Allah Will Forgive All of Your Sins : Tafsir 39:53
I recall hearing a christian once tell me that my religion, “Izlam”, was not a religion of forgiveness & mercy. In fact, in his view, it is impossible for God to forgive sins without “sacrifice”, as he saw it. No matter what verses I quoted him, ahadith (narratives of the Prophet Muhammad), or scholarly quotes, he was adamant that the Qur’an does not preach forgiveness of man’s sins. One can guide the donkey to the water, but can not make him drink. I believe that a single verse from the Qur’an can respond to the christian view, or anyone else’s view, that Islam is a religion that teaches God will forgive as long as one is sincerely repentant.
Allah says,
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
“Say, [God says], My servants who have harmed yourselves by your own excess, do not despair of God’s mercy. God forgives all sins: He is truly the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
A Story from The Ville in South Korea: Allah's Mercy
My brother is an American Army soldier stationed in South Korea. He is christian, though nearly accepted Islam some years ago and eventually chose not to due to the pressure exerted by my mother, Allah Yahdihum. I was chatting with him online and he told me an incident that occurred while he was at the ville. For those who do not know what “the ville” is, I need to elaborate. The Ville, in the words of my brother is:
it is about a mile long full of clubs and they have phillipina women in there for you to talk to and start a relationship with and just to go play pool and get really really drunk, it is mainly for soldiers who lost their wives from divorce they have a place to go… but the women are half naked
You can imagine the horrific crimes and vice that occur in this little “Sin Strip” of South Korea. My brother proceeded to tell me of two pakistanis that entered the ville. Upon seeing them, my brother approached them saying, “Hey are you Muslim?” The brothers responded with an affirmative. My brother says, ‘It is Haram for you guys to be here.’