Today’s topic is:
‘By Allah, I have not supplicated to Allah a single supplication, except that it was answered for me.’
أسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ الَّذِي لا إلَهَ إلا هُوَ الحَيُّ القَيُومُ وَأتُوبُ إلَيهِ
“Astaghfir ullah-alladhi la ilaha illa Huwal-Haiyal-Qayyuma, wa ‘atubu ilaihi"
"I seek the forgiveness of Allah, there is no true god except Allah, the Ever-Living, the Self- Subsisting, and I turn to Him in repentance."
This statement [of repentance] demolishes one’s sins, regardless of how big they are. It destroys the sins of all time. Even if one has abandoned the battlefield.
A man came to Al-Hasan Al-Basri, the eminent Tabi’i (رضي الله عنه) who was a man of Zuhd (asceticism), and his inward reality was the same as what he portrayed outwardly, this man that came to him told him ‘There is no rainfall from the sky.’ i.e., we are in need of rain and the earth is barren. So, Al-Hasan Al-Basri told him, ‘Seek forgiveness from Allah.’ Then another man came to him and complained of poverty, he said, ‘I am poor.’ A third man came to Al-Hasan Al-Basri and told him, ‘My wife is barren, she cannot have children and I want children.’ Al-Hasan Al-Basri responded [to them all] saying: ‘Seek forgiveness from Allah.’
A fourth man came to him and said, ‘The earth is not growing crops and we need rainfall.’ Al-Hasan Al-Basri responded with the same, ‘Seek forgiveness from Allah.’ Four individuals came to him complaining of an affliction specific to them, all to which he gave the same response of, ‘Seek forgiveness from Allah.’ One of the spectators of this incident was baffled by Al-Hasan Al-Basri’s consistent response, so he said [to Al-Hasan]: ‘How strange is this, every time someone comes to you with a complaint you say, ‘Seek forgiveness from Allah’?
So, Al-Hasan Al-Basri responded (رضي الله عنه), ‘I have not come with anything, or said anything from myself.’ And he proceeded to recite these honorable verses from Al-Quran Al-Kareem:
I seek The Refuge of Allah from the accursed Satan
In the Name of Allah the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا ﴿١٠﴾ يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا ﴿١١﴾ وَيُمْدِدْكُم بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ أَنْهَارًا ﴿١٢﴾
I said (to them): ‘Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving. He
will send rain to you in abundance; and give you increase in wealth and
children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.
[Surat Nuh:10-12]
This is the saying of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ). If a person is persistent upon Istighfar, then Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) will bestow upon that person what he/she desires, for Allah is the Knower of the Unseen.
Listen to this strange occurrence that happened to Al-Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (رضي الله عنه). Imam Ahmad said: ‘I was in a city where I knew no one. I entered a Masjid to pray and reside for the night (pray Maghrib & Isha’ and sleep). I leaned upon a pillar in the Masjid and wanted to sleep. A worker in the Masjid (the one who is ordered to close the Masjid) saw me, and continued to drag me from my robe until I was forced out of the Masjid, and closed it. So, I wanted to sleep in front of the Masjid, yet he pursued me and dragged me from my robe until he dismissed me from the premises of the Masjid. In the midst of this situation a man saw me, and asked about my situation, and invited me to be his guest for this evening. So I accepted.
I followed this man to his house’ – this man was a baker, he would knead dough at night and bake it in the morning, this was how bakers worked during that time – ‘and during the whole night, while this baker was kneading his dough, he would seek forgiveness from Allah.’
This is the believer. Always and forever, his tongue is moist with the remembrance of Allah. He would seek forgiveness from Allah abundantly. This man did not know his guest was Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
Because of the abundance of Istighfar this man was making, Imam Ahmad asked him: ‘You seek forgiveness from Allah plenty. Have you witnessed the bounties of Allah from this Istighfar?’ Ahmad Ibn Hanbal is from the most well-versed people of that time on Istighfar and its bounties. The baker responded to him: ‘Yes. By Allah, I have not supplicated to Allah a single supplication, except that it has been answered for me, with the exception of one supplication.’
So, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal inquired, ‘What is this supplication that has not been answered?’ The baker responded, ‘That I meet Al-Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.’ Imam Ahmad (رحمه الله) then told him: ‘By Allah, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was dragged to you!’
This is from the fruits of Istighfar, and the response of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) towards those who seek forgiveness from Him always and forever, especially during the hours before dawn. And among the fruits of Istighfar is that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) will forgive the sins of His slave, and this is most needed, as there is no one free from sin.
"All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who are given to repentance." [Tirmidhi 2499, Ahmad 13049, Ibn Majah 4251]
Everyone has good deeds and bad deeds. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) says in the Hadith Qudsi:‘My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.’ [Muslim 2577]
Allah loves that we always ask for forgiveness, so that He may forgive us our sins. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) forgives all sins. There is no sin that is not forgiven. When a person stands afore Allah with a sincere intention, asking Him to forgive him, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) will forgive all sins, whether it be Kufr or Shirk, and all the major and minor sins.‘...O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you...’ [Muslim 2577]
Therefore, a person must always seek forgiveness from Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ). The statement of Istighfar is powerful. No sin or transgression can overcome it, regardless of how big it is. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) waits for the slave that sins to seek forgiveness from Him, and likewise Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) loves those who seek forgiveness from Him.In a Sahih Hadith, on the authority of Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (رضي الله عنه), where he reported that The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said:
"Allah,the Exalted, will continue to stretch out His Hand in the night so that the sinners of the day may repent, and continue to stretch His Hand in the daytime so that the sinners of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west.” [Muslim 2759]
[Meaning] Until The Day of Judgement.
Allah wants [His slaves to make] Al-Istighfar, and it is among the most favorable acts a person can observe. For it is the remembrance of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ), and it incites the forgiveness of sins.
أَفَلَا يَتُوبُونَ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَهُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٧٤﴾
Will they not repent to Allah and ask His Forgiveness? For Allah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[Surat Al-Mā’idah: 74]
Al-Istighfar comes from one’s Emaan, truthful intention, and sincerity towards Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ). Always and forever, a person should seek forgiveness from Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ). Listen to this Hadith in which Satan speaks to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ). Satan affirms the Rubūbiyyah of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ); however, this alone does not suffice. We know in the Jāhiliyyah, from the ones the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) used to deal with, they too used to affirm the Rubūbiyyah of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ); however this alone is not enough.
The scholars have divided Tawheed into three parts. Tawheed Ar-Rubūbiyyah (i.e., Allah is the Creator, and Provider of everything, etc.), Tawheed Al-‘Ulūhiyyah (i.e., no one is worshiped but Allah alone), and Tawheed Al-Asma’ Wal Sifaat - Allah has many names and attributes that cannot be confined [to a number].
There is a Hadith that there are 99 names of Allah, these are not all the names of Allah, He (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) has other names in addition [to these 99]. So, the scholars have divided Tawheed into three parts. Tawheed Ar-Rubūbiyyah, Tawheed Al-‘Ulūhiyyah, and Tawheed Al-Asma’ Wal Sifaat. Listen to what Satan said to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ), [It’s narrated that] Abu Sa'id reported Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) as saying that Satan said,
“By Thy Might, my Lord, I shall continue to lead Thy servants astray as long as their spirits are in their bodies.” [531 صحيح الترغيب والترهيب المنذري]
So His Lord responded to him – Look at the Generosity, Might, and Kindness of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ),
“By my Might, Glory, and Exalted Station, I shall continue to pardon them as long as they ask my forgiveness.”
Meaning, anytime you remember Allah - seeking forgiveness from Him (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ), He will forgive you. By my might, glory and exalted station, I shall continue (always & forever) to pardon them as long as they ask my forgiveness. What a prestigious honor it is for whoever believed in it and acted upon it!
I shall continue to pardon them as long as they ask my forgiveness. The believing hearts are those that find solace with the remembrance of Allah, and Istighfar. Al-Istighfar is amongst the greatest means of protection, comfort, and stability for the Nafs, the body, and the Soul.
Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) said:
وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ﴿١٨﴾
And in the hours before dawn, they were (found) asking (Allah) for forgiveness. [Surat Adh-Dhariyāt: 18]
The most favorable type of Istighfar is that of those who seek it during the last hours of the night when Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ) descends from the highest heaven to the nearest heaven.
Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said,
"Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains, saying: “... Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?” And so on and so forth [until the end of the agreed upon Hadith].
Al-Istighfar yields [for you] many good things, it [is a means] to remove calamities from your life as well as grudges, [it is a means] to grant you vast wealth, a pleasant life, and good health.
O Allah make clear to us the truth, and grant us the ability in following it, and show us the falsehood for what it is, and grant us the ability to avoid it. O Allah make us guided guiders, and not misguided, nor of those who misguide others, and to close our Dua, All the Praises and Thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds