Astagfirullah - Seeking Repentence
Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatul lahi wa barakah. (May Allah's peace and blessings be upon you)
Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim. (In the name of Allah, the most gracious and the
most merciful)
most merciful)
We often come across hadith and verses in The Holy Quran where we are advised to do astagfar. What is Astagfar? Astagfar literally means to seek forgiveness from Allah swt. It means seeking repentence for the sins that we have committed (knowingly and unknowingly). We also come to know from the sunnah of our prophet (s) that he(s) used to do astagfar several times in a day. Does this mean that we sit with a tasbeeh and start chanting Astagfar? No. Does this mean that we slap our cheeks a few times and say "touba touba"? No. Astagfirullah is something that comes from our heart to sincerely apologise to our Creator. We need to humbly seek Allah's forgiveness for all the sins that we have comitted. We need to submit to Allah swt wholeheartedly.
Astagfar or seeking Allah's forgiveness implies sincerely repenting to Allah(awj) and it is a promise to Allah and more importantly, it is a promise to ourselves to not repeat that mistake. When we sin, we hurt our Iman. Allah swt has blessed us with his infinite mercy and gave us hope to revive our iman after commiting sins. We must never despair of Allah's mercy.
Astagfar is a three step process.
STEP ONE
The first step includes admitting that we have commited a sin or many sins. It means committing a sin knowingly and with awareness that it is forbidden. After all, we are human. So, we may wander away from our "Sirate-mustaqim"and end up doing something shameful. We might fall into the trap of Shaitan.
The first step includes admitting that we have commited a sin or many sins. It means committing a sin knowingly and with awareness that it is forbidden. After all, we are human. So, we may wander away from our "Sirate-mustaqim"and end up doing something shameful. We might fall into the trap of Shaitan.
This also includes to admit the sin that we have committed unknowingly. Unintentionally, we might do something which is displeasing to Allah swt. For example, the shortcomings while praying Salah. Our mind might slip up and think about what we are going to have for dinner. We do not know wether our Salah has been accepted by Allah swt. We do not know what the angels on our two sides have written on our Naame-amal.
STEP TWO
The second step is the immediate reaction after realisation of commiting sins. Either we feel guilty of the sin committed or become arrogant about it. Or, it may happen one after the other. But it will happen. Feeling guilty is a blessed state of mind. Hold on to that feeling and convert that feeling of guilt by humbling yourself in front of Allah swt.
STEP TWO
The second step is the immediate reaction after realisation of commiting sins. Either we feel guilty of the sin committed or become arrogant about it. Or, it may happen one after the other. But it will happen. Feeling guilty is a blessed state of mind. Hold on to that feeling and convert that feeling of guilt by humbling yourself in front of Allah swt.
The other reaction after sinning is to feel arrogant about it. Often, we sin and we make excuses to ourselves to justify our actions. We invent lies for ourselves. We might even blame others for our actions, only to feel good about our own self. This arrogant nature will turn us away from Allah's mercy. Islam does not teach arrogance. Islam teaches hope and peace.
STEP THREE
The third step is the stage of asking forgiveness to Allah swt. We need to talk to Allah swt in our own words. Know and understand this, that Allah(swt) is our master and we are his slave. Allah is always listening to his slave. And He, who is the most forgiving, is actually happy when one of his slave repents. No matter how much we have sinned or how less we have sinned, we must always ask for Allah's forgiveness.
The third step is the stage of asking forgiveness to Allah swt. We need to talk to Allah swt in our own words. Know and understand this, that Allah(swt) is our master and we are his slave. Allah is always listening to his slave. And He, who is the most forgiving, is actually happy when one of his slave repents. No matter how much we have sinned or how less we have sinned, we must always ask for Allah's forgiveness.
Sometimes we see hard times in our life. Instead of sulking over how life has turned up, we need to spend those silent moments talking to Allah (swt). Ask for Allah's guidance in every action that we do. Inshallah, Allah will shower us with his greatest blessings.
The process of Astaqfar does not end here. There is one last stage and it is the most important stage. This stage is the place where we are most vulnerable to go back to that particular sin or sins(plural). There may be many occasions that we mess up, and that we arent able to keep up with the promise we made to ourselves. We might fall back. Perhaps, we might not come upto our own expectations. Here, we need to constantly have Taqwa. We always need to be conscious of Allah swt. We need to understand that Allah is watching us. Make dua. Na’uzhu-bi-Allah – we seek refuge in Allah because Allah is AL-Gaffar, who
continues to forgive again and again.
continues to forgive again and again.
Also, we need to run towards goodness. Not just crawl or jog, not just walk or brisk walk, no. RUN. We need to run. Why? Because crawling will help Shaitan mislead us. So, we need to run towards doing good deeds which will make Allah (swt) be happy with us. Inshallah
So, to sum up, the act of TAUBA consists of three parts - ILM (Knowledge) which means to acknowledge and admit the sin committed, HAAL (State) is the feeling of hurt, disappointment, guilt, shame, embarassment and AMAL (Action) where we need to take the action of dropping the sin and make up for it. If its the case of giving zakah, if someone didnt give zakah, give it now.
May Allah make us all one of his beloved slaves and help us be obedient.
Reference for my work:
Reference for my work:
"Kullu Bani Adam Khattaa'un,Wa Khayrul Khattaa'een At-Tawwaaboon"
"Every Son Of Adam Is A Sinner (Commits Sin), And The Best Of Sinners Are Those
Who Repent (Constantly)"
{Tirmithi, Ibn Maajah & Ad-Daarimi}
"Every Son Of Adam Is A Sinner (Commits Sin), And The Best Of Sinners Are Those
Who Repent (Constantly)"
{Tirmithi, Ibn Maajah & Ad-Daarimi}
{Surah Furqan V: 25:70}إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَٰئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا
"Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful."
Notice the sequence in the above ayath. We need to first do tauba; and revive our
iman; do good deeds; then for those Allah (swt) will replace his huge pile of bad
deeds with pile of good deeds.
iman; do good deeds; then for those Allah (swt) will replace his huge pile of bad
deeds with pile of good deeds.
{Surah Saad V:38:74}
إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ اسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ
"Except Iblees; he was arrogant and became among the disbelievers."
"Except Iblees; he was arrogant and became among the disbelievers."
{Surah Baqarah, V2:34}
وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ
When We ordered the angels: "Prostrate before Adam in respect," they all prostrated except Iblees (Shaitan) who refused in his arrogance and became a disbeliever."
When We ordered the angels: "Prostrate before Adam in respect," they all prostrated except Iblees (Shaitan) who refused in his arrogance and became a disbeliever."
The above two verses display the behaviour of Shaitan when he sinned and the
next thing he did was he became arrogant. And so, the result; he bacame one of
the kafireen.
next thing he did was he became arrogant. And so, the result; he bacame one of
the kafireen.
{Surah Zumr V:39:53}
۞ قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنْفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do
not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He
who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
☺not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He
who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
