Transliteration:( Wa laisatit tawbatu lillazeena ya'maloonas saiyiaati hattaaa izaa hadara ahadahumul mawtu qaala innee tubtul 'aana wa lallazeena yamootoona wa hum kuffaar; ulaaa'ika a'tadnaa lahum 'azaaban aleemaa )
"But repentance is not (accepted) of those who (continue to) [69] do evil until death comes to any one of them saying: 'Indeed I repent now.' Or, of those who die as infidels; for them, We have prepared a painful torment [70]."
The phrase refers to those who continue to commit spiritual sins (i.e., wrong beliefs) and physical sins (i.e., evil actions) throughout their lives.
The verse targets especially those who only repent when death approaches,
As only the sin of apostasy is never forgiven at the time of death.
However:
If we interpret “sins” literally, then the lack of acceptance is due to circumstantial necessity (i.e., the repentance is insincere or forced),
Not that repentance is outright rejected in principle.
As implied in the previous verse, Allah accepts sincere repentance, but not one made when the soul is departing or after divine punishment has started.
From this we learn:
It is forbidden to pray for those who die as disbelievers.
There is to be no Salatul Janazah (funeral prayer) for a non-believer.
It is also forbidden to say things like:
“May Allah have mercy upon them,”
Or to make any supplication for forgiveness on their behalf.
Such acts go against the clear divine ruling that no repentance or mercy is granted to those who die without faith.
The tafsir of Surah Nisa verse 18 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nisa ayat 17 which provides the complete commentary from verse 17 through 18.
(4:18) But of no avail is repentance of those who do evil until death approaches any one of them and then he says: ‘Now I repent.’ Nor is the repentance of those who die in the state of unbelief of any avail to them. For them We have kept in readiness a painful chastisement.[27]
27. The Arabic word tawbah means ‘to return, to come back’. A man’s tawbah after he has sinned means that God’s servant, who had turned away from his Master in disobedience, has repented, and has returned to obedience and service. On the other hand, tawbah on the part of God means that the attention of the Master, which had turned away from His erring servant, has once again turned towards him. In this verse, however, God makes it clear to His servants that tawbah is acceptable only from those who commit errors inadvertently and out of ignorance. Such persons will always find the door of God open for them whenever they turn to Him in repentance.
But this tawbah is not for those who pile sin upon sin throughout their lives in sheer indifference to God and who cry for pardon as soon as they see the angel of death approaching. The Prophet (peace be on him) has warned against this attitude in the following words: ‘God accepts the repentance of a slave until the gurgling (of death) begins.’ (Tirmidhi, ‘Da’wat’, 98; Ibn Majah, ‘Zuhd’, 30; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2, pp. 132 and 153, and vol. 3, pp. 425 – Ed.) For when the last leaf of a man’s book of life has been turned, what opportunity remains for a man to return to righteous conduct? Likewise, if a person spends even the very last moment of his life in a state of disbelief and then on the threshold of the Next Life he comes to discover that the facts are quite contrary to what he had imagined, what sense is there for him to seek forgiveness?
For a faster and smoother experience,
install our mobile app now.
Related Ayat(Verses)/Topics