How Do We Understand Allah’s Statement, “And If You Forgive Them,” [Surah Al-Ma’idah: 118] When Allah Does Not Forgive Whoever Dies Upon Shirk?

“Did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah’?”

Isa عليه السلام then disassociated himself from that and clarified that he had commanded them only with tawhid:

“I said not to them except what You commanded me: ‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.’”

Then he said:

“If You punish them, indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them, indeed You are the Almighty, the All-Wise.”

The meaning is: the matter is Yours, and the judgment is Yours. They are Your servants and are under Your authority, and You سبحانه do nothing except that which is required by Your might and wisdom.

“This statement contains returning the matter of the will to Allah عز وجل.”

He then said that it also contains disassociation from the Christians who lied against Allah and against His Messenger Isa, and who attributed to Allah a rival, a consort, and a son. Exalted is Allah far above what they say. This is important, because His statement: “But if You forgive them” is a conditional statement, and the occurrence of the condition does not necessarily mean that forgiveness will actually occur for every one of them.

“Making it conditional does not necessitate its occurrence.”

“But if You forgive them”: “By Your guiding them to repent from it, and thus covering their sins for them.”

He also narrated from al-Suddi رحمه الله that its meaning is that Allah takes them out of Christianity and guides them to Islam. Accordingly, the meaning would be: If You leave them upon their disbelief until they die upon it and then punish them, they are Your servants and are under Your authority. And if You guide whom You guide among them to tawhid and repentance before death and forgive him, then You are the Almighty, the All-Wise. There is no difficulty in this interpretation, because when a mushrik repents before death, Allah accepts his repentance, regardless of how great his previous shirk was. As for the statement of Allah تعالى: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him.” what is meant is the one who meets Allah while being a mushrik and without having repented.

“Meaning: He does not forgive a servant who meets Him while associating partners with Him.”

And al-Sa’di رحمه الله stated that the verse concerns the one who has not repented. As for the one who repents, Allah forgives him for shirk and for that which is less than it.

“This is not in the manner of requesting forgiveness... rather, it is by way of submitting the affair and entrusting it to what He wills.”

He then clarified that Allah has already informed us that He does not forgive the disbeliever, and Allah does not break His promise or contradict what He has informed us of. This is among the clearest answers to the apparent difficulty.

The statement: “If You punish them” refers to those among them who died upon disbelief, while the statement: “And if You forgive them” refers to those among them who repented before death.

That Isa عليه السلام said this: “By way of submitting to His command.”

He also stated that Isa عليه السلام knew that Allah does not forgive the disbeliever. He then clarified a significant point regarding the ending of the verse: Isa عليه السلام did not say: “Indeed, You are the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” because that could give the impression that forgiveness was being requested for one who died upon shirk. Instead, he said: “Indeed, You are the Almighty, the All-Wise.” This indicates submission to Allah and entrusting the matter to His judgment and wisdom.

“The Messiah said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed, whoever associates partners with Allah, Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and his abode is the Fire.’”

Therefore, it is not possible that Isa عليه السلام would say in one place that whoever dies as a mushrik has Paradise forbidden to him, and then in another place ask Allah to forgive the one who dies upon shirk. Rather, the two verses are reconciled as follows: The mushrik who repents before his death will be forgiven by Allah, while the one who dies upon shirk will not be forgiven.