Is It Forgivable If I Commit a Sin Knowing That Allah Most High Is Watching Me?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
One day, I set up a wallpaper in my phone at which it was written ‘Allah is watching you’, to try hard not to watch any erotic content again and intended to quit masturbation.
After some days, I relapsed, masturbated and watched por* in the same phone having the wallpaper in which God’s name was written.
Now I think, I did the biggest sin in my entire life and it is unforgivable. I am in great distress.
Is it forgivable if I commit a sin knowing that Allah Most High is watching me?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
Every sin that one repents from sincerely is forgivable. The biggest marker for sincerity is remorse, which is clear from your question.
Allah Most High says, “Say, ˹O Prophet, that Allah says,˺ “O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins.1 He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Quran, 39:53]
Your committing of the sin of watching pornographic content and masturbation is not increased because of your wallpaper saying “Allah is watching you“; your remorse makes that clear.
What would be a greater sin, is for you to commit a sin not caring that Allah Most High is watching such that one didn’t have any remorse or moral self-blame for that action.
Moving Forward
Seek forgiveness of Allah Most High, form a strong resolve in your heart that you want to and will try to never do that sin again, and lastly take whatever means available to you to quit watching pornography and masturbating.
You may find support or advice on the internet.
Lastly, beg Allah Most High to remove the sin from your life. See this link on Struggling with Wrongdoing
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
