- There's a narration that three different people came
to Imam Hasan al-Basri Rahimahullah
and all three of them had different complaints.
One of them said, "Oh Imam, we're suffering from poverty."
The other one said, "Oh Imam, we're suffering from drought."
The other one said, "Oh Imam, we're trying
to have children." And to all three of those people,
Imam Hasan al-Basri Rahimahullah said,
"say 'astaghfirullah,' say 'astaghfirullah,'
say 'astaghfirullah.' Say 'I seek forgiveness
from Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala.'"
And when his students asked him,
"Why is it that you said to all three people,
say 'astaghfirullah?'" He said, "because if you look
at the Quran, Allah Azza wajal says
about Nuh Alayhi wasalam, Faqultus taghfiroo Rabbakum,
innahoo kaana Ghaffaaraa (Al-Quran 71:10).
"I said to them, 'seek your Lord's forgiveness.
For indeed he is truly Most Forgiving.'
Yursilis samaaa'a 'alaikum midraaraa
"If you do that, He will shower you with abundant rain."
Wa yumdidkum bi am waalinw wa banee
"He will supply you with wealth and with children."
wa yaj'al lakum Jannaatinw wa yaj'al lakum anhaaraa
"And He will give you gardens as well as rivers."
And so "istighfar," seeking Allah's forgiveness collectively
is the key to all goodness in this life.
But more than anything that we ask Allah Subhana wa ta'ala
for of this world, it's also our path back to paradise.
When Adam Alayhi Salaam, our father and Hawa,
Eve left paradise, they turned back
to Allah Subhana wa ta'ala in repentance
and Allah Azza wajal inspired them
with the words, Rabbanaa zalamnaaa anfusanaa,
wa illam taghfir lanaa wa tarhamnaa lanakoonanna
minal khaasireen (Al-Quran 7:23)
"Oh our Lord, we have wronged ourselves.
If You don't forgive us and have mercy upon us,
then we will certainly be amongst the losers."
Now here's the thing, Allah gave them
the words of forgiveness. And here Allah Subhana wa ta'ala
gave us the best way to seek forgiveness.
And that in and of itself is a sign
that Allah wants to forgive you.
And I want you to think about the most forgiving person
you have ever known in your life
and think about how quickly they forgive you,
the moment that you apologize.
How quickly they relinquish a grudge, even if they had one,
as soon as you say, "I'm sorry."
And those people are nothing compared to "Al-Ghafur,"
the All-Forgiving. All you have to do is say, "I'm sorry."
And know that Allah subhana wa ta'ala
is always willing to accept your apology.
Now, "istighfar," seeking forgiveness is just one part
of our wholesome package of turning back
to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. It's essentially an admission
of shortcoming that is verbalized.
So "istighfar" is specific to the tongue.
"Nadam," which is regret. The Prophet,
sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, "an nadmu tawbah,"
that regret is tawbah. It is repentance.
"Nadam" is how you feel. It's the true remorse
that you have on the inside.
"Istighfar" is what you say. "Astaghfirullah,
I seek your forgiveness oh Allah."
"Tawbah" is what you do. It's the full repentance
of turning back to Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
This basically forms not just the beginning
of the history of mankind when Adam Alayhi Salaam
and Eve leave paradise, but it forms the basis
of your relationship with Allah Subhana wa ta'ala.
So at the very beginning, Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad rahimahullah
was asked, "What's more important, to do istighfar
or to do tasbeeh?" For us as human beings,
is it more important for us to seek Allah's forgiveness
or to glorify His perfection?
Now obviously both are important, but he said
that think about a garment that you have
and there's a stain on that garment.
So if you got a white thobe and you got a coffee stain on it
what do you do with that garment?
The priority is not to embellish that garment.
The priority is to remove the stain.
And so he said "Astaghfirullah, repentance,
seeking Allah's forgiveness is removing the stain.
All the other forms of dhikr are embellishing the garment."
And so they're both important, but you have to get back
to your origin and remove the stain on your heart
and then turn back to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
was so comprehensive. In one authentic hadith,
when someone would embrace Islam, the first thing
the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would teach him
is salah. And then the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
would teach him the following dua
Allahum ighfirli, wa arhmni, wa ahdini
wa 'afini wa arzuqni.
So it's such a comprehensive dua.
It's a simple sentence. "Oh Allah, forgive me
and have mercy on me and guide me
and give me good health and provide for me."
So the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
this is a dua that you should say
to keep yourself busy with in the very beginning
of your Islam with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But you never get past seeking Allah's forgiveness.
There is always going to be a reason
for seeking Allah's forgiveness.
And that's not just because you are going to keep sinning.
It's because you're never going to do good enough
to meet what Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has done for you.
And that's the "istighfar" of the Prophet
Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam himself.
The "istighfar," a feeling, "naqs," a feeling deficiency.
Now think about it in the capacity
of everything that we've spoken about.
You know how perfect Allah is.
You've praised Allah for all of His blessings upon you.
And you know that no matter what you do in return,
you're never going to do quite enough.
And so you always feel a sense of regret.
And that's why when you finish Salah,
you didn't do anything wrong. You did the best thing
you could possibly be doing when you prayed.
But you say "astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah"
right away. Why? Because perhaps some of my salah was lost.
Maybe I was distracted and even if I wasn't distracted,
then surely I have not repaid Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
for His favors upon me. And so everyone is in a state
of "istighfar." Some are seeking forgiveness
for the deficiency in their good.
Some are seeking forgiveness for their sins.
Imam Sufyan al-Thawri Rahimahullah, he said,
that's why when Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala praises,
wal-mus'taghfirīna bil-asḥār (Al-Quran 3:17)
those who are seeking Allah's forgiveness
in the last part of the night, that He's speaking
to two different categories of people
who are both making "istighfar."
He said, you have those who wake up in the very last part
of the night to seek forgiveness with a small prayer.
And then you have the friends of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
who have already prayed a portion of the night
and they're seeking forgiveness at the end of their worship.
They're both praiseworthy but he says their "istighfar"
is not the same. You have the "istighfar" of the lovers
and you have the "istighfar" of the sinners
and the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam of course
is the most beloved to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And after a long night of prayer
he would still seek Allah's forgiveness.
And he said Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
that "Oh people, I seek Allah's forgiveness
at least a hundred times a day.
And Imam An-Nawawi Rahimahullah, he said, that's the minimum
from the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
You can find the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
in a single gathering seeking Allah's forgiveness
more than a hundred times.
But he's saying that "I seek Allah's forgiveness
at least a hundred times a day."
What does that mean for the followers
of Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam?
And it wasn't just with one word or one phrase.
You see "astaghfirullah." You see,
"astaghfirullah wa atoobu ilayhi."
"I seek Allah's forgiveness and I repent to Him."
You see, "Rabbi ighfirli," "my Lord forgive me."
Or what Abdullah ibn Umar Radi Allahu 'anhuma heard
the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam saying
throughout a gathering.
Rabbi ighfirli wa tob a'lay
innaka anta at-Tawwab ar-Raheem.
"My Lord forgive me and have mercy upon me.
You are the acceptor of repentance.
You are the most merciful."
And the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
that whoever says,
Astaghfirullah al-adheem, alladhy la ilaah illaa Hu
Al-Hayy Al-Qayyum wa atoobu ilay
"I seek the forgiveness of Allah, the Most Mighty,
whom there is none worthy of worship except Him,
the Ever Living, the Ever Eternal. And I repent to Him."
The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
whoever says this form of "istighfar,"
Allah will forgive him even if he had deserted
the ranks of the Muslim's army.
And that is of course one of the most severe sins,
to flee the battlefield and the Prophet,
Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is saying,
that to repent to Allah wholesomely
in this way, forgives you even for that.
He said Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
even when you sit together, he said,
when people sit and they speak in a gathering
and they end that gathering by saying
Subhanaka Allahuma wa bihamdika
Ashadu an laa ilaaha illa ant
Astaghfiruka wa atoobu ilayk
"Glory is to You oh Allah, and all praise is to You.
We bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship
but You and we seek Your forgiveness and we repent to You."
The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
Ghoofeera lahu makana fi majlisihi idhak
that anything that was said in that gathering
will be forgiven Bi idhnillah wa ta'ala.
And he said, the best form of "istighfar,"
the best form of seeking forgiveness.
It's called "sayeedul istighfar,"
the master of seeking forgiveness.
If you say it in the evening and you die
or you say it in the morning and you die,
the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
"you are certainly from the people of Jannah."
Allahuma anta rabbi, la ilaaha illa anta
khalaqtani wa anaa 'abduk
wa anaa 'alaa 'ahdika wa wa'dika mastata't
A`udhu bika min Sharri ma sana`tu,
aboo'u Laka bi-ni`matika `alaiya,
wa aboo'u laka bi-dhanbi faghfir lee
fa innahu la yaghfiru adhdhunuba illa ant.
"Oh Allah, You are my Lord. There is no God but you.
You created me and I am Your slave.
And I am abiding by Your promise and Your covenant
to the greatest extent possible.
I admit to You Your blessings upon me
and I admit to You my shortcomings.
So forgive me because no one forgives sins except for You."
So you have an admission of all the good
that Allah has given to you and an admission of the times
that you've fallen short in your response.
And the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
if you say that and you die,
you will be from the people of Jannah.
May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst them.
Allahumma Ameen. So again, when it comes "istighfar,"
do it after you commit a sin. Do it even when you think
about something that's sinful.
Do it after you do a good deed
out of feeling a sense of deficiency.
Do it when someone praises you. As we learn as well,
that when someone says something about you,
seek Allah's forgiveness because you know
that there are certain things about you
that are not necessarily what others may think of you.
And when you feel stress, Prophet,
Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is narrated to have said,
'man lazimal istighfar,ja'al allah lah min kuli diq makhrja
wamin kuli humin faraja, warazqah min hayth la yahtasib‏
that whoever is consistent with seeking Allah's forgiveness,
Allah will appoint for him a way out of every distress
and a relief from every anxiety and Allah will provide
for him from where he would have never thought
he would be provided from. And you find
from the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
something so beautiful.
He says 'innahu la yughanu 'ala qalbi.
"You know, sometimes my heart feels foggy.
I feel like there's a fog over my heart
and so I seek Allah's forgiveness in a day a hundred times."
"Istighfar" is what removes the fog.
It's what provides clarity. It's what removes
all of the stress and the anxiety
and it's what connects us to the Most Perfect,
even when we know how imperfect we are.
Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)