Advice of Scholars - ÎMÂN DOES NOT GO AWAY BY COMMITTING SINS

Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî says in the  67th letter of the second volume of his Maktûbât:

A Believer’s îmân does not go away no matter how grave a sin he commits. He does not become a disbeliever. I have heard that one day Imâm-i a’zam and the great savants of Baghdad were sitting somewhere, when somebody came up and said, “If a Believer kills his father unjustly, breaks open his head, drinks wine from his skull and then, getting drunk, commits fornication with his mother, will his îmân go away?”

All the savants who heard this became angry with that Believer. “It is unnecessary even to ask this,” they said. Imâm-i a’zam said, “That person is still a Believer. His îmân does not go away by his committing sins. ” The savants disliked this answer and castigated Imâm-i a’zam. But when the Imâm proved his word true, they all had to admit it.

If a Believer with a lot of sins repents before his last breath comes up to his throat, he will most likely be saved. For Allâhu ta’âlâ promised that He would accept the tawba (repentance). If he has not attained the honour of tawba, his state is up to Allah only. If He wishes, He will forgive all his sins and put him into Paradise, or He will torment him with the Hell-fire or through troubles as much as his sins. But at last he will be saved and enter Paradise again. For, it is only disbelievers who will not attain Allah’s mercy in the next world.

He who has the tiniest îmân will attain His compassion. If he cannot attain His compassion because of his sins, he will at last attain it through Allah’s blessing and favour. O Allah! After giving us guidance to the right way and showing us the right way, protect us so that our hearts will not deviate onto the renegades’ side! Have mercy upon us! Pity us poor creatures! Thou, alone, can protect us against the darkness of disbelief and apostasy!