What Happens to the Deeds of the Apostate When He Returns to Islam?

Question

A person was born to Muslim parents and was raised as a Muslim. He believed in the testification of faith and was believed to be sincere while doing good deeds. Later he entered disbelief and said that he never believed in the faith and never believed in the good he was doing or was never a Muslim. He later repents and returns to Islam. What happens to his previous good deeds?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to what pleases Him. Amin.

There are two prominent positions on the issue of someone who is shown to have decisively left the faith:

1. The deeds of the apostate who returns to Islam are not invalidated. Thus, they would not be required to repeat Hajj (for example) if they had already performed it before their apostasy and while Muslim.
2. The deeds of the apostate who returns to Islam are invalidated. Thus, they would be required to repeat their Hajj (for example) even if they had already performed it before their apostasy while Muslim.

There is also a difference of opinion on the reward for previous acts. Some scholars stated that the rewards for the actions an apostate performed while being Muslim are also nullified (and this was stated even by those who opined that such a person does not have to repeat acts the apostate did while Muslim, such as Hajj). In contrast, others stated that if he returned to Islam, they might continue to possess these rewards in some form. [Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim; Ibn al-Arabi, Ahkam al-Quran; Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Shafi‘i, Kitab al-Umm]

Related:
Apostasy Archives
Apostasy and Good Deeds
Misgivings Regarding Apostasy and How to Deal with Them

I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.