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What is meant by "ignorance" (jahaalah) in the noble verse: "Indeed, the repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do evil out of ignorance"? And does it include planned repentance, or is it restricted to sudden transgression?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The scholars of knowledge have determined in their interpretation of the verse that whoever disobeys Allah is ignorant, and that repentance just before death is a "near" repentance. Ibn Kathir cited that whoever disobeys Allah, whether by mistake or intentionally, is ignorant until he abandons the sin. The Companions agreed that every sin that afflicts a servant is out of ignorance. As for "from near," it means repentance before seeing the Angel of Death, or as long as the soul is in the body and has not reached the gurgling sound. And whoever planned a disobedience and committed an evil deed out of ignorance, if he repents with sincere repentance before his death, Allah accepts his repentance, and he becomes like one who has not sinned.

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

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