Seeking forgiveness and repentance

248

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

وَاللَّهِ إِنِّي لأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ فِي الْيَوْمِ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً

Wallahi inni la'astaghfirullaha wa atubu ilayhi fil-yawmi akthara min sab'ina marrah

By Allah, I seek Allah's forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.

Source Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6307 Ṣaḥīḥ

Compiler cites al-Bukhārī (Fatḥ al-Bārī 11/101)

249

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَإِنِّي أَتُوبُ فِي الْيَوْمِ إِلَيْهِ مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ

Ya ayyuhan-nasu tubu ilallahi fa inni atubu fil-yawmi ilayhi mi'ata marrah

O people, turn to Allah in repentance, for I turn to Him in repentance a hundred times a day.

Source Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, The Book Pertaining to the Remembrance of Allah, Supplication, Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness — site no. 6692 Ṣaḥīḥ

Compiler cites Muslim 4/2076

250

The Prophet ﷺ said:

أَقْرَبُ مَا يَكُونُ الرَّبُّ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ فِي جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ الآخِرِ فَإِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِمَّنْ يَذْكُرُ اللَّهَ فِي تِلْكَ السَّاعَةِ فَكُنْ

Aqrabu ma yakunur-rabbu minal-'abdi fi jawfil-laylil-akhiri fa inistata'ta an takuna mimman yadhkurullaha fi tilkas-sa'ati fakun

The nearest the Lord is to His servant is in the last part of the night; so if you are able to be among those who remember Allah at that hour, then do so.

Source Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3579 Ṣaḥīḥ

Compiler cites at-Tirmidhī; an-Nasāʾī 1/279; al-Ḥākim; see Ṣaḥīḥ at-Tirmidhī 3/183 and Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl (ed. al-Arnaʾūṭ) 4/144

251

Whoever says:

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ

Astaghfirullahal-'azimal-ladhi la ilaha illa huwal-hayyul-qayyumu wa atubu ilayhi

I seek the forgiveness of Allah, the Magnificent, besides whom there is no deity, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all, and I turn to Him in repentance.

…is forgiven, even if he had fled from the battlefield.

Source Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3577 Ṣaḥīḥ · Sunan Abī Dāwūd 1517 (similar wording) Ṣaḥīḥ

Compiler cites Abū Dāwūd 2/85; at-Tirmidhī 5/569; al-Ḥākim 1/511 (graded ṣaḥīḥ, with adh-Dhahabī agreeing); al-Albānī, Ṣaḥīḥ at-Tirmidhī 3/182 (ṣaḥīḥ); Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl (ed. al-Arnaʾūṭ) 4/389–390

252

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

أَقْرَبُ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَهُوَ سَاجِدٌ فَأَكْثِرُوا الدُّعَاءَ

Aqrabu ma yakunul-'abdu min rabbihi wahuwa sajidun fa akthirud-du'a'

The nearest a servant is to his Lord is while he is prostrating, so make plenty of supplication.

Source Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, The Book of Prayers — site no. 985 Ṣaḥīḥ

Compiler cites Muslim 1/350

253

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

إِنَّهُ لَيُغَانُ عَلَى قَلْبِي وَإِنِّي لأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ فِي الْيَوْمِ مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ

Innahu layughanu 'ala qalbi wa inni la'astaghfirullaha fil-yawmi mi'ata marrah

A veil comes over my heart, and I seek Allah's forgiveness a hundred times a day.

Source Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, The Book Pertaining to the Remembrance of Allah, Supplication, Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness — site no. 6691 Ṣaḥīḥ

Compiler cites Muslim 4/2075; Ibn al-Athīr explains the “veil” as lapses of attention, which the Prophet ﷺ counted as a fault and sought forgiveness for (Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl 4/386)