All Praise is due to Allah, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Allah, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, SAW, is His servant, and His messenger.
Islam recognizes that human kind has free choice in whether to obey or disobey God, but ultimately we will be held accountable to God in the next life for the choices that we make in this life.
God sent Prophets to teach mankind how to worship Him; starting with Adam a.s., including Noah a.s.,Abraham a.s., Moses a.s., Jesus or Isa a.s. and the last of the messengers, Muhammad (SAW). The Islamic position is that all of these prophets came with the same message, that there is no deity worthy of worship except the One True God, Allah.
Islam recognizes the close relationship between the body and soul. Whereas the body originates from the earth and has a defined period of life on this earth, the soul originates from God and does not die. Islam encourages the individual to focus on keeping the soul healthy, through the remembrance, obedience and worship of God. Islam teaches that it is through the doing of good deeds and seeking the pleasure of God that souls find true happiness and peace. It is in this context that the word Islam derives from the root word ‘salam’, or peace.
Musa alayhis salaam led the elders and men, the women and children of Bani Israeel to the mouth of the raging sea. With nothing to defend themselves, they turned back to see Fir’own, furious, and his henchmen – blades sheathed – racing towards them. They cried to Musa, as recorded in the Qur’an:
And when the two hosts saw each other, the companions of Musa said, “Indeed, they shall catch us” (Ash-Shu’ara 26/61).
But Musa knew that Allah would not allow the da’wah to be wiped away and annihilated. Allah recorded Musa’s alayhis salaam reply, which radiated with the eman of a Prophet and Messenger:
He [Musa] said, “Nay! Indeed my Lord is with me, and He will guide me” (Ash-Shu’ara 26/62).
Immediately, Allah ta’aala commanded Musa:
Then We inspired Musa, “Strike with your staff the sea.” And it parted, and each portion became like a great towering mountain / And We advanced thereto the others [Fir’own’s party] / And We saved Musa and those with him, all together /Then We drowned the others (Ash-Shu’ara 26/63-66).
When Fir’own slipped out of the sea and ached with the pangs of death, he said: ...when drowning overtook him, he said, “I believe that there is no deity except that in whom Banu Israeel believe and I am of those that submit” (Yunus 10/90).
Ibn Abbas explains that on the day Fir’own slipped out of the sea, and knowing that death loomed, Jibraeel came to him and began kicking dirt into his face and mouth, for fear that Fir’own would plead for the Mercy of Allah, and he would be granted it.
But as Allah revealed to Fir’own and those who would wait till the gargling of the soul to do tauba:
Now (you believe) while you refused to believe before and you were one of the corrupters (Yunus 10/ 91).
Istighfaar means to seek forgiveness from Allah ta'aala with one’s tongue and heart. Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala informs us:
And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah’s forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (An-Nisaa’ 4/110).
And from the authority of Abu Hurayrah, Allah's Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:
"(I testify) by He who holds my soul in His Hands, were you not to err, Allah ta'aala would have taken you (all) away [and] He would have brought a people that would err, and then ask Allah for forgiveness, so He would forgive them" (Muslim).
Today, in sha Allah, we shall take a tiny glimpse of the aayaat that speak about istighfaar, the seriousness of sin in the eyes of the early generations, the conditions of an accepted repentance, and what are some of the etiquettes when making du’a:
1. Istighfaar is a Characteristic of Those to Whom Allah shall Grant SuccessAllah says:
(The evil dwellers of Hell shall say),“Our Lord, remove us from it (Hellfire), and if we were to return (to evil), we would indeed be wrongdoers / He [Allah] will say, "Remain despised therein and do not speak to Me / “Indeed there was a party of My servants who used to say, ‘Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us and have mercy upon us, and You are the best of all who show mercy.’ / “But you took them in mockery” (Al-Mu’minoon 23/107-110)…
Then Allah says: Indeed, I have rewarded them this Day for their patience; they are indeed the ones who are successful (Al-Mu'minoon 23/111).
2. Istighfaar Opens the Doors of All Goodness, in this Life and the Next
During the Khilaafah of Ameer Al-Mu’mineen ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab radi Allahu anhu, a drought befell the Muslims of Madinah. Calling for the congregational rain prayer (Salaat Al-Istisqaa’), Umar ascended the mimbar and during his khutbah, he recited no more than those verses that dealt with istighfaar. He recited that day the words of Allah, speaking of what Nuh alayhis salaam said to his nation:
I [Nuh] said, “Ask forgiveness (Istighfaar) from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving / He will send upon you (rain from) the sky in showers / And give you increase in wealth and children, and provide for you gardens, and provide for you rivers” (Nuh 71/10-12).
3. Istighfaar is an Indication of Those Most Beloved to Allah
Abu Hurayrah radi Allahu anhu narrates that he heard Allah's Messenger sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam say:
"By Allah, I ask Allah for forgiveness and return to Him in a single day more than seventy times."