Salam brothers and sisters,
First of I wanna say sorry for the long text but as this is a foundational part of the deen that I feel is unfortunately not well known by many Muslims I've spoken to and often not explained well or at all to new reverts I felt obligated to explain it as best I can while also needing clarification for a specific aspect of it.
I am unclear about a specific aspect of the rights of people (Huquq-ul-Ibad) and the nature of forgiving sins and repentance. According to the Quran if someone truly repents for their sins Allah will forgive any sin and specifically when somebody converts to Islam it is said that all the sins of their life before are wiped clean.
However this only applies to the rights of Allah (Huquq-Allah) and all sins you have committed against Allah if I understand it correctly. If you have harmed others at any point before repentance or before becoming Muslim, regardless of whether they are Muslim or even Human, Allah will forgive you for those parts of that sin that went against Allah's command not to harm others, but the rights of the harmed stay in tact regardless. The only way to be forgiven for those sins is by either seeking forgiveness directly from that person or animal in this life (like if you owe them money you have to pay it back or if you harmed them in another way you can agree on a just recompence with them directly).
Now from the explanations and rulings I have found online, if it is too difficult or dangerous to seek forgiveness from the person in this life (such as when you know they might get angry just by seeing you), you should instead pray for forgiveness for the person you have harmed and do good deeds specifically as repentance for the harm you caused. Same if the person has already died in which case you are also encouraged to specifically help out their remaining kin where possible, whether financially or otherwise. If the person forgives you in private or tells you they have forgiven you directly in this dunya and Allah has also forgiven you for this sin already, then you will not be held to account for this deed on Yawm Al Qiyamah. However if they do not forgive you for it in this dunya you will have to ask forgiveness from that person in the next life.
The Quran mentions:
"The recompense for an injury is an injury proportionate to it, but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, he shall be rewarded by Allah..." (Surah Ash-Shura 42:40)
And Prophet Mohammad Peace be upon him said:
“Whoever has oppressed another person concerning his reputation or anything else, he should beg him to forgive him before the Day of Judgment when there will be no money (to compensate for wrong deeds), but if he has good deeds, those good deeds will be taken from him according to his oppression which he has done, and if he has no good deeds, the sins of the oppressed person will be loaded on him.” Bukhari, Mazalim, 10.
“He who repents of his sin is regarded as if he has never sinned.” at-Targhib wat-Tarhib, IV/97.
From the explanations I've seen online the interpretation is that if we are not forgiven in this dunya we must seek forgiveness from the person we have harmed on the day of judgment and Allah will ask the person to forgive us and even if they were firm in not wanting to forgive this deed in this dunya, on judgment day they will be even more encouraged to forgive the person who harmed them as every soul will want to increase their good deeds and they will be rewarded for forgiving any injustice by receiving good deeds from the person who harmed them if im not mistaken. However ultimately Allah still leaves the final decision on whether or not the harmful act is forgiven to the harmed party.
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What is unclear to me is what happens if the act was so harmful to the person that they do not forgive it at all?
Did I misunderstand that when a person forgives a sin against them that good deeds will be TAKEN from the one who has committed it and they only receive a reward without the sinner losing anything and does the sinner only lose good deeds if he was not forgiven?
Will a sin or certain severe sins that are not forgiven by a person be explicitly punished (eg. be punished in the Hellfire for a certain period) proportionate to the harm caused or will this only happen if a person has run out of good deeds to recompense for the sin?
How should we seek forgiveness for Animals or other creations of Allah that we have harmed and are there specific guidelines in accordance with the degree of harm caused to the animals that will guarantee forgiveness if we do them in this dunya or could an animal also refuse to forgive a harmful act?
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The specific example that led me to think about this topic deeply and made me believe it is an important topic that is glossed over too often and that it is really important we adress it more was a video of a revert brother who spoke of his past life before Islam and the sinful life he lead before accepting Islam. The worst of those sins was that during a robbery gone wrong he shot and killed someone and as a result spent many years in jail during which time he felt a lot of shame, regret and guilt for this act which lead him to repent and eventually find Islam. He explicitly mentions how there were many times where he did not think he could ever be forgiven for his sin and then expresses joy at the fact that now that he has accepted Islam he has been forgiven and can start a new life according to the deen. Now I have no doubt that a person who truly repents for a sin in front of Allah will naturally also seek forgiveness from whomever they harmed in their hearts, but it seemed to me that this person was genuinely unaware that even though all their sins against Allah were forgiven, he was still not fully forgiven for that sin and has an obligation to perform certain good deeds to seek forgiveness from the person they have killed, and try to either seek forgiveness from the family members of that person that suffered as a result directly in this dunya, or if this is likely to cause more harm and distress to them, try to do something for their benefit, either through a charitable act (potentially even anonymously) or by performing good deeds for them. At the very least I think it must be clear to him that the bare minimum he is obligated to do is to pray for anyone he harmed and anyone else that was indirectly harmed by that act to be forgiven for their sins by Allah if I understood correctly.
I generally noticed this a lot whenever I see Muslims celebrate a revert who has just accepted Islam that they are given the glad tidings that all their previous sins have been forgiven and their slate is wiped clean and I feel they are almost never informed of the Huquq-ul-ibad that remains regardless and that this is something important they need to consider as well. I understand that in those moments it may sometimes not be mentioned immediately so that perhaps the new revert can have a moment of respite for their soul and be hopeful to enter Jannah even if their past deeds have weighed heavily on them but I feel as Muslims it is our duty to inform them that there are sins that do not qualify as being immediately forgiven or wiped and for which further actions in this dunya are required, especially if the harm was severe.
I think by glossing over this when telling reverts they have been forgiven for all their past sins we are causing great harm to the sinner, as they may be unaware that they still have sins they need to seek forgiveness for, not from Allah but from whomever they've harmed, and unlike other duties of Islam that are usually forgiven if a person genuinely didnt know they were obligated to do them while still seeking more knowledge (especially for reverts), this is something where their lack of knowledge will be of no benefit to them on Yawm al Qiyamah when they stand before the person they have harmed. It also causes harm to the one who was sinned against as it deprives them of the opportunity to forgive the sin in this dunya which will give them a greater reward than if they only forgive it in the next dunya. And it also harms the one who has the knowledge of this and doesnt inform the person who is new to the deen or any Muslim that may not know this as keeping that information essentially prevents the two (or more) other parties from collecting more good deeds, which in turn also result in good deeds for the one who informs the one who doesnt know.
Lastly I also think it is a very important aspect of the Deen itself as the Huquq-ul-ibad perfectly exemplifies the fundamental importance of forgiving others and of seeking forgiveness that is vital for any Muslim and I also think not explicitly mentioning it can even be a somewhat dangerous misrepresentation of Islam, particularly to non-muslims, especially to those individuals who have been harmed by someone who later accepted Islam. If a non-muslim hears that anyone who accepts Islam is forgiven for all their sins by Allah, they will not learn of Islam and Allahs true justice as it does not seem just to most people that the final say in forgiving harm that was done to a person should rest with anyone other than the person who was harmed. Especially if you yourself were the one harmed by that person and you have not forgiven them for that harm yet. And Allah is the most just, which is why Allah has decreed that the ultimate decision on forgiveness for sins against Allahs creation will rest in the hand of whatever soul was harmed.
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Has anyone else felt similarly when hearing the phrase "When you convert to Islam all your previous sins are forgiven and your whole slate is wiped clean" and also noticed that Huquq-ul-ibad is not as clear of a concept to some muslims/reverts as it should be or do you guys think I might be overanalysing some aspects of it here or that it is in fact crystal clear to the majority of muslims in your experience?
Anyways, I once again apologise for the extremely long text to what are ultimately relatively simple questions. I understand no one probably wants to read all that lol but I have severe ADHD so I tend to overexplain everything so usually every paragraph I write ends up way bigger than it needs to be especially when it comes to things I think are important, but inshallah there is also some things of value in them for some.
Jazzakallah Kheir!
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