My comment to planten was just to show that the hell-fire,itself, is everlasting and the disbelievers that enter it will never get out because they committed Shirk(associated others as partners with Allaah). When it comes to the forgiveness of Allaah in general there are plenty of verses and statements of the Prophet(peace be upon him) that speak about that.
On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:
"Allah the Almighty said:
‘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.’"
Allaah even commands the believers not to give up on the mercy of Allaah:
39:53
Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! despair not of the Mercy of Allah. for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
At the same time, we don’t go around saying we are saved because, we do not know what will be our status tommorrow. We hope and ask Allaah to keep us upon the straight way and to protect us from the evil of our own selves and from the evil of Satan and his agents.
Someone is saved if he/she died believing in
La ilaha ill Allaah, Muhammadur Rasulullaah. This means - I testify there is no deity worthy of worship except Allaah and Muhammad is His Messenger.
Salvation in Islam
Allah, The Most High, says
"And I (Allah) created not the Jinns and men except they should worship Me (Alone).” 51:56 ]
And He said:
"And verily, We have sent among every Ummah ( community, nation ) a Messenger (proclaiming ): ’ Worship Allah ( Alone ), and avoid ( or keep away from ) Taghut ( all false deities etc. i.e. do not worship Taghut besides Allah). ’ " [16:36]
***“Worship Allah and join none with Him in worship.” ***[4:36]
It is narrated that Mu’adh bin Jabal ( May Allah be pleased with him) said, " I was riding behind the Prophet(pbuh) on a donkey and he said to me ***“O Mu’adh, do you know what is the right of Allah on his slaves and what is the right of the slaves upon Allah?” ***I responded: " Allah and His Messenger know best." He continued, ***“The Right of Allah upon his slaves, is to worship Him Alone and never to associate anything with Him. The right of the slaves upon Him is not to punish any person who does not associate anything with Him.” ***I said: " O Allah’s Messenger, may I not give the glad tidings to the people?" He replied: “***No. Do not inform them lest they rely on (this promise and lapse in their service to Him).” ***(Bukhari and Muslim) "
The 5 Pillars of Islam are:
- Shahadah - To testify there is no deity worthy of worship besides Allah and that Muhammad(pbuh) is His Messenger. ( This is what is said to become a Muslim )
- Salat ( Prayer )- Performance of the prayer 5 times a day.(Other prayers are voluntary.)
- Siyam ( Fasting during the month of Ramadan) staying away from food and drink from sun up till sun down.
- Zakat ( Yearly Charity)- 2.5% of what one has saved in a year which is given to the poor.
- Hajj ( Pilgrimage)- Journey to Makkah, performing ritual rites at least once in a person’s lifetime( if able).
6 Articles of Faith
- Tawheed - Pure Monotheism-To believe in Allaah and His Absolute Oneness
- To believe in all the Orginal Books that were revealed from Allaah before and including the Qur’aan.
- The Messengers ( from Adam peace be upon him till Muhammad peace be upon him)
- The Angels
- Yaumal Qiyamah ( The Day of Judgment)
- Qadr ( Pre-destination )
Allaah says;
***“Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds- they will have the Gardens of Paradise(i.e. the Highest part of Paradise, al-Firdaus) as lodging. Wherein they abide eternally. They will not desire from it any transfer.” *** 18: 107-108 ]
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
***“No one meets Allah with the testimony that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and I am the Messenger of Allah, and he has no doubt about that statement, except that he will enter Paradise.” ***( Recorded by Muslim )