8846 - Al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and who thereafter repent soon"—and the soon is the span of time between him and the moment at which he beholds the Angel of Death.
8847 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: I heard ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr say: Abū Mijlaz said: Man remains continually in a state of repentance until he beholds the angels.
8848 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Qays, he said: The soon is as long as no sign of the signs of Allah, exalted is He, descends upon him, and death does not descend upon him.
4849 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance and who thereafter repent soon"—and repentance holds for him in the span of time between him and the moment at which he beholds the Angel of Death; but if he repents at the moment he beholds the Angel of Death, then that does not hold for him.
* * *
And others said: Rather, the meaning of it is: then they repent before death.
Mention of who said that:
8850 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "and who thereafter repent soon," he said: Everything that is before death is soon.
8851 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima: "and who thereafter repent soon," he said: The entire world is soon.
8852 - Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "and who thereafter repent soon": before death.
8853 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, he said: It was related to us that Iblīs, when he was cursed and granted respite, said: By Your might, I shall not depart from the heart of the son of Ādam as long as the spirit is in it. Then He, blessed and exalted is He, said: By My might, I shall not deny him repentance as long as the spirit is in him.
8854 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Abū Dāwūd related to us, he said: ʿImrān related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: We were with Anas ibn Mālik, and Abū Qilāba was there, and Abū Qilāba related, he said: Verily, when Allah, blessed and exalted is He, cursed Iblīs, he asked Him for respite, and he said: By Your might, I shall not depart from the heart of the son of Ādam! Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, said: By My might, I shall not deny him repentance as long as the spirit is in him.
8855 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, he said: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, he said: Verily, when Allah, blessed and exalted is He, cursed Iblīs, he asked Him for respite, and He granted him respite until the Day of Resurrection, and he said: By Your might, I shall not depart from the heart of the son of Ādam as long as the spirit is in it! He said: By My might, I shall not close off repentance to him as long as the spirit is in him.
8856 - Ibn Bashshār related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: It reached me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Verily, when Iblīs saw Ādam hollow, he said: By Your might, I shall not depart from his inward as long as the spirit is in it! Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, said: By My might, I shall not stand between him and repentance as long as the spirit is in him.
8857 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ziyād, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb Bushayr ibn Kaʿb: that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "Verily, Allah accepts the repentance of the servant as long as he does not rattle [in his death throes] (lam yugharghir)."
8858 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿUbāda ibn al-Ṣāmit: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said—and he mentioned something of the like.
8859 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: It reached me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Verily, Allah, blessed and exalted is He, accepts the repentance of the servant as long as he does not rattle [in his death throes] (lam yugharghir).
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the statements concerning it is the statement of him who said: Its explanation is: then they repent before their death, in the condition in which they comprehend Allah's command, blessed and exalted is He, and His prohibition, and before they are overpowered with respect to their soul and their mind, and before the condition in which they are seized by the agony of the death-rattle and the grief of the death throes, so that they no longer know Allah's command and prohibition and can no longer comprehend repentance. For repentance is repentance only when it comes from him who regrets what has preceded from him, and is resolved not to return, while he comprehends the regret and chooses not to return. But when he is seized by the agony of death and overcome by the grief of the death-rattle, then I do not consider him to be anything but overpowered, far from the regret over his sins. And therefore he who said it said: "Verily, repentance is accepted as long as the servant has not yet rattled with his soul." So if a person in that condition comprehends as a healthy person comprehends, and grasps as an intelligent, sharp-minded person grasps, and he brings about a turning to repentance from his sins and a return from his straying, away from his Lord, toward His obedience, then he belongs—if Allah wills—among those who are included in Allah's promise that He has made to those who repent to Him soon from their crimes, by His word: "Verily, the acceptance of repentance rests with Allah only for those who commit evil out of ignorance and who thereafter repent soon."
* * *
The explanation of His word: فَأُولَئِكَ يَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا ("those are the ones whose repentance Allah accepts, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise") (17).
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word, exalted is His praise: "those are the ones," He means: these are they, who commit evil out of ignorance and thereafter repent soon = "whose repentance Allah accepts," to the exclusion of him who did not repent until his mind was overpowered and the death-rattle overflowed him, and who then said, while not comprehending what he said: "I have now repented," as a deception toward his Lord and hypocrisy (nifāq) in his religion.
* * *
And the meaning of His word: "whose repentance Allah accepts" is: He decrees for them a turning to His obedience, and accepts from them their return to Him and their repentance that they have brought about from their sins.
* * *
And as for His word: "and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise," thereby He means: and Allah, exalted is His praise, is continually = "All-Knowing" of the people, namely His servants who turn to Him with obedience after their turning away from Him, who direct themselves to Him after their aversion, and of the rest of the affairs of His creation = "All-Wise," in accepting the repentance of whoever of them repents of his disobedience, and in the rest of His decree and His foreordainment; and into His acts no deficiency enters, and with them mingles neither error nor misstep.
