Repentance from Consuming Riba Entails Forgiveness

29-10-2019 | IslamWeb

Question:

Salam aleikum .
There is a person who knew riba was haram but still took it . Now the person say that a tauba, istikfaar is not axcepted by a person who does riba when knowing its haram.. meaning his sin for riba Will never be forgiven. What do u say about this sheikh ? Please answer in private as i want to show the person yr answer .
Jazak allahu khayran

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, is His slave and Messenger.

Repentance from committing the sin of Riba (interest and/or usury) and seeking forgiveness for it are not valid if they are done by a person who persists on consuming Riba. One of the conditions for the validity of repentance is to quit the sin. But if someone consumes Riba while acknowledging that it is prohibited and he dies as a believer, then the forgiveness of his sin is subject to the will of Allah The Exalted; if He wills, He will forgive him, and if He wills, He will punish him.

In his commentary on Saheeh Muslim, An-Nawawi wrote: “The one who committed a major sin and died without repenting is subject to the will of Allah The Exalted; if Allah wills, He will pardon him and admit him to Paradise (without prior punishment), like the case of the people in the first category. If Allah wills to punish him, He will punish him with the amount of punishment He wills then He will admit him to Paradise.”

If a person who consumes Riba repents to Allah sincerely by quitting Riba, regretting it, resolving never to consume it again, and keeping his capital only without any extra (usurious) amounts, then his repentance will be accepted, Allah willing.

Allah knows best.