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Does Surat An-Nisa state that whoever disbelieves more than 3 times, Allah will not accept his Islam nor guide him, and does this include abandoning prayer 3 times?

2 min readAlso available in العربية

Repentance erases what preceded it, and Islam demolishes what came before it. The door to repentance is open to every servant, even if they have fallen into sin and disbelief many times. This is based on Allah’s saying: (Say to those who disbelieved, if they cease, what has passed will be forgiven them), and the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: (Do you not know that Islam demolishes what came before it, and emigration demolishes what came before it, and Hajj demolishes what came before it?). The repentance of an apostate is accepted if they return to Islam and their repentance is sincere, based on Allah’s saying: (Except for those who repent after that and correct themselves. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful). As for one who apostatized and then increased in disbelief and did not repent, their repentance will not be accepted, based on Allah’s saying: (Indeed, those who disbelieved after their belief and then increased in disbelief – never will their repentance be accepted, and those are the astray), and His saying: (Indeed, those who believed then disbelieved, then believed, then disbelieved, and then increased in disbelief - never will Allah forgive them, nor will He guide them to a way). The difference of opinion among scholars regarding the acceptance of repentance pertains to outward rulings in this world, not to what is with Allah Almighty in the Hereafter. For Allah accepts the repentance of whoever repents and ceases (their sins) inwardly and outwardly. The preponderant opinion is that the repentance of one whose apostasy recurred is also accepted in terms of outward rulings, and this is the view of the majority of scholars. Therefore, the repentance of one who abandons prayer is accepted if it is sincere, even if the abandonment has occurred many times. However, the servant must be cautious, for death may come to them before they are guided to repentance.

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

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