Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 225-233

Chapter 53: Will a person be punished for his actions during the Jahlilliyyah?

It is narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. Mas'ud that some people said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ):

Messenger of Allah, would we be held responsible for our deeds committed in the state of ignorance (before embracing Islam)? Upon his he (the Holy Prophet) remarked: He who amongst you performed good deeds in Islam, He would not be held responsible for them (misdeeds which he committed in ignorance) and he who committed evil (even after embracing Islam) would be held responsible or his misdeeds that he committed in the state of ignorance as well as in that of Islam. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 225)

It is narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. Mas'ud:

We once said: Messenger of Allah, would we be held responsible for our deeds committed in the state of ignorance? He (the Holy Prophet) observed: He who did good deeds in Islam would not be held responsible for what he did in the state of ignorance, but he who committed evil (after having come within the fold of Islam) would be held responsible for his previous and later deeds. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 226)

This hadith has been transmitted by Minjab b. al-Harith Tamimi with the same chain of transmitters. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 227)

Chapter 54: Islam destroys that which came before it, as do Hijrah (Emigration) and Hajj

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn Shamasa Mahri that he said:

We went to Amr b. al-As and he was about to die. He wept for a long time and turned his face towards the wall. His son said: Did the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him not give you tidings of this? Did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) not give you tidings of this? He (the narrator) said: He turned his face (towards the audience) and said: The best thing which we can count upon is the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Verily I have passed through three phases. (The first one) in which I found myself averse to none else more than I was averse to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and there was no other desire stronger in me than the one that I should overpower him and kill him. Had I died in this state, I would have been definitely one of the denizens of Fire. When Allah instilled the love of Islam in my heart, I came to the Apostle (ﷺ) and said: Stretch out your right hand so that may pledge my allegiance to you. He stretched out his right hand, I withdrew my hand, He (the Holy Prophet) said: What has happened to you, O 'Amr? replied: I intend to lay down some condition. He asked: What condition do you intend to put forward? I said: should be granted pardon. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Are you not aware of the fact that Islam wipes out all the previous (misdeeds)? Verily migration wipes out all the previous (misdeeds), and verily the pilgrimage wipes out all the (previous) misdeeds. And then no one as or dear to me than the Messenger of Allah and none was more sublime in my eyes than he, Never could I, pluck courage to catch a full glimpse of his face due to its splendour. So if I am asked to describe his features, I cannot do that for I have not eyed him fully. Had I died in this state had every reason to hope that I would have bee among the dwellers of Paradise. Then we were responsible for certain things (in the light of which) I am unable to know what is in store for me. When I die, let neither female mourner nor fire accompany me. When you bury me, fill my grave well with earth, then stand around it for the time within which a camel is slaughtered and its meat is distributed so that I may enjoy your intimacy and (in your company) ascertain what answer I can give to the messengers (angels) of Allah. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 228)

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that some persons amongst the polytheist had committed a large number of murders and had excessively indulged in fornication. Then they came to Muhammad (ﷺ) and said:

Whatever you assert and whatever you call to is indeed good. But if you inform us that there is atonement of our past deeds (then we would embrace Islam). Then it was revealed: And those who call not unto another god along with Allah and slay not any soul which Allah has forbidden except in the cause of justice, nor commit fornication; and he who does this shall meet the requital of sin. Multiplied for him shall be the torment on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall therein abide disgraced, except him who repents a believes and does good deeds. Then these! for the Allah shall change their vices into virtues. Verily Allah is Ever Forgiving, Merciful (xxv. 68-70). Say thou: O my bondsmen woo have committed extravagance against themselves despair not of the Mercy of Allah I Verily Allah will forgive the sins altogether. He is indeed the Forgiving, the Merciful (xxxix. 53). (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 229)

Chapter 55: Clarifying the ruling of the action of an unbeliever if he accepts Islam after it

Hakim b. Hizam reported to 'Urwa b. Zubair that he said to the Messenger of Allah:

Do you think that there is any thing for me (of he reward with the Lord) for the deed of religious purification that I did in the state of ignorance? Upon this he (the Messenger of Allah) said to him: You accepted Islam with all the previous virtues that you practised. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 230)

Hakim b. Hizam reported to 'Urwa b. Zubair that he said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ):

Messenger of Allah, do you think if there is any reward (of the Lord with me on the Day of Resurrection) for the deeds of religious purification that I performed in the state of ignorance, such as charity, freeing a slave, cementing of blood-relations? Upon this he (the Messenger of Allah) said to him: You have accepted Islam with all the previous virtues that you had practised. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 231)

It is narrate on the authority of Hakim b. Hizam:

I said: Messenger of Allah, I did so some of the deeds in the state of ignorance. (One of the transmitters Hisham b. Urwa explained them as acts of piety. Upon this the Messenger, of Allah remarked: You have embraced Islam with all the previous acts of virtue. I said: By God, I would leave nothing undone in Islam the like of which I did in the state of ignorance. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 232)

Hisham b. Urwa narrated it on the authority of his father:

Hakim b. Hizam freed one hundred slave and donated one hundred camels (for the sake of Allah) during the state of ignorance. Then he freed one hundred slaves and donated one hundred camel (for the sake of Allah) after) he had embraced Islam. He subsequently came to the Apostle (ﷺ). The rest of the hadith is the same as narrated above. (Sahih Muslim Book 1 - Hadith 233)