#I guess I also took a class where we read most of the Quran in Arabic.... But thay was rlly hard | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

soulsofjannah · 4 years

Text

The Superiority of Istighfar

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

(الاِسْتِغْفَارُ) is the verbal noun from [اِسْتَغْفَرَ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُ ] to seek Allah’s forgiveness. The word [الغُفُرُ ] means to cover and conceal.

The words, [الغَفُورُ وَالغَفَّارُ وَالغَافِرُ] are all names of Allah and mean the covering of the servants sins and the pardoning him of his errors.

Shaykh Zayd Al-Madkhali said: These three names mean that Allah is vast in virtue and Very Generous in Forgiveness towards repenters, as long as they don’t continue to sin.

These three names all mean the same thing according to the scholars of Tafsir. Allah conceals the sins of the servants who repent, feel remorseful and request His pardon and His forgiveness. [1]

The reality of Istighfar

No human-being is sin free, no of us are infallible, so it’s man’s nature to sin. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Every son of Adam commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent.’”[2]

Allah is delighted when we sin and then seeks his forgiveness. This is part of His Mercy. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, were you not to commit sins, Allah would replace you with a people who would commit sins and then seek forgiveness from Allah; and Allah would forgive them”.[3]

Its worth mentioning here that Istighfar isn’t only done on the tongue which has no impact on the Heart and body. Al-Fudayl ibn Iyyad said: “Seeking Allah’s forgiveness without abandoning the sin is the repentance of liar.”

So seeking forgiveness from Allah also requires us to leave off the sins.

Istighfar is for the Believers.

Allah said: It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah’s Forgiveness for the Mushrikun (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in a state of disbelief).[At-Taubah:113]

Allah’s Messenger, (ﷺ) said:

I asked permission to seek forgiveness for my mother from Allah, but He did not grant it to me. I asked permission from Him to visit her grave, and He granted it (permission) to me.”[4]

Allah said: Whether you (O Muhammad ) ask forgiveness for them (hypocrites) or ask not forgiveness for them … (and even) if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness … Allah will not forgive them, because they have disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad ). And Allah guides not those people who are Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah).[At-Taubah:80]

These two verses and hadith prove that forgiveness isn’t sought on behalf of the disbelievers and the hypocrites. Istighfar is a special trait that Allah has only favored the Muslims with.

An abandoned Sunnah for Istighfar

The Prophet used to wipe the head of the children and ask Allah to forgiven them. Abu Iyas said, “ My father took me to the Prophet [ﷺ] when I was a young child and the He [ﷺ] wiped my head and asked Allah to forgive me.”[5]

The Wordings used for Istighfar

[‏ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَتُبْ عَلَىَّ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ]

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar :

We counted that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would say a hundred times during a meeting: “My Lord, forgive me and pardon me; You are the Pardoning and the Forgiving One”.[6]

[أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَىُّ الْقَيُّومُ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ]

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone says: “I ask pardon of Allah ,with Whom there is no deity, the Living, the eternal, and I turn to Him in repentance,” he will be pardoned, even if he has fled in time of battle.[7]

[أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ]

Narrated Abu Huraira:

I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying.” By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.[8]

[سَيِّدَ الاِسْتِغْفَارِ]

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِذَنْبِي وَأَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَىَّ فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ

(O Allah, You are my Lord, there is no god but You. You have created me and I am Your slave and I am keeping my promise and covenant to You as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from the evil of what I do. I acknowledge Your blessing and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for there is none who can forgive sin except You.)’ If he says this in the morning, believing in it firmly, and dies on that day before evening comes, he will enter Paradise, and if he says it in the evening, believing firmly in it, and dies before morning comes, he will enter Paradise.”[9]

[وَاِسْتَغْفِرِيهُ عُشْرًا]

Um Raf’I when you stand for prayer say, “ Subhanallah 10 times, la illah ilallah 10 times, Al-Hamdulilah 10 times, Allahu Akbar 10 times then say As-staghfurallah 10 times. When you say subhanallah 10 times Allah says this is for me and when you la illah ilallah 10 times Allah says this is for me, and when you say Al-Hamdulilah 10 times Allah says this is for me and when you say Allahu akbar Allah says this is form and when we seek forgiveness after saying those words He says, “ I have forgiven you.”[10]

The times of the day to perform Istighfar

After completing worship

Allah said: Then depart from the place whence all the people depart and ask Allah for His Forgiveness. Truly, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.[Al-Baqarah:199]

Although this verse was revealed for Hajj, it applies to completing the prayer and other acts of worship that we fall short in performance.

The last hours of the night

Allah said :(They are) those who are patient ones, those who are true (in Faith, words, and deeds), and obedient with sincere devotion in worship to Allah. Those who spend [give the Zakat and alms in the Way of Allah] and those who pray and beg Allah’s Pardon in the last hours of the night.[11]

After completing a class or gathering

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ ‏

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever sits in a sitting and engages in alot of empty and meaningless speech and then says before getting up from that sitting of his: [‘Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise, I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except You, I seek You forgiveness, and I repent to You,] then whatever occurred in that sitting would be forgiven from him.”[12]

Also there is other narration when the prophet [ﷺ] said these words after completing Wudu and reading the Quran.[13]

After burying a Muslim

After the burial of a dead man, the Prophet (ﷺ) would stand by the grave and say, “Ask Allah to forgive your brother and supplicate for him be steadfast ,because he is being questioned (about his deeds) now.”[14]

Seeking Istighfar is the way of the Angels and the Prophets.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “The angels supplicate in favour of one of you ,so long as he remains in the place where he has performed Salat (prayer) in a state of Wudu’. They (the angels) say: ‘O Allah! Forgive him, O Allah! Have mercy on him.”‘[15]

Adam

Allah said: They said: “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.”[ Al-‘Araf: 23]

Nuh

Allah said: Nuh (Noah) said: “O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have Mercy on me, I would indeed be one of the losers.”[ Hud :47]

Ibrahim

Allah said: “And Who, I hope will forgive me my faults on the Day of Recompense, (the Day of Resurrection),”[Ash-Shu’ara: 82]

Dawud

Allah said: And Dawud (David) guessed that We have tried him and he sought Forgiveness of his Lord, and he fell down prostrate and turned (to Allah) in repentance.[ Saad: 24]

Sulayman

Allah said: He said: “My Lord! Forgive me, and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me: Verily, You are the Bestower.”[Saad:35]

Musa

Allah said: He said: “My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself, so forgive me.” Then He forgave him. Verily, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.[Al-Qasas:16]

The benefits of Istighfar

It’s a command from Allah:

Allah said: So be patient (O Muhammad ). Verily, the Promise of Allah is true, and ask forgiveness for your fault, and glorify the praises of your Lord in the Ashi (i.e. the time period after the midnoon till sunset) and in the Ibkar (i.e. the time period from early morning or sunrise till before midnoon) [it is said that, that means the five compulsory congregational Salat (prayers) or the ‘Asr and Fajr prayers].[Ghafir: 55]

It’s a means to increase your provision:

Allah said: I said (to them): ‘Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving;11. ‘He will send rain to you in abundance;12. ‘And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.’ “[Nuh 10-12]

It’s help one enter Jannah

Refer to the hadith known as “ Sayyidul Istighfar”

It removes sins

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, “Allah, the Exalted, has said: ‘O son of Adam! I shall go on forgiving you so long as you pray to Me and aspire for My forgiveness whatever may be your sins. O son of Adam! I do not care even if your sins were reach up to the sky and should you beg pardon of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam! If you come to Me with an earthful of sins and meet Me, without associating anything with Me in worship, I will certainly grant you as much pardon that could fill the earth.”‘[16]

It Repels harm and calamity

Allah said: And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad ) are amongst them, nor will He punish them while they seek (Allah’s) Forgiveness.[Al-Anfal:33]

It raises your level in Jannah

The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: “A man will be raised in status in Paradise and will say: ‘Where did this come from?’ And it will be said:’From your son’s praying for forgiveness for you.'”[17]

It cleans the heart

The Messenger of Allah said: “Verily, when the slave (of Allah) commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart. When he refrains from it, seeks forgiveness and repents, his heart is polished clean. But if he returns, it increases until it covers his entire heart. And that is the ‘Ran’ which Allah mentioned: ‘Nay, but on their hearts is the Ran which they used to earn.’”[18]

The Spiritual Development of Istighfar

It makes the Dunya insignificant in the heart of the servant

Distances the devil from you

Attain Allah’s love

Taste the sweetness of faith and obedience.

Increases intellect and faith

Draws the slave closer to Allah.

Removes stress and worry.

Makes worshipping Allah easier.

Helps to purify your soul and your community from bad deeds.[19]

Acknowledgments : Quranic verses were taken from the Muhammad Taqedeen Al-Hilali.

[1] العمل لاسنى/pg 79

[2] Ibn Majah : 4251 graded as being 4251

[3] Muslim 2749

[4] Muslim #1621

[5] Musnad Imam Ahmed [4/19] graded as Sahih by Shu’ayb Ar-Na’ut

[6] Sunan Abi Dawud 1516

[7] Abu Dawud #1517 graded as Sahih Al-Albani

[8] Al-bukhari#6307/ Muslim 2707

[9] Al-Bukhari 6306

[10] Ibn Sunni amal layl [105/37-38]

[11] Ali Imran : 17

[12] At-Tirmithi#3433/At-Tirmithi graded this hadith as being Hasan Gharib As-Sahih

[13] http://www.abuaaliyah.com/2014/10/14/instead-of-saying-sadaqallahul-atheem-say/

[14] Abu Dawud#946

[15] Al-Bukhari: Book 9, Hadith 1062

[16] At-Tirmithi 1878 Hadith Hasan

[17] Ibn Majah :798 Hasan by Imam al-albani

[18] At-Tirmithi 3334 –Graded as Hasan by Imam Al-Albani.

[19] Refer to [نظرة النعيم/ vol 2/ 302]

Post Views: 4,684

This entry was posted in Tazkiya and tagged Istighfar, Repent to Allah., Sayyid Istighfar, Taubah. Bookmark the permalink.

Post navigation

← The Shia’s Rejection of Ali ibn Abee Talib

General Guidance for the Hans Wehr translators[ A Discussion and Critique of the Translations of Rasheed Barbee] →

2 thoughts on “The Superiority of Istighfar

9 notes · View notes

rumi-humaira · 7 years

Text

Autobiography (#2: Textbook, the fourth place and rujak party)

Have you ever felt like you saw your thoughts words before you even write it?

That’s what I felt the last few GO-JEK rides. I knew well how the stories I am writing would go on; but I was also afraid that I might forget things.

Elementary school has the least drama for me. Unlike my classmates who would start dating by sixth grade, I could barely remember the name of the boys in my class until 3 or 4 years or something. Maybe I am exaggerating, but that’s what it feels like (later in junior high and senior high it would take me a few months to remember their names and faces correctly. I could remember the girls in just a week, or a couple of days. In university in got better because they no longer wear the same uniform along with short hair)

Academically, I was (pay attention to the word “was” – it might be a bit useful later) above average, but that’s all. I might exceed a bit in math and natural sciences but I was a true fool in Sundanese (I had to take remedials several times even in the first grade), religion (well…), sports (obviously. I felt like an awkward penguin most of the times and I kept failing to pass the ball), and languages. I remember having to copy the smart kid’s answer in English quiz since everyone barely understand the words. So, academically, or more accurately ranking-wise, I would be somewhere in the bottom of the top ten in the class.

But it was also my luck that I have an older sister and I got her second-hand books. In addition to that, one of my aunts in Jakarta works at a textbook-publisher company as an editor so she would give me flawed textbooks from time to time (the kind of books that could not pass the quality check because they have just a little bit of ‘imperfection’ to be sold commercially). At the very beginning of the fifth grade I received my share of textbooks. And I had nothing to do, so I… read them.

All.

It was funny, because I had never done such thing for the previous four years. Not at all. I would read the textbooks from time to time if the teacher asked us to read that in class. But that’s it.

Surprisingly, reading could take you so much.

My fifth-grade natural science teacher has this liking to create a quiz-battle (it was cerdas cermat btw, sorry I am too lazy to find the correct translation) to decide who could get home earlier. We would form a team based on our row of tables, creating four teams in the class. The winning team would get the privilege to come home earliest, and the bottom fourth would go the latest.

In my team, it was almost always me who answered the questions. And we were almost always winning, the others grew bored of the quizzes because they knew I was going to know the answers.

But every single question came from the books. The questions were not hard. It’s just that no one read the books.

Eventually I also scored five consecutive perfect scores in the daily exams (ulangan lol sorry again L). I told my mom and she told me that I had to tell Dad, so I texted him. The reply was “congratulation”. My rank at the end of the term was 4th place (if you keep reading this autobiography, you’ll realize that the 4th was the highest rank I would get J)

My sudden academic performance boost made others upset, but a very special girl in my class took it in the opposite way. Lisa (again another fake name) was the perfect girl – not only in my class but I think in the whole school. She’s beautiful (even though a bit boyish), white, smart, a leader, dance and sing well, nice, have a lot of friends, and a bit more mature than the others. If I were a boy, I think I would fall head over heels for her. It was also a coincidence that we’re both left-handed: but her writing was neat and pretty and mine was a real mess that barely anyone could understand it (this fact always made the other students confused: they thought my writing was a mess because I’m left handed, but then they saw Lisa’s and it’s the perfect one hundred and eighty degrees apart from mine)

She belongs to the gang of popular rich-and-pretty girl in the class, but she approached me and invited me to do our homework together in her house after school.

To be honest I was too quiet, too shy and so I barely made any friends during elementary school. So that surprised me a bit and I was suspicious that she might hide something from me. But there was none. One of her nice friends (outside of the popular girls-gang), Bunga, also tagged along. Bunga took the role of the ice breaker, I think. If me and Lisa were left alone, we’d be too confused in what to say.

Lisa’s mother is very nice and religious. Spending days and days in her house, I found out that Lisa’s daily schedule is really packed. We would study together and do our homework for 2-3 hours, then her mom would come with snacks and Quran. And she’d has to train reading Quran (which she already does so well). Then we’ll finish what’s left of our homework, watch TV a bit or eat something. After we’re done, me and Bunga would go straight home, but Lisa had to do either a vocal training or dance training. It goes like that. And I’ve heard that later in the evening she had to study again on the courses we have just learned in school with her mom.

No wonder she was always the 1st rank in the class. And foolish me had always thought that she got that easily.

I still remember the first time I went to her house. The three of us went together after school to her house by foots. Bunga left earlier in the middle of the homework, so I was alone when I was going to leave her house. I was not familiar with the streets, but I had the feeling that this was not far from my house. Lisa somehow looks worried. She asked me whether I have the money to go on a bike-taxi and I said well, yes, I have it (since we walked directly to her house after school; but I didn’t intend to take the bike-taxi. I really had this feeling that my house is nearby. Lisa didn’t seem convinced, so she disappeared to her house for a bit and return with some money for me to take the bike-taxi (I could strongly guess she asked for the money from her mom). I tried to refuse, but well, no avail.

I ended up taking the bike-taxi, just so she wouldn’t be so worried. And well. My feeling was right. Our houses are really close by. It would take only 10-15 minutes to walk by foots.

(Afterwards I always walk home. It was good to save some money)

It was a good idea to do homework in the afternoon, I realized. I never did that: always procrastinating until the night. With Lisa, I shifted my evening task to the afternoon my evenings were free of burden.

I never tell my mom about this homework routines, since I usually came home earlier before she returns anyway. But one day it just happened that mom came home in the afternoon and she couldn’t find me anywhere. I was at Lisa’s, spending another awkward afternoon. I didn’t have any phone back then.

When I got home, there were some of my classmates in my house yard. Why?

Mom was surprised to see me coming home. Turned out that she was looking for me and calling almost all my classmate’s mothers (at least those who live nearby or those that she knew the phone numbers) asking whether they knew where I am. So it grew into a rumour that I got kidnapped or something. So they came to check whether things were alright.

More crowds came. It was quite a scene, and I felt funny to forgot that mom could be so much in panic sometimes. I simply said I was studying together with Lisa, so there’s nothing to worry about. But well. Since almost half of my classmates were already here, somehow mom ended up suggesting for a picnic together in the roads beside our house.

Mom.

We had two guava trees in front of our houses, along with a mango tree. So somehow it became a rujak party. Other moms joined – those looking for their sons/daughter or simply wanted to check whether I was truly kidnapped. The funny thing is that I was not even close with any of those classmates who came, but mom being mom (a true extrovert if I must say) became close with them in just no time.

I’d admit that it became one of the very few precious moments I spent with my elementary school classmates.

(The day after that, though, nothing changed in school. I still have no close friends. They are still a bit frustrated with my silence that they mostly don’t really care that I was there – me being almost invisible – but a few smiled a bit at me, saying “your mom is really nice!” and that’s it. Oh and also with Lisa being very surprised and a bit guilty somehow when she heard what happened from her friends)

0 notes