. Q . 4.1.l FJਦ.J (cont.)

3 Quoted in ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 1, p . 415. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Istighfaar (asking for forgiveness) may be with or without sincere repentance. Ibn Taimiya has argued that in either case the asking of forgiveness may be accepted by Allah and the person may be forgiven for his deed and not punished in the Hereafter although he did not perform the complete repentance. (3) Good deeds that erase some evil deeds that have been performed: This is the aspect that is specifically mentioned in this hadith from Abu Dharr. Allah also says in the Quran, ., , ,.,,, (. ;;;,.,,, ,,. ;;; ,.,,, ,,,. .... .... ,., .... ਚਛ 1 • .:J·' ;.J\ t,I l : I\ _ Gujj J4-J I _J_), g_p1 _.jij ,,. i 4.,)--:-' ,,. ,,,. ࡴ- ,,. ,,. ,,.. ,,.. ,,. ,,. "Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! Good deeds annul ill deeds" (Hood 1 14). It is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that a man had kissed a woman. He came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) seeking some way of expiation for the deed that he committed. So then the above verse was revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he read it to that man and indicated to him that the prayer he had just performed behind the Prophet (peace be upon him) had wiped away the sin he had committed. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said, , •'-:::-ࢸI , ,,. I .J \...AJ ࡵ J,.. . • "The five prayers, the Friday prayer until the Friday prayer and Ramadhaan until Ramadhaan, they all act as expiation for what is between them, as long as one did not perform one of the great sins." (Recorded by Muslim.) And there are many other hadith that give a similar meaning as the above verse and hadith. Some people say that the good deeds only wipe away the minor sins and that the great sins cannot be erased save by sincere repentance. This opinion has been narrated from Ata and a number of the early scholars. The above hadith, about the five daily prayers, the Friday Prayer and so forth, has been interpreted to mean that the wiping away of evil deeds is conditional upon the person avoiding the major sins. That is, if a person is committing one of the major sins, then his daily prayers, for example, do not wipe away his minor sins. According to ibn Attiyyah, this is the opinion of the majority of the ah! al­ Sunnah. lbn Rajah calls this opinion "strange". The second view of that hadith is that those acts simply expiate the minor sins but do not expiate the major sins. This is conditional upon the Hadith #18: "Fear Allah wherever you are ... " person repenting from those minor sins and not persisting in performing them.1 According to ibn Atiyyah, this is the stronger opinion and the opinion of the truly learned. 2 Some even say that the major sins are wiped away by good deeds. Ibn Rajah himself leaned toward that opinion but then concluded that the correct opinion is that of the majority of the scholars: major sins are not removed but by repentance.3 However, after discussing this question for a number of pages, he says that the major sins will not be wiped away by the good deeds. But he does state that on the Day of Judgment, all deeds will be weighed and at that time some of the good deeds may cancel out the major sins. In fact, a person may be left with a balance of one good deed for which he will be rewarded.4 (4) Supplications by the believers for another Muslim may relieve some of the punishment from him in the Hereafter: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "' ,,,. ,,,. ,,,. O:J '}$ ,,, ,,... J ...