Assalaamu alaykum. Can a person who has committed major sins in the past like fornication, pornography, drugs, and so on become a Quran teacher later on in life after being guided by Allaah and sincerely repenting? He sincerely repented, got closer to Allaah, refrains from sinning, seeks knowledge, and recently did 'Umrah. He has the desire to learn and teach the Quran and is currently taking Tajweed classes. Is he allowed to do so? He has Waswasah (obsessive whisperings) that because of his past sins he is not capable of teaching and does not feel right about it.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

We ask Allaah Almighty to accept the repentance of this person and help him carry out righteous deeds. He should know that the person who makes sincere repentance, Allaah accepts his repentance, and he is just like the one who has committed no sin at all. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, "The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin." [Ibn Maajah]

After repentance, he should strive in carrying out good deeds to the best of his abilities, and he should not be deceived by Satan into believing that his good deeds shall not be accepted because of his past sins. Indeed, Allaah, The Exalted, forgives sins no matter how enormous they are. Therefore, he can be whatever he wishes to be in terms of seeking knowledge, teaching others, or partaking in jihaad. Verily, learning and teaching the Quran yields great rewards. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, "The best among you is the one who learns the Quran and teaches it." [Al-Bukhari]

He should not let his past sins prevent him from attaining such a refined status. On the contrary, carrying out those good deeds will raise his status. Allaah, The Exalted says (what means): {Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.} [Quran 11:114]

He should know that the Companions, who were the best of the Muslim nation, attained such a refined status after they had been polytheists fighting against Allaah and His Messenger, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam. So no matter how grave one's sin is, he must not let it prevent him from doing good diligently after making sincere repentance. We implore Allaah to bless us and all our fellow Muslims with sincere repentance. For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 88529.

Allaah knows best.