Is Masturbation Forgiven If I Continue to Pray My Daily Prayers?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Suppose I masturbate, wash my private parts, perform my daily prayers, and repent to Allah. Will He forgive me if I do not miss any prayer?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It is good that you realized the reprehensibility of masturbating. It is a major sin and has many spiritual, mental, emotional, and social harms.

Repentance

As for repentance from masturbating, this will primarily depend on the fulfillment of the conditions of true, and sincere repentance.

The conditions of repentance are three:

• Remorse
• Desisting from the sin
• Intending to never return to the sin

If one fulfills these three conditions, the door of repentance is open, and Allah Most High will certainly forgive them. [Imam Nawawi, Riyadh al-Salihin]

Addiction

Masturbation is proven to be addictive. Although a person may want to quit, they may find it difficult. If this is the case, one should take the following means:

• Protect the eyes from looking at anything impermissible.
• Protect the mind from thinking of anything that will stir the desires
• Protect the stomach from consuming impermissible foods that increase desire, such as meat and over-eating. [Imam Ghazali, Beginning of Guidance]

After that, you should strive to keep your heart busy in the remembrance of Allah Most High. Keeping company with righteous people will undoubtedly aid the heart in this regard.

Lastly, one should constantly turn to Allah Most High is prayer and supplication.

Hope this helps
Allah A’lam

[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 then 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 a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.