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Will Allah accept the repentance and good deeds of a person who commits a minor sin and then abandons it, but may return to it without persistence?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Allah forgives the servant and accepts his repentance as long as he sins, seeks forgiveness, and fulfills the conditions of repentance at the appropriate time, which includes resolving not to return to the sin, even if the sin is repeated many times. On the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "A servant committed a sin and said: 'O Allah, forgive me my sin.' Then the Blessed and Exalted said: 'My servant committed a sin and knew that he has a Lord who forgives sin and holds accountable for sin.' Then he returned and committed another sin, and said: 'O my Lord, forgive me my sin.' Then the Blessed and Exalted said: 'My servant committed a sin and knew that he has a Lord who forgives sin and holds accountable for sin. I have forgiven My servant, so let him do what he wills.'" (Agreed upon).

The acceptance of righteous deeds is a matter of the unseen, known only to Allah. A believer should have a good opinion of Allah while striving to do good deeds.

A Muslim must not be lenient with minor sins, for they will be held accountable for them and they may lead to destruction if they accumulate, as Allah Almighty said: "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it." (Al-Zalzalah: 7-8). And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Beware of the minor sins, for they accumulate upon a man until they destroy him." (Narrated by Ahmad).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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