First of all you should know that one of Allah’s or God’s names -in Islam- is the all forgiving or most merciful!
Allah, our Creator, exactly know that we are human and that we are not infallible (read for example verses like 4:28, 17:83, 39:49, 41:49 42:27 and 89:15-16), and he is caring for us more than a mother as quoted in a hadith. Therefore he knows the malady and provides a remedy: repentance. So if you do sincere repentance from what you did Allah may forgive you.
How Allah expect us to be
In the last part of surat al-Furqan (25:63-77) Allah even discribes those people whom he calls the servants of the most merciful, showing off how they should be or act and how they shouldn’t be or act (so these verses are of the kind: do and do not)… I strongly suggest you to read and re-read this part as it is a gudiline for us in our interaction with our Creator. In this description you can read in (25:68)
And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden , except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty.
so these people should not kill a soul Allah has forbidden to kill, and if you go to the next verse you may read about their punishment (in case that they went ahead doing these bad deeds) before comming back to those people he called the servants of the most merciful, the people i might call the people who have been guided by Allah to a good or correct behaviour in their life, and quoting them as an exception:
Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (25:70)
so if one repents Allah sincerly Allah my turn his bad deeds into good deeds (for example, by guiding him do good deeds and turning him away from bad deeds).
Then the verses quote what happens if you repent:
And he who repents and does righteousness does indeed turn to Allah with repentance (25:71)
and later adding rewards to these kinds of people:
Those will be awarded the Chamber for what they patiently endured, and they will be received therein with greetings and peace. (25:75) Abiding eternally therein. Good is the settlement and residence. (25:76)
Allah accepts sincer repentance
About the mercy of Allah and his acceptance of repantance you can read many other verses (most of them have already been quoted therefore I just added the links) such us:
Surat at-Tawba (9:104) I would even suggest you to read more context like (9:102-105)
Surat az-Zummar (39:53)
Surat ash-Shura (42:25)
Verses 1 and 3 just tell as that Allah accept repentance (if it is sincere as explained above) while Verse 2 tells us don’t worry, be faithfull and believe in Allah’s mercy and forgivness!
Further in surat al-Baqara (2:222) you may read:
… Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.
and also in surat Taha (20:82) you find:
But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.
this means if you repent, if you left all the sins you committed Allah even would love you this means you shouldn’t have any haram relationship, but look for halal and do good deed, this means you should live or start a new life forgetting all the past (bad deeds) and leaving it behind.
A “Bonus” for those who convert
As you said you consider converting I wouldn’t quote what Islam says about former committed sins nor the scholars view on the sin that you feel terrible about, but I’d say Allah offers you a solution that might clear your past and let you live with a new white register of deeds (8:38) which is more explictly quoted in a long hadith from which I’ll emphasize the statement:
Are you not aware of the fact that Islam wipes out all the previous (misdeeds)?
So repent, leave the past and any bad deed you committed and find your way to God and he might forgive you and even love and reward you!
Maybe this fatwa is also helpful.
islam.stackexchange.com
VATICAN CITY, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Monday extended indefinitely to all Roman Catholic priests the power to forgive abortion, a right previously reserved for bishops or special confessors.
Francis, who has made a more inclusive and forgiving Roman Catholic Church a characteristic of his papacy, made the announcement in a document known as an “apostolic letter” after Sunday’s close of the Church’s “Holy Year of Mercy”.
He said he wanted to “restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life” but “there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with (God)”.
RELATED: Pope Francis holds Vatican mass for prisoners
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Pope Francis holds Vatican mass for prisoners
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Pope Francis celebrates a Holy Mass in front of a thousand prisoners, prison chaplains and volunteers in St. Peter’s Basilica on November 6, 2016 in Vatican City, Vatican.
(Photo by Andrea Franceschini/Corbis via Getty Images News).
Pope Francis leaves at the end of a Jubilee mass for prisoners in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican November 6, 2016.
(REUTERS/Tony Gentile)
Pope Francis celebrates a Jubilee mass for prisoners in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican November 6, 2016.
(REUTERS/Tony Gentile)
A Swiss Guard on duty as Pope Francis celebrates a Holy Mass in front of a thousand prisoners, prison chaplains and volunteers in St. Peter’s Basilica on November 6, 2016 in Vatican City, Vatican.
(Andrea Franceschini/Corbis via Getty Images News)
Pope Francis celebrates a Jubilee mass for prisoners in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican November 6, 2016.
(REUTERS/Tony Gentile)
Pope Francis celebrates a Jubilee mass for prisoners in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican November 6, 2016.
(REUTERS/Tony Gentile)
Pope Francis leads a mass for the Jubilee of Inmates, on November 6, 2016 at St Peter’s basilica in Vatican. One thousand prisoners — including some lifers — take part in a special event at the Vatican this weekend, along with 3,000 family members, prison staff and volunteers. The prisoners from 12 countries will had yesterday the opportunity to confess and walk through the ‘Holy Door’ at Saint Peter’s Basilica, a Jubilee tradition by which Catholics can ask forgiveness for their sins.
(VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)
Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass for Jubilee of Prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Vatican on November 06, 2016. One thousand prisoners take part in a special event at the Vatican, along with 3,000 family members, prison staff and volunteers. The prisoners from 12 countries had yesterday the opportunity to confess and walk through the ‘Holy Door’ at St. Peter’s Basilica, a Jubilee tradition by which Catholics can ask forgiveness for their sins.
(Photo by Giuseppe Ciccia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Pope Francis leads a mass for the Jubilee of Inmates, on November 6, 2016 at St Peter’s basilica in Vatican. One thousand prisoners — including some lifers — take part in a special event at the Vatican this weekend, along with 3,000 family members, prison staff and volunteers. The prisoners from 12 countries will had yesterday the opportunity to confess and walk through the ‘Holy Door’ at Saint Peter’s Basilica, a Jubilee tradition by which Catholics can ask forgiveness for their sins.
(VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)
Pope Francis leads a mass for the Jubilee of Inmates, on November 6, 2016 at St Peter’s basilica in Vatican. One thousand prisoners — including some lifers — take part in a special event at the Vatican this weekend, along with 3,000 family members, prison staff and volunteers. The prisoners from 12 countries will had yesterday the opportunity to confess and walk through the ‘Holy Door’ at Saint Peter’s Basilica, a Jubilee tradition by which Catholics can ask forgiveness for their sins.
(VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)
Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass for Jubilee of Prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Vatican on November 06, 2016. One-thousand prisoners took part in a special event at the Vatican, along with 3,000 family members, prison staff and volunteers. The prisoners from 12 countries had yesterday the opportunity to confess and walk through the ‘Holy Door’ at St. Peter’s Basilica, a Jubilee tradition by which Catholics can ask forgiveness for their sins.
(Photo by: Giuseppe Ciccia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Francis had already temporarily granted the power to all priests to give what is known as “sacramental absolution” for abortion during the Holy Year, from Dec. 8 to Nov. 20, but the solemn tone of his words in Monday’s letter suggested that change would last for at least the rest of his papacy.
“I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion. The provision I had made in this regard, limited to the duration of the Extraordinary Holy Year, is hereby extended …,” he said.
RELATED: Abortion policy by country
In Roman Catholic teaching, abortion is such a serious sin that those who procure or perform it incur an automatic excommunication, until it is absolved in confession.
In the past, only a bishop or a designated chief confessor of a diocese could grant absolution for an abortion.
Although bishops in some dioceses in developed countries such as the United States and Britain had already delegated this authority to parish priests, the old practice was still in effect in most of the world.
In a document last year, Francis described the “existential and moral ordeal” faced by women who have terminated pregnancies and said he had “met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision”.
(Editing by Louise Ireland)
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In a pastoral gesture to coincide with the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has temporarily altered the rules on who may grant absolution for the grave sin of abortion and granted licit powers of absolution to the priests of the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).
In a letter to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, The Holy Father wrote “I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it.”
It is important to note that this letter in NO WAY changes the teaching of the Church that having, performing or assisting in the procurement of an abortion is a “grave evil”. Additionally, many, if not most, Bishops have already delegated this power to the priest of their respective Diocese.
He prefaced this by saying “The tragedy of abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness, as if not realizing the extreme harm that such an act entails.” “I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision. What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope.”
Pope Francis instructed priests hearing such confessions to offer a “reflection that explains the gravity of the sin committed”
The Vatican issued this statement Tuesday, further clarifying the change.
“Forgiveness of the sin of abortion does not condone abortion nor minimize its grave effects,” it said. “The newness is clearly Pope Francis’ pastoral approach. Many bishops have granted priests permission to forgive the sin. The fact that this statement is coming from the Pope and in such a moving, pastoral way, is more evidence of the great pastoral approach and concern of Pope Francis.
“That people come to confession today to confess abortion and other grave sins is cause for us in the Church to thank God and to put into practice the mission of the good and merciful shepherd who came to seek out those who were lost.”
Also in the letter, Pope Francis made made another, perhaps more surprising, statement regarding the validity of absolution granted by priests of the SSPX: “I establish that those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sin”.
Pope Francis spoke of having heard from “several Brother Bishops” of the SSPX’s “good faith and sacramental practice, combined however with an uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint.” He said the he “trust(s) that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity.
The letter also detailed the Indulgences that will be granted for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Pope Francis explains that all those, whether in individual Dioceses or as pilgrims to Rome, may experience and obtain an Indulgence by making a brief pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every Cathedral or in the churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop, and in the four Papal Basilicas.
He also disposes that the Indulgence may be obtained in the Shrines in which the Door of Mercy is open and in the churches which traditionally are identified as Jubilee Churches.
It is important – the Pope points out – that this moment be linked, first and foremost, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy.
The extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis in the Papal Bull of Indiction “Misericordiae Vultus” will begin on December 8, 2015, the Solemnity of The Immaculate Conception, and conclude on November 20, 2016, The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
Full official English translation of the letter below from the Vatican Press Department:
Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization at the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
To My Venerable Brother
Archbishop Rino Fisichella
President of the Pontifical Council
for the Promotion of the New Evangelization
With the approach of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy I would like to focus on several points which I believe require attention to enable the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God. It is indeed my wish that the Jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus testimony to it be ever more effective.
My thought first of all goes to all the faithful who, whether in individual Dioceses or as pilgrims to Rome, will experience the grace of the Jubilee. I wish that the Jubilee Indulgence may reach each one as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the Face of the Father who welcomes and forgives, forgetting completely the sin committed. To experience and obtain the Indulgence, the faithful are called to make a brief pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every Cathedral or in the churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop, and in the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, as a sign of the deep desire for true conversion. Likewise, I dispose that the Indulgence may be obtained in the Shrines in which the Door of Mercy is open and in the churches which traditionally are identified as Jubilee Churches. It is important that this moment be linked, first and foremost, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy. It will be necessary to accompany these celebrations with the profession of faith and with prayer for me and for the intentions that I bear in my heart for the good of the Church and of the entire world.
Additionally, I am thinking of those for whom, for various reasons, it will be impossible to enter the Holy Door, particularly the sick and people who are elderly and alone, often confined to the home. For them it will be of great help to live their sickness and suffering as an experience of closeness to the Lord who in the mystery of his Passion, death and Resurrection indicates the royal road which gives meaning to pain and loneliness. Living with faith and joyful hope this moment of trial, receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various means of communication, will be for them the means of obtaining the Jubilee Indulgence. My thoughts also turn to those incarcerated, whose freedom is limited. The Jubilee Year has always constituted an opportunity for great amnesty, which is intended to include the many people who, despite deserving punishment, have become conscious of the injustice they worked and sincerely wish to re-enter society and make their honest contribution to it. May they all be touched in a tangible way by the mercy of the Father who wants to be close to those who have the greatest need of his forgiveness. They may obtain the Indulgence in the chapels of the prisons. May the gesture of directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signify for them their passage through the Holy Door, because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts, and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom.
I have asked the Church in this Jubilee Year to rediscover the richness encompassed by the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The experience of mercy, indeed, becomes visible in the witness of concrete signs as Jesus himself taught us. Each time that one of the faithful personally performs one or more of these actions, he or she shall surely obtain the Jubilee Indulgence. Hence the commitment to live by mercy so as to obtain the grace of complete and exhaustive forgiveness by the power of the love of the Father who excludes no one. The Jubilee Indulgence is thus full, the fruit of the very event which is to be celebrated and experienced with faith, hope and charity.
Furthermore, the Jubilee Indulgence can also be obtained for the deceased. We are bound to them by the witness of faith and charity that they have left us. Thus, as we remember them in the Eucharistic celebration, thus we can, in the great mystery of the Communion of Saints, pray for them, that the merciful Face of the Father free them of every remnant of fault and strongly embrace them in the unending beatitude.
One of the serious problems of our time is clearly the changed relationship with respect to life. A widespread and insensitive mentality has led to the loss of the proper personal and social sensitivity to welcome new life. The tragedy of abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness, as if not realizing the extreme harm that such an act entails. Many others, on the other hand, although experiencing this moment as a defeat, believe that they have no other option. I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal. I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision. What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope. The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father. For this reason too, I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it. May priests fulfil this great task by expressing words of genuine welcome combined with a reflection that explains the gravity of the sin committed, besides indicating a path of authentic conversion by which to obtain the true and generous forgiveness of the Father who renews all with his presence.
A final consideration concerns those faithful who for various reasons choose to attend churches officiated by priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X. This Jubilee Year of Mercy excludes no one. From various quarters, several Brother Bishops have told me of their good faith and sacramental practice, combined however with an uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint. I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity. In the meantime, motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful, through my own disposition, I establish that those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins.
Trusting in the intercession of the Mother of Mercy, I entrust the preparations for this Extraordinary Jubilee Year to her protection.
From the Vatican, 1 September 2015
FRANCISCUS
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