Importance of Isthigfar - Shaykh Yousaf Jahangir

The Importance of Istighfar

أَمَّا بَعْد — فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ، ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْد.

Al-Istighfar is the topic of today's khutbah — a very important and fundamental concept in every single one of our lives. It is a practical step to strengthen our relationship with Allah. Meaning, if you want to be closer to Allah, you want to strengthen your iman, you want to find more peace and more happiness in your life, then this is a topic of great interest to you.

What is Istighfar?

When we say أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّه — astaghfirullah — this phrase every single one of us is familiar with it. But when we try to understand its meanings and delve into its wisdoms, then the more benefit we are going to attain, insha'Allah.

We find that istighfar — saying astaghfirullah — it is a very important dhikr and it is a very important du'a at the same time. When we say astaghfirullah, we are seeking Allah's pardon, we are seeking Allah's forgiveness, we are seeking Allah's mercy. We are asking Allah to wipe away our sins, to conceal our mistakes, and to save us from His punishment. We are asking Allah to forgive us for our heedlessness, for following our whims and our desires, and our inability to be grateful to Him. This is what istighfar is.

The Names of Allah Related to Forgiveness

We find that Allah has three names derived from this concept alone that we find mentioned throughout the Quran: al-Ghafir, al-Ghafoor, and al-Ghaffar — and these three names come in the Quran over 70 different times.

• Al-Ghafir — the One that forgives your sin.
• Al-Ghafoor — the One that forgives the major sins.
• Al-Ghaffar — the One that forgives many, many sins.

And Allah's forgiveness, as we know it, is when He forgives you and He does not hold it against you without any punishment. And from His mercy is that He conceals our mistakes from others.

The Linguistic Root of Istighfar

When we look at the literal meaning of this word and this phrase — astaghfirullah — when we strip it down and go back to it linguistically, غ، ف، ر — ghain, fa and ra — these three letters in the Arabic language, in the ancient Arabic language, we find when these three letters come together they mean: to conceal something, to cover something, to cleanse something, and to protect something.

This is why the helmet in the battlefield — part of the armour — is called al-mighfar, the same root letters. The helmet is there to protect you from the attack of the enemy and to keep you safe. Similar to this, we have this concept of istighfar that Allah has blessed and favoured and honoured us with — where just the way the helmet protects you from any outside attacks, then istighfar protects you and your soul and your life from the Shaytan and his whisperings and outside influences that are going to come and attack the greatest blessing that Allah has given you in your life — the blessing of Islam.

The People of Istighfar in the Quran

When we look in the Quran, we find that Allah has praised the people of istighfar and He has told us that He is happy and He is pleased with the people of istighfar. And as human beings we are always seeking to be praised, we are always seeking to be accepted and to have approval in our lives. But the believer — the true believer — his acceptance lies with Allah. He worries about his position and his standing with Allah, whether he is praised or blameworthy with his Lord. He tries to seek Allah's acceptance and Allah's approval. And this is how the believer anchors his life — that everything else revolves around this and this alone: that I am here to worship Allah and to please Him, and everything else works in accordance to that.

In the Quran, we find Allah orders us to hasten to be from the people of Jannah that He has promised for the people of taqwa. Then He goes on to mention their attributes and their characteristics — the deeds that they would do in this dunya — and from the deeds that He mentions is that they would frequently make istighfar. It was something consistent in their lives, especially when they fell into sin and into error. Allah tells us:

The people of Jannah are those that when they fall into sin and they fall into error, they remember Allah and they seek His forgiveness — and who is there that can forgive sins except for Allah alone?

In this verse, Allah is not only praising those people, but He is also telling us about our nature — that we will sin and we will make mistakes. But the believer returns back to Allah constantly. The believer does not become arrogant and think nothing of his sins and belittle his sins, though he understands that this is something he should not have done. At the same time, the believer does not become deceived by the tricks of the Shaytan and begin to belittle Allah's mercy and fall into despair. He has this balance, because we find Allah's door of mercy is one which is always open.

Allah's Infinite Mercy — Hadith al-Qudsi

As Allah tells us in the Hadith al-Qudsi:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6246)

"Surely every single one of you sins throughout the day and throughout the night, and I forgive every single sin — so seek my forgiveness so that I may forgive you."

In another amazing Hadith al-Qudsi, Allah tells us:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Book 45, Hadith 3540)

"O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and you hope for My mercy, I will forgive you and I will not hold those sins against you." In the same hadith, Allah says: "O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the skies, then you made istighfar — you sought My forgiveness — I will surely forgive you and not hold those sins against you. O son of Adam, if you came to Me and this entire earth was filled with your sins and your errors and your misdeeds, and you met Me and you did not associate partners with Me in any way, I will meet you with this earth full of forgiveness and mercy" — showing us how vast Allah's mercy truly is.

And the true believer — may Allah make us from them — has that balance where if we do fall into a sin or a mistake, we seek Allah's forgiveness. We do not start to justify our sins the way the Shaytan did, nor do we start to belittle Allah's mercy. We put our hands up and we turn back to Allah, and we put our head to the floor and beg Him for His mercy and His forgiveness and His blessings.

How to Be From the True People of Istighfar

To be from the true people of istighfar, we have to know what we are saying. We have to understand these powerful phrases in our religion, because they will change your life. You have to be focused when we say them — focus of the mind, focus of the heart, and focus of the tongue. We have to make istighfar frequently in our lives, throughout the day and throughout the night, and it has to be something which is consistent. It can't be an ibadah that you hear about today and then forget about it for weeks and weeks.

The Example of the Prophet

When it comes to understanding the importance of istighfar, as with anything, we go back to the Prophet's life and we learn about how this impacted him and his relationship with Allah. One example that I bring to your attention is that the companion Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: in one gathering — in one sitting — with the Prophet, we would find that he would make istighfar and seek Allah's forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance over a hundred times.

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 8, Hadith 1516; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Book 45, Hadith 3434)

That's just in one gathering — and that's the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with him, who is the best of mankind and who has all of his sins forgiven already. Then what about me and you, my brothers and sisters, when we are drowning in our mistakes and our sins throughout the day and throughout the night?

Cleansing the Heart Through Istighfar

The last point that I make here today is that one of the greatest ways for you to cleanse your soul is by seeking Allah's forgiveness — by saying astaghfirullah as frequently as you can. The Prophet, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, would do this himself, where he said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Hadith 6610)

"I find a veil over my heart — in my life there seems to be this cloud of darkness sometimes — and to repel this negative energy, I seek Allah's forgiveness over a hundred times a day."

So when we find that things are not going our way, and we are a bit anxious and a bit sad and a bit depressed — when was the last time we took a break from everything and just stopped for 5, 10, 15 minutes and just spent time making du'a to Allah, seeking forgiveness, seeking His mercy, seeking His blessings? This is something which we have to make part of our lives on a regular and consistent basis.

Closing Du'a

Oh Allah, we have wronged ourselves with much wrongdoing, and none forgives our sins except for You — so we ask You and beg You to forgive us and have mercy upon us, for You are the One who forgives and has mercy.

Oh Allah, favour us and honour us to be from the true people of istighfar. Make us from those people who acknowledge their shortcomings and seek Your forgiveness. Oh Allah, cure our sick, have mercy upon our deceased, and alleviate us from this pandemic. Ameen.