Then Your Lord to Those Who Did Evil in Ignorance — The Open Door of Repentance
asbab
Level: basic
madani-rulings
as-053
ثُمَّ تَابُواْ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ ذَٰلِكَ وَأَصۡلَحُوٓاْ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ مِنۢ بَعۡدِهَا لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
— النحل 119
Verse: "Then your Lord — for those who did evil in ignorance then repented after that and corrected themselves — your Lord is indeed Forgiving and Merciful." (16:119)
Context: Follows verses criticizing those who forbade what Allah made lawful. But teaches that even those, if they repent and reform, the door is open.
"In ignorance": Ignorance here means overpowering desire and foolishness, not complete absence of knowledge. Ibn Kathir: "Every one who disobeys Allah is ignorant in that moment."
"And corrected themselves": Repentance alone is insufficient — it must be accompanied by behavioral correction, abandoning the sin, and not returning.
Source: Ibn Kathir (4/570); Al-Sadi; Al-Qurtubi (10/186)
Question: What two conditions does the verse state for repentance to be accepted?
Answer: (1) Repentance from the sin (2) Reform: actually correcting behavior and abandoning the sin — verbal repentance without behavioral change is incomplete.