This Is About Astaghfar

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

Amma ba'd: Indeed the best speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ, and the worst of matters are the newly invented ones, and every newly invented matter is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Hellfire.

What Is Al-Istighfar?

Brothers and sisters in Islam, today our khutbah is about al-istighfar. And al-istighfar is something that we need to be constantly reminded of so that it becomes a part of our day — a constant dhikr upon our tongue.

Al-istighfar — you see a similar word in Arabic: al-mighfar, which is the helmet. The Prophet ﷺ put on a mighfar before the Battle of Uhud. And what does the helmet do? الْتَغْطِيَة، السِّتْر، الصَّوْن — it protects, and it conceals, and it covers. And in the same way, when Allah forgives or pardons your sin, He will protect you from the effects of that sin, conceal that sin in this world and on the Day of Judgment, and cover you up from it.

Allah mentions that He is Ghafoor, and He referred to Himself in the Quran as well as Ghaffar and Ghafir. Therefore it is from the names and from the descriptions of Allah. So Allah is Al-Ghafoor because He conceals you in this world and in the next world, and He protects you from the Hellfire on the Day of Judgment.

And we are definitely in dire need of making a lot of istighfar to Allah, because nothing is heavier upon the human being than their sins. So we are in need of the One to forgive and to conceal our sins.

Istighfar Is the Way of the Righteous and the Prophets

In the Quran, Allah describes making constant istighfar as being from the ways of the righteous. Allah says:

And those — when they commit an evil act or they wrong themselves, they remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins. And who is it besides Allah who can forgive sins? And then Allah describes: they do not persist in the wrong that they have done.

We also find in Surah Sad that istighfar is the way of the Prophets of Allah, and they would make istighfar before asking Allah in supplication. In Surah Sad:

So Dawud knew that We tested him, so he sought forgiveness and he fell in ruku' and he repented.

Also, our Prophet ﷺ was told to seek forgiveness and to seek forgiveness for us:

Sulaiman and Combining Istighfar with Du'a

As for combining istighfar before making du'a, Sulaiman (alayhi salam) said:

The first thing he said was: "O Allah, forgive me." And then he asked for a kingdom such that will not be enjoyed by anyone after him. So before he made du'a, he asked for forgiveness, and then he asked for what he needed.

And we see this in the example of Yunus (alayhi salam) as well — when he was swallowed by the whale, the first thing he did was make istighfar and admit his mistakes.

Istighfar After the Greatest Acts of Worship

Notice that even after we finish the salah — which is the greatest act of worship done through the body — the first thing we say is istighfar Allah three times. And it is like saying: "Ya Allah, this act of worship that I just completed is not befitting of Your greatness and Your majesty." So then the believing man or woman is far removed from feeling arrogant. You can't feel arrogant because you finish completing this act of worship and immediately you're asking Allah's forgiveness.

Then you look at Hajj — and Hajj, almost every station is a place of forgiveness and istighfar. Yet Allah says in the Quran after Hajj:

Even though Hajj is an act of worship that, if you complete it properly, all your sins will be forgiven and you will come back as if the day you were born — yet Allah is saying: make istighfar. And this is after you throw the jamarat and make du'a and istighfar, and after you spend Arafah where you are making hours upon hours of du'a and istighfar and asking Allah to forgive and pardon your sins — yet still Allah is asking you to make istighfar.

So that means you learn that asking Allah's forgiveness is something that never stops and it is endless — you're going to keep doing it your entire life. And it's also not guaranteed. So if even after Hajj you're told to keep making istighfar, that means it's telling you: no one guaranteed that your deeds were forgiven because of Hajj. So you're constantly making istighfar to Allah.

Sayyid Al-Istighfar: The Master Du'a of Seeking Forgiveness

The Prophet ﷺ taught us a du'a and he called it Sayyid al-Istighfar — the master of du'as of istighfar, meaning it is the best du'a for seeking forgiveness. The Prophet ﷺ said:

The scholars said: why is this du'a considered the best du'a for istighfar? Because in it you are saying: "Allahumma — O Allah, You are my Lord, none has the right to be worshipped besides You." So it begins with tawheed — you're affirming: since no one created me except for You, ya Allah, I'm not going to associate any partner with You. Then: "You created me and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and promise as much as I can."

Then: أَبُوءُ لَكَ — أَبُوءُ meaning أَعْتَرِفُ, "I acknowledge" and "I admit." The scholars said what makes this du'a great is that you are not justifying or making an excuse for your mistakes — you are admitting your mistake. And istighfar is essentially you apologizing to Allah.

So imagine if someone came to apologize to you and they said: "I'm sorry for doing this, but it wasn't really me who did it — it was the other person." Would you feel that that is a sincere apology? But if someone comes and takes full blame and full responsibility and says: "I have no excuse for what I did, I take full responsibility, I apologize, and I want you to forgive and pardon me" — how would you feel then?

So to make an excuse in front of Allah, or to sincerely ask Allah for His forgiveness yet you're saying "I didn't really do it" and "it was the circumstances" and "it was a jinn" and "it was this" — that's not an apology.

أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ — first I am admitting: "Ya Allah, all the blessings that I have are from You, and I recognize all these blessings." وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِي — "and I acknowledge and I admit my sin." And that is what makes it a powerful du'a.

Istighfar as a Protection from Punishment

From the benefits of istighfar: Allah in Surah Al-Anfal says:

And Allah would not have punished them — the believers who are with you — He would not have punished them while you are amongst them. So that includes the Companions. But what about the generations that come later? Then Allah continues: "And Allah would not punish them while they are seeking His forgiveness."

The Danger of Being Desensitized to Sin

One of the disasters, brothers and sisters, is that we don't even recognize that a sin is a sin. If I don't recognize or register something as a sin, when am I ever going to ask Allah to forgive me for committing it?

And that is why it behooves every one of us to examine the things that we have become desensitized to — are they things acceptable in the sight of Allah or not? Because one of the biggest disasters is that you meet Allah with a sin that you never once in your life asked Allah to forgive you for, because you never registered it as a sin.

I'll give one example. This was a true story: there were some brothers who would meet in the masjid after Fajr, and then they would go and play an exercise video and they would exercise and jump up and down with it every day after Fajr. But in these videos, they bring women — women of a particular level of attractiveness — and they play this DVD and they're jumping along with it. But they're in the house of Allah, after Fajr, and these women — how are they dressed in these videos? They're not dressed appropriately. And it would become so desensitized that someone would every day after Fajr look at something like that, jump along with the women, and he would never think to apologize or ask forgiveness from Allah, because he never registered it as a sin.

And that is why a wise person would analyze their life and analyze what they have become used to and desensitized to — and make sure they repent to Allah.

The Remarkable Effects of Sincere Istighfar

On a personal level, brothers and sisters, I don't know of anything that has garnered or rendered more stories of amazing changes and miraculous things happening in life more than people who stick to istighfar. I personally don't know of anything else where you hear amazing stories — changes in life, in money, in family — more than stories of people who make regular and constant istighfar to Allah. There are multiple stories of couples that were not able to have children, and through istighfar their lives were transformed.

A Story of Sincerity in Istighfar

A man said: "A shaykh came to our masjid and he gave a lecture about istighfar and the benefit that will come from istighfar and everything." He said: "My finances were in shambles, my family life was in shambles, my relationship with my wife — nothing was working out in my life. And I heard in this lecture the shaykh say: istighfar will fix your life."

He said: "I started to make istighfar 1,000 times a day. And I did that for a couple of months, and nothing changed. So I upped it to 1,500 times a day. And I continued for 6 months, and nothing changed."

He said: "6 months later, that same shaykh who gave the first lecture came back again. I told him: 'Shaykh, I've been making istighfar since your lecture, and nothing changed.'"

He said: "Then the shaykh asked me a question, and something clicked with me. He said: 'Were you making istighfar actually asking Allah to forgive your sins and your shortcomings? Or were you making istighfar to test Allah — to see if your finances will change and your life will improve?'"

He said: "The minute he said that, I understood that I was just doing it for the things to become better in my life. Then I started to make istighfar sincerely, asking Allah to forgive my sins."

He said: "Don't ask about my finances and how they improved, my family life and how it has improved, my children and how it has improved."

So do not test Allah, but engage in making a lot of istighfar — sincerely asking Allah to pardon your sins and your shortcomings.

Closing Du'a

With that, we ask Allah to make us of those who recognize the truth as clear truth and follow the best of it. And to make us of those who recognize falsehood as clear falsehood and abstain from it. We ask Allah to grant ease and victory to Muslims all around the world, and especially to the Muslims in Palestine and the Muslims in Gaza.