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The question

Will an elderly man be held accountable for the deeds of his youth after his death?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

On the Day of Judgment, a person will be held accountable for every action they performed during their period of responsibility and free choice. There are two types of accountability: an easy one, which is the presentation of deeds, and a discussion that leads to punishment. The sins of youth are not expiated by old age; rather, they may be expiated by calamities and illnesses, as stated in the Hadith: "No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were a prick of a thorn, but Allah expiates some of his sins thereby." And what remains is under the will of Allah. Advancing in age does not expiate sins, and the Hadith stating that whoever reaches eighty or ninety years of age will have their past and future sins forgiven is a weak Hadith. The stage of youth is among the most important matters about which a servant will be questioned on the Day of Judgment, as stated in the Hadith: "The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Resurrection until he is questioned about four matters: about his life and how he spent it; about his youth and how he wore it out; about his wealth – from where he acquired it and on what he spent it; and about his knowledge – what he did with it."

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy