Answer
Peace be upon you brother,
Thank you so much for your eagerness to get your question answered and to sincerely pursue the forgiveness, closeness, and acceptance of Allah Almighty.
You are right in that Allah never turns down anyone who seeks Him sincerely and seeks His Forgiveness.
Allah Almighty says:
{But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.} (Quran 20:82)
And He says:
{And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, “Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself – indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.} (Quran 6:54)
And He says as in the hadith:
O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it. (AtTirmidh)
Also note in this verse Allah says:
{Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.”} (Quran 39:53-54)
Allah Almighty accepts sincere repentance, which has 3 conditions:
- Regret the sin.
- Stop the sin and do not proceed with it further.
- Sincere intention not to go back to the sin.
Additionally, if someone’s sin involves transgression against someone else, then he/she must make amends and give them their right back in addition to the above steps for an accepted repentance.
With regards to the verse you quoted, the full verse says:
{So who is more unjust than he who invents a lie about Allah or denies His signs? Indeed, the criminals will not succeed.} (Quran 10:17)
The context of this verse is different from what you seem to have been discussing. You can look up authentic tafsir (exegesis) of this verse to find that out.
The verse talks about those who intentionally lie against Allah and His Messenger and the revelation. Ibn Kathir says:
Allah says that no one is more wrong, unjust and arrogant than he who invented a lie against Allah, forged claims about Allah, or claimed that Allah has sent a message to him but his claim was not true. No one is more of a criminal or has committed greater wrong than such a person. (Full tafsir of verse by Ibn Kathir)
You can also find Maududi’s tafsir of this chapter here.
So, the full explanation and context of the verse, as you will see in the tafsir links, shows that the verse doesn’t negate what you were saying about Allah’s acceptance of sincere repentance.
Anyone who sincerely repents to Allah, leaves sin, rectifies his/her affairs, and remains on the straight path will always be accepted by Allah Almighty. And Allah knows best.
Hope this answers your question.
Salam.
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