Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may All have mercy on him, said:
The punishment for a sin committed by a believer is removed in ten ways:
- He repents to Allah (taubah), so Allah accepts his repentance, for the one who repents from sin is like the one who has no sin.
- He seeks forgiveness from Allah (istighfar), so Allah forgives him.
- He does good deeds that erase his sin for good deeds erase the bad ones
- His believing brethren pray for him or seek forgiveness for his sins during his life or death
- Or they [ask Allah] to bestow on him as gift from the reward for their deeds, with which Allah benefits him
- His Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu’ alyhi wa sallam, intercedes for him
- Allah tests him with trials in this World which expiate his sin
- Allah tests him in al-Barzakh (the inermidiate life in the grave, between the death and the Day of Judgment) which expiates his sin
- Allah tests him in the various stages of the Day of Judgment which expiates his sins
- Or the Most Merciful of those who has mercy on him.
Whoever, then, is missed by these ten cannot blame anyone but himself.
Source: Islam.com
