Short answer: yes. Allah forgives every sin, however great or however often repeated, for anyone who turns back to Him in sincere repentance (tawbah) before death. The Quran says it in so many words: "Indeed, Allah forgives all sins" (39:53). The only sin that is not forgiven is dying while worshipping something other than Allah (shirk) without having repented of it; even shirk is forgiven if a person repents before death. Repentance has three parts: stopping the sin, regretting it, and resolving not to return to it. If the sin wronged another person, a fourth part is added: putting it right with them.
قُلْ يَٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ﴿٥٣﴾
Qul yaa'ibaadiyal lazeena asrafoo 'alaaa anfusihim laa taqnatoo mirrahmatil laah; innal laaha yaghfiruz zunooba jamee'aa; innahoo Huwal Ghafoorur Raheem
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
Quran 39:53 · Sahih International · Read Surah Az-Zumar
Ibn Abbas and other early scholars explained that this verse came down about people who had committed the worst sins, including idolatry and killing, and feared it was too late for them. Its message is for everyone: do not despair.
The one exception, and why it is not really one
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِۦ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱفْتَرَىٰٓ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا ﴿٤٨﴾
Innal laaha laa yaghfiru ai yushraka bihee wa yaghfiru maa doona zaalika limai yashaaa'; wa mai yushrik billaahi faqadif taraaa isman 'azeemaa
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.
Quran 4:48 · Sahih International · Read Surah An-Nisa
This verse is about a person who dies on shirk. It does not close the door on someone who repents of it while alive. Most of the Prophet's ﷺ Companions had once worshipped idols, and Allah forgave them when they accepted Islam. Allah describes the repentance even of people guilty of shirk, murder and adultery in Surah Al-Furqan, then says:
إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًۭا صَٰلِحًۭا فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ ٱللَّهُ سَيِّـَٔاتِهِمْ حَسَنَٰتٍۢ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا ﴿٧٠﴾
Illaa man taaba wa 'aamana wa 'amila 'amalan saalihan fa ulaaa'ika yubad dilul laahu saiyi aatihim hasanaat; wa kaanal laahu Ghafoorar Raheemaa
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.
Quran 25:70 · Sahih International · Read Surah Al-Furqan
So not only are the sins wiped away: they are replaced with good deeds. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The one who repents from a sin is like one who has no sin" (Sunan Ibn Majah 4250, graded hasan by later scholars through its supporting reports).
What the Sunnah says about Allah's forgiveness
يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، إِنَّكَ مَا دَعَوْتَنِي وَرَجَوْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ عَلَى مَا كَانَ فِيكَ وَلَا أُبَالِي، يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوبُكَ عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ وَلَا أُبَالِي، يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، إِنَّكَ لَوْ أَتَيْتَنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتَنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُكَ بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً
Allah, the Exalted, said: O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and hope in Me, I will forgive you for what you have done, and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you asked My forgiveness, I would forgive you, and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if you came to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then met Me without associating anything with Me, I would come to you with forgiveness nearly as great.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3540 · narrated by Anas ibn Malik · hadith qudsi · graded hasan by at-Tirmidhi
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِاللَّيْلِ لِيَتُوبَ مُسِيءُ النَّهَارِ، وَيَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِالنَّهَارِ لِيَتُوبَ مُسِيءُ اللَّيْلِ، حَتَّى تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا
Allah stretches out His hand at night so that the one who sinned during the day may repent, and He stretches out His hand during the day so that the one who sinned at night may repent, until the sun rises from the west.
Sahih Muslim 2759 · narrated by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari · sahih
The Prophet ﷺ told of a man who had killed ninety-nine people and asked a worshipper whether he could still repent. The worshipper said no, so the man killed him too. Then he asked a scholar, who said: "Who could stand between you and repentance?" and told him to leave his town of evil for a town of good people. He died on the way, and Allah forgave him (Sahih al-Bukhari 3470; Sahih Muslim 2766). He also said Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His servant than a traveller who loses his camel, with his food and water, in the desert, gives up hope, and then wakes to find it standing beside him (Sahih al-Bukhari 6309; Sahih Muslim 2747).
The conditions of sincere repentance
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوْبَةًۭ نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِى ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّبِىَّ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ ۖ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَٰنِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ ﴿٨﴾
Yaaa ayyuhal lazeena aammano toobooo ilal laahi tawbatan nasoohan 'asaa rabbukum any-yukaffira 'ankum sayyi aatikum wa yudkhilakum jannaatin tajree min tahtihal anhaaru yawma laa yukhzil laahun nabiyya wallazeena aamanoo ma'ahoo nooruhum yas'aa baina aydeehim wa bi aymaanihim yaqooloona rabbanaaa atmim lanaa nooranaa waghfir lana innaka 'alaa kulli shai'in qadeer
O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent."
Quran 66:8 · Sahih International · Read Surah At-Tahrim
Scholars describe "sincere repentance" (tawbah nasuha) with these conditions:
- Stop the sin now. You cannot repent of something while you are still doing it.
- Regret it. "Regret is repentance" (Sunan Ibn Majah 4252, graded sahih by later scholars). The pain you feel about the sin is itself part of turning back.
- Resolve not to return to it. A real intention, even if you fear you are weak.
- Put right what you can, if someone else was wronged. Return stolen money, pay back a debt, ask forgiveness from the person you hurt or backbit. "Whoever has wronged his brother, in his honour or anything else, let him seek his pardon today, before there is no dinar or dirham" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2449). If they have died or cannot be found, give charity on their behalf and pray for them.
- Do it in time. Repentance is accepted until the soul reaches the throat at death (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3537, graded hasan) and until the sun rises from the west (Sahih Muslim 2759).
Repentance wipes out the sin of a delay or a wrong, but it does not cancel a duty that is still owed. Missed fard prayers and missed Ramadan fasts must still be made up, unpaid zakat must still be paid, and a broken oath still needs its kaffarah. A person who left prayer for years repents and then makes up what was missed, a few at a time, without despair. The qada calculator below helps you count them.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali
- The same: all four schools require missed obligatory prayers and fasts to be made up after repentance. A minority of scholars outside the four schools, such as Ibn Hazm, held that prayers left deliberately cannot be made up and only repentance and extra voluntary prayer remain.
Count your missed prayers and fasts with the qada calculator.
Minor sins and major sins
Scholars distinguish the major sins (kaba'ir), such as shirk, murder, adultery, taking interest, disobeying parents and lying under oath, from the countless smaller slips of daily life. Small sins are wiped away by good deeds:
وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ طَرَفَىِ ٱلنَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلْحَسَنَٰتِ يُذْهِبْنَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ذِكْرَىٰ لِلذَّٰكِرِينَ ﴿١١٤﴾
Wa aqimis Salaata tarafayin nahaari wa zulafam minal layl; innal hasanaati yuzhibnas saiyi aat; zaalika zikraa liz zaakireen
And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.
Quran 11:114 · Sahih International · Read Surah Hud
"The five prayers, and Friday to Friday, and Ramadan to Ramadan, wipe out what is between them, as long as the major sins are avoided" (Sahih Muslim 233). Major sins need a deliberate repentance of their own. Minor sins should not be taken lightly either, because persisting in them makes them heavy.
What if I keep falling into the same sin?
Repent again, and again. The Prophet ﷺ told of a servant who sinned and said, "My Lord, forgive my sin", and Allah said: "My servant has sinned and knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds to account for them." The man sinned again and repented again, more than once, and Allah said: "I have forgiven My servant" (Sahih al-Bukhari 7507; Sahih Muslim 2758). Scholars explain that this is about a person who sincerely regrets each time, not one who uses repentance as a licence.
The whispering that says "you will only do it again, so why repent?" is one of Shaytan's oldest tricks. Despairing of Allah's mercy is itself a sin: "And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except for those astray?" (15:56). The Prophet ﷺ, who was sinless, still asked Allah's forgiveness a hundred times a day (Sahih Muslim 2702).
How to repent, step by step
- Make wudu and find a quiet moment, ideally in the last third of the night, when Allah calls out "Who is asking My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1145).
- Pray two rak'ahs of Salat al-Tawbah, the prayer of repentance (Sunan Abi Dawud 1521; Jami' at-Tirmidhi 406, from Abu Bakr).
- Talk to Allah in your own words: name the sin to Him, tell Him you regret it, and ask Him to forgive you and help you.
- Say the master dua of forgiveness, Sayyid al-Istighfar. The Prophet ﷺ said whoever says it with certainty during the day and dies before evening is among the people of Paradise (Sahih al-Bukhari 6306).
- Keep saying astaghfirullah through the day.
- Follow the sin with a good deed: charity, a fast, kindness to someone. "Follow a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out" (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1987, graded hasan).
- Change what led you to it: an app, a friend, a place, a time of night.
Do I need to confess to anyone?
No. Islam has no confession to a priest or imam. Repentance is between you and Allah. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ warned against exposing your own sins after Allah has covered them: "All of my nation will be pardoned except those who sin openly", including the one who sins at night and then tells people about it in the morning (Sahih al-Bukhari 6069). You may ask a scholar for advice without naming yourself or the details.
Forgive, so that you are forgiven
وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَٱلسَّعَةِ أَن يُؤْتُوٓا۟ أُو۟لِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينَ وَٱلْمُهَٰجِرِينَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَلْيَعْفُوا۟ وَلْيَصْفَحُوٓا۟ ۗ أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٢٢﴾
Wa laa yaatali ulul fadli minkum wassa'ati ai yu'tooo ulil qurbaa walmasaakeena walmuhaajireena fee sabeelillaahi walya'foo walyasfahoo; alaa tuhibboona ai yaghfiral laahu lakum; wal laahu Ghafoorur Raheem
And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give [aid] to their relatives and the needy and the emigrants for the cause of Allah, and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Quran 24:22 · Sahih International · Read Surah An-Nur
This verse came down when Abu Bakr swore he would stop supporting a relative who had spread slander about his daughter Aishah. When he heard it, he said, "By Allah, I do want Allah to forgive me", and he restored the support (Sahih al-Bukhari 4750). Read more in the Quran verses on forgiveness.
FAQ
Will Allah forgive me if I repeat the same sin?
Yes, if you sincerely repent each time. In a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, a servant sins and repents again and again, and Allah says: "I have forgiven My servant." Keep repenting, and keep working on what leads you to the sin.
Can shirk be forgiven?
Yes, if the person repents of it before death. The verse "Allah does not forgive association with Him" (4:48) is about someone who dies on shirk. Most of the Companions had worshipped idols before Islam and were forgiven.
Does Allah forgive zina (adultery)?
Yes. Surah Al-Furqan names adultery among the sins that Allah forgives, and even turns into good deeds, for the one who repents, believes and does righteous work (25:68-70). You do not need to confess it to anyone.
How do I know Allah has forgiven me?
No one can be certain in this life, but Allah has promised to accept sincere repentance (42:25). Scholars say signs of acceptance include hating the sin, being drawn to good deeds and keeping better company. Keep hope and keep doing good.
Is there any sin Allah will not forgive?
Only shirk that a person dies on without repenting. Every other sin, if Allah wills, can be forgiven, and every sin, including shirk, is forgiven for the one who repents before death.
Do I have to make up prayers I missed before repenting?
Yes, in all four schools of law. Repentance removes the sin of leaving them, but the missed fard prayers and fasts are still owed. Make them up gradually, and use the qada calculator to count them.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Sources
- Quran 4:48, 11:114, 15:56, 24:22, 25:68-70, 39:53, 42:25 and 66:8, translation by Sahih International.
- Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3540 (hadith qudsi, graded hasan by at-Tirmidhi); 3537 (graded hasan); 1987 (graded hasan); 406.
- Sahih Muslim 233, 2702, 2747, 2758, 2759 and 2766.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1145, 2449, 3470, 4750, 6069, 6306, 6309 and 7507.
- Sunan Ibn Majah 4250 and 4252; Sunan Abi Dawud 1521.
- On making up missed prayers after repentance: al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah, Bab Qada' al-Fawa'it; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar. The other schools are summarised from their standard manuals; Ibn Hazm, al-Muhalla.
Quran: Arabic from the Tanzil Uthmani text, English translation by Sahih International. Hadith gradings are those of the hadith scholars named; where a hadith number is not given, the collection and narrator are cited instead.