“…let them forgive and overlook. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful…”(Surah An-Nur, 24:22)

By Abdullahi Yusuf

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All perfect praise is due to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, the Lord of the Worlds. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh), is His slave and final Messenger.

A question was asked: “I did something wrong to somebody and asked him to forgive me, but he said he will not forgive me. Does this mean I will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment?”

Islam answers this question without confusion. Wrongdoing is acknowledged. Responsibility is affirmed. But the burden is not made endless.

If you have wronged someone, you are required to do two things: compensate where possible, and seek forgiveness. If you have done both sincerely and the person still refuses, the matter no longer rests entirely in your hands. It is returned to Allah. “Allah does not place on anyone a burden he or she cannot bear.”

This does not remove the seriousness of sin, but it draws a boundary between repentance and resentment. The Qur’an does not speak only to the offender. It speaks pointedly to the one who refuses to forgive. In Surah An-Nur, forgiveness is not presented as optional virtue, but as a moral expectation tied directly to one’s hope in Allah.

“…Let them pardon and overlook. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you?…”(An-Nur 24:22)

This verse was revealed in a moment of deep personal injury. Abu Bakr (ra) had every social and emotional justification to withdraw support from Mistah, who had participated in slander against his daughter Aisha (ra), the wife of the prophet (pbuh). Yet revelation did not validate permanent withdrawal. It redirected the heart.

Abu Bakr’s response was immediate and unambiguous: “Yes, indeed, I want Allah’s forgiveness.”He resumed support and increased it. Islam does not deny human anger. It regulates it.

The Prophet (pbuh) taught a simple supplication: “O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness, so forgive me.”

The Qur’an describes the believers not as those who are never hurt, but as those “who, when they are angry, they forgive.” (Ash-Shura 42:37). It allows justice “the recompense of an evil is an evil like it” but it elevates forgiveness beyond it: “whoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is upon Allah.”(42:40)

Islam therefore draws a clear distinction that, the one who wrongs must repent, the one who forgives is elevated, the one who refuses forgiveness indefinitely is not sinful by default but is warned.

Among the 99 beautiful names of Allah, Al-Ghafoor, Al-‘Afuw, Al-Tawwab, Al-Haleem means forgiving, pardoning, accepting repentance and forbearing. These names are to shape conduct. The servant who closes every door of mercy while standing in constant need of mercy is quietly contradicting his own prayers.

And Allah knows best.