Ali 'Imran · Madani · ayah 90 of 200

Ali 'Imran 3:90

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بَعْدَ إِيمَـٰنِهِمْ ثُمَّ ٱزْدَادُوا۟ كُفْرًا لَّن تُقْبَلَ تَوْبَتُهُمْ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلضَّآلُّونَ

“Indeed, those who disbelieve [i.e., reject the message] after their belief and then increase in disbelief - never will their [claimed] repentance be accepted, and they are the ones astray.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who reject faith after believing and keep sinking deeper in rejection will not have their repentance accepted; they are the truly lost.

A reflection

Didn't the previous ayah say the opposite?

Two friends in a study circle read 3:89 and then 3:90, and stop. One ayah says those who repent find Allah Forgiving. The next says their repentance will never be accepted. 'Didn't it just say the opposite?'

They are in good company. An early commentator states the problem plainly: it is impossible that Allah should say 'I accept' and 'I do not accept' about the same thing. Another calls the ayah a real difficulty beside 'He is the One who accepts repentance from His servants' (42:25). The tension is not a modern discovery. The classical scholars felt it and worked through it.

Their answers fall into a few groups.

One: the repentance refused is the one made at death. Several early authorities held this, and modern concise commentaries follow it. The Quran says repentance is not for one who waits until death arrives (4:18). Al-Tirmidhi records that Allah accepts a servant's repentance until the death rattle; it is graded ḥasan.

Two: the repentance refused is from lesser sins, while the person stays in disbelief. An early commentator preferred this.

Three: the repentance is not real. It is a tactic, or words on the tongue without the heart.

Four: one commentator takes the phrase as a stern way of saying 'they will die in disbelief'. He adds at once: how many who sank deep in disbelief came back.

Every reading keeps 3:89 intact. The door of sincere repentance in this life is open. This ayah describes those who never truly walk through it.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.