Is It Possible to Die Sinless?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Is it possible to die sinless, for example, in the case of one who accepts Islam on his deathbed, or one who dies just after/during performing hajj, or one who does lots of repentance and faces trials with patience?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
There are many ways that one could die in such a state that they have no sins upon them.
1) If one dies just after entering Islam.
This occurred to one of the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace): a bedouin man, just after he entered Islam, was thrown from his horse and fell to the ground, hit his head, and died.
2) If one dies just after an accepted Hajj.
3) If one faces many trials such that all their sins are expiated before dying.
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Tribulation in their body, their child, continues to occur to the Believer, male or female, until they meet Allah having no sin upon them.” [Bayhaqi, Shu’ab al-Iman]
4) If a person makes a sincere repentance for all their sins before passing.
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The one who repents from sin is as though he has no sin.” [Ibid.]
5) This list is not exhaustive. It is possible that Allah Most High eradicates all past sins by way of a sincere act of worship that He accepts.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches 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 studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding 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 Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
