One of the greatest blessings of Allah upon his servants is that He forgives all their past sins if they embrace the religion of truth (i.e. Islam). Allah says in the Glorious Qur’an:
“Tell the disbelievers that if they desist (from their disbelief), their past will be forgiven. But if they persist, then they have an example in those destroyed before them.” (Qur’an, 8:38).
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) also gave glad tidings of this in a number of narrations.
Hadith 1
‘Amr b. al-‘As said: I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “Stretch out your right hand and let me swear allegiance to you.” He stretched out his right hand, but I clenched my hand and he said, “What is the matter with you, ‘Amr?” I replied, “I want to make a condition.” He asked, “What condition do you make?” I replied, “That I should receive forgiveness (for my past).” He said,
“Do you not know that Islam erases what preceded it (of bad deeds), that the Hijra (migration) erases what preceded it, and the Hajj (pilgrimage) erases what preceded it?” (Narrated by Muslim (121) and Ibn Khuzaymah (2515)).
In another report, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Islam destroys what came before it.”
(Narrated by Ahmad (17812) and Al-Bayhaqi (9/123). Classed as Sahih by Al-Albani in “Irwa Al-Ghaleel” (1280)).
These hadiths are evidence of the virtue and greatness of Islam, for it destroys the sins of pre-Islamic times, and it is in agreement with the Almighty’s saying: “Say to those who disbelieve, ‘If they desist, their past will be forgiven. ’” (Qur’an, 8:38).
Hadith 2
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“If a person accepts Islam, such that his Islam is good, Allah will decree reward for every good deed that he did before, and every bad deed that he did before will be erased. Then after that will come the reckoning; each good deed will be rewarded ten times up to seven hundred times. And each bad deed will be recorded as it is, unless Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, forgives it.'”
(Narrated by Al-Nasa’i (4998) and Al-Bayhaqi in “Shu’ab Al-Iman” (24) with an authentic isnad).
Look at the generosity of our Lord! Not only does He forgive all the past sins of a new Muslim, but the good deeds that they performed while being a disbeliever are still rewarded. Good deeds include telling the truth, being good to their parents, giving in charity, helping the poor and the needy, etc.
Furthermore, a bad deed is only recorded as a single bad deed, whereas good deeds are rewarded ten times up to seven hundred times! This hadith is one of the greatest evidence that Allah The Most High has made it much easier to attain Paradise than to earn the punishment of hellfire, alhamdolilah!
Hadith 3
It is narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas that some persons amongst the polytheists had committed a large number of murders and had excessively indulged in fornication. Then they came to Muhammad (ﷺ) and said:
“Whatever you assert and whatever you call to is indeed good. But if you inform us that there is forgiveness of our past deeds (then we will embrace Islam).”
Then the following verses were revealed:
“And those who invoke not any other god along with Allah, nor kill such life as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in disgrace; Except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Qur’an, 25:68-70).
And the verse:
“Say: ‘O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful..'” (Qur’an, 39:53).
(Narrated by Al-Bukhari (4810), Muslim (122), Abu Dawud (4273) and Al-Nasa’i (7/86)).
The condition for forgiveness of all past sins
There is a report that sets a condition upon total forgiveness of the sins of Muslim converts.
‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: A man said, “‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Shall we be punished for what we did in the Pre-Islamic Period of ignorance?’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said,
‘Whoever does good in Islam will not be punished for what he did in the pre-Islamic period of ignorance and whoever does evil in Islam will be punished for his former and later (bad deeds).'” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari (6523), Muslim (120), Ibn Majah (4242), Ahmad (1/431), Al-Darimi (1), Ibn Hibban (396) and Al-Bazzar (1663)).
This hadith indicates that the person will be rewarded for their good deeds performed while they were a disbeliever and that their sins will be erased from them if they convert to Islam, but only on the condition that they live their new lives according to the teachings of Islam and avoid repeating their past sins.
Conclusion
The texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah indicate that Islam removes and erases disbelief and sins from a person, whether the sins were related to the rights of people, such as spilling blood, money, slander, backbiting and other things, or they were between the servant and Allah Almighty, such as adultery, drinking alcohol and other major sins.
Whoever converts to Islam will return as his mother gave birth to him; just as there is no sin for a small child, so there is no sin for a disbeliever at the time of his conversion to Islam. They start with a clean slate, with the condition that they resolve not the return to their past sins.
This is a glad tiding given to anyone who is interested in converting to Islam, is a recent convert or a sinner who leaves behind a lifestyle of sinning and returns to Allah; “Say: ‘O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful..'” (Qur’an, 39:53).
