Does God accept the deeds of fornicators, and does He accept their fasting, zakat, and prayers, or does He render them as scattered dust and nullify their deeds? And what is the extent of the validity of this based on the noble hadith: "The gates of heaven are opened at midnight, and a caller proclaims: 'Is there any supplicant to be answered? Is there any petitioner to be given? Is there any distressed person to be relieved?' No Muslim supplicates with a supplication except that Allah Almighty answers him, except for a fornicator who offers her private parts [for illicit acts] or a tax collector"?

Among the constants affirmed by the Quran and agreed upon by the Sunnis is that sins and major transgressions do not nullify all of a Muslim's good deeds, and that deeds are not entirely nullified except by disbelief (kufr) and polytheism (shirk), as Allah the Almighty says: (And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - then those have become worthless [all] their deeds in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally).

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah states that a single major sin does not nullify all good deeds, but it may nullify what corresponds to it. And no good deeds are entirely nullified except by disbelief, just as repentance does not nullify all bad deeds.

The Hadith of Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him): (I will surely know peoples from my Ummah who will come on the Day of Resurrection with good deeds like the white mountains of Tihamah, but Allah the Almighty will make them like scattered dust. Thawban said: O Messenger of Allah! Describe them to us, clarify them for us, so that we may not be among them unknowingly. He said: Indeed, they are your brethren and from your own skin. They perform acts of worship at night just as you do, but they are people who, when they are alone with the prohibitions of Allah, transgress them.) This Hadith indicates that some evil deeds may nullify a portion of a person's good deeds and the reward of their righteous actions.

The Hadith of 'Uthman ibn Abi al-'As al-Thaqafi: (The gates of heaven are opened at midnight, and a caller announces: Is there any supplicant that he may be answered? Is there any beggar that he may be given? Is there any distressed person that he may be relieved? And no Muslim supplicates with a supplication except that Allah answers him, except for a promiscuous woman who goes about with her private parts [in sin] or a tax collector.) This Hadith does not indicate the nullification of deeds, but rather the non-acceptance of the supplication of the fornicator who persists in his fornication. Major sins are among the impediments to the acceptance of supplications.