Seeking forgiveness means to request Allah The Almighty to not just pardon one’s sins, but to protect one from their evil and to conceal them. In other words, it is a servant’s plea to Allah The Almighty to not expose him or her in this life or in the Hereafter, and to ward off the punishment that he or she deserves, by His grace and mercy.
Asking forgiveness is mentioned time and again in the Quran in varying forms, such as in an order, when Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And seek forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 73: 20] In another verse, He praises, Saying (what means): {those who seek forgiveness before dawn} [Quran 3:17], as His servants. He even assures us that He pardons those who beseech him to; Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself but then seeks forgiveness of Allah will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 4:110]
Usually, a request for forgiveness is accompanied by repentance, for the former is mostly a verbal plea, whereas the latter implies an intention to give up the sin with the heart and limbs. Seeking forgiveness has the same ruling as supplication; both depend on the will of Allah The Almighty, who may or may not accept it. He forgives if He wishes, especially if the invocation springs from a sinful, but broken heart, or if it is done during the recommended times for supplication, like before dawn or after prayers.
The best supplication for forgiveness commences with the praise of Allah The Almighty, then a confession of one’s sins, followed by a plea for His pardon. Shaddaad ibn Aws, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Prophet, , said: “The most superior way of seeking forgiveness is to say: “Allahumma anta rabbi la ilaaha illa ant, khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduk, wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa‘dika mastata‘t, a‘oothu bika min sharri maa sana‘t, aboo’u laka bini‘matika ‘alayy, wa aboo’ bithanbi faghfir lee fa innahoo la yaghfiru ath-thunooba illa ant (O Allah! You are my Lord, there is none worthy of worship except You. You created me and I am Your slave; and I abide to Your covenant and promise as best as I can. I take refuge in You from the evil that I committed and I am grateful to You for the blessing that You conferred on me. I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for verily none can forgive sins except You).”[Al-Bukhari]
On another occasion, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, asked:“O Messenger of Allah! Teach me a supplication to recite in my prayers.” The Prophet, , responded with: “Allahumma inni thalamtu nafsy thulman katheeran walaa yaghfiru ath-thunooba illaa anta faghfir lee maghfiratan min ‘indika warhamny innaka anta al-ghafoor ar-raheem (O Allah, I have done great wrong to myself and there is none to pardon sins but You. Grant me forgiveness and Have mercy upon me, for You are the Forgiving and the Merciful)."[Muslim]
One of the best wordings to use when asking for forgiveness is: Astaghfirullaah Al-‘Atheem allathy la ilaaha illa huwa Al-Hayy Al-Qayyoom wa atoobu ilayh. (I seek forgiveness from Allah, other than Whom there is no deity worthy of worship; [He is] the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence and I repent to Him).” It was reported that the Prophet, , said that a person who supplicates with these words will be absolved, even if he had fled from the battlefield.
Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, tells us that “in one sitting, the Prophet would utter a hundred times: ‘Rabbighfir lee watub ‘alayy innaka anta At-Taawwaab Al-Ghafoor’ (O Allah! Forgive me and accept my repentance; verily, You are ever accepting of repentance, The Forgiving).’”[At-Tirmithi and Abu Daawood] The Prophet, , himself would say: “There is (at times) a sort of shade upon my heart; and I seek forgiveness from Allah a hundred times a day.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reports that he, , also said:“By Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to Him more than seventy times a day.”[Ahmad and Abu Daawood]
Conditions for the Acceptance of the Supplication for Forgiveness
In a Hadeeth narrated by Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet, , said: “Allah The Almighty, Says: ‘O son of Aadam, as long as you supplicate to Me and have hope in Me, I will forgive your sins and shall not mind. O son of Aadam, if your sins were so numerous that they reached the clouds, then you asked for My forgiveness, I would forgive you. O son of Aadam, if you were to come to Me with enough sins to fill the earth, then you met Me, not associating anything with Me [in worship], I will meet you with a similar amount of forgiveness.’"[At-Tirmithi]
This Hadeeth incorporates the three major conditions for the acceptance of one’s request for forgiveness, the first being supplicating for it, and that too, with hope. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I Will Respond to you."} [Quran 40:60]. Therefore, supplication is a reason for attaining forgiveness, if its prerequisites are met and obstacles are absent; otherwise, the response may be delayed.
But, one of the most important characteristics of supplication, particularly for forgiveness, is turning to Allah The Almighty with an attentive and sincere heart, while honestly hoping for a response from Him. Furthermore, the other vital requisite is that it be directed only to Allah The Almighty, and one must be confident in His sole authority for that.
The part of the Divine Hadeeth that says: “O Son of Aadam, as long as you supplicate to Me and have hope in Me, I will forgive your sins and shall not mind”, indicates that Allah can absolve His slave no matter how numerous and appalling his sins may be, for they are never too many nor too enormous for Him. The Prophet, , in another place, said: “When any of you prays to Allah, let him ask for great wishes, as nothing istoo big for Allah.”[Muslim] Likewise, if peoples’ wrongdoings are excessive, the mercy and pardon of Allah surpass that by far.
Imaam Ash-Shaafi‘i recited some verses of poetry on his deathbed that were to this effect: “When my heart became hard [because of sins], I sought Your pardon. I felt my sins were great but when I compared them to Your forgiveness, I found that Your forgiveness was greater.”
The second condition for attaining forgiveness is to make a request for forgiveness. Truly, even if a person’s sins are so numerous so as to reach the expanses of the sky and he or she seeks the forgiveness of Allah, He will excuse him. The wise man Luqmaan advised his son: “O my boy! Make a habit of saying ‘O Allah! Forgive me,’ as there are special times when Allah answers all supplications.” Similarly, Al-Hasan said: “Make many requests for forgiveness; in your homes, when eating, on your journey, in the market and in your gatherings, as you do not know when the forgiveness of Allah will descend.”
The third condition for the acceptance of one’s prayer for a pardon is Tawheed (monotheism). This is perhaps the most significant of them all, as a person who does not fulfill it will surely be deprived of forgiveness, in stark contrast to a monotheist. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills.} [Quran 4:116]
Ibn Al-Qayyim said that the meaning of “O son of Aadam, if you were to come to Me with enough sins to fill the earth, then you met Me, not associating anything with Me [in worship], I will meet you with a similar amount of forgiveness", is that only those who truly believe in one Lord will be granted forgiveness, even if their sins fill up the planet. That is because pure Tawheed cleanses a person from wrongdoings, as it represents one’s love, glorification and fear of, and hope in the Mercy of, Allah. All these acts remove sins even if they were to fill the earth, because the impurity of sinning is contingent and its motive – one’s whims and desires – strong. In the end, everything depends on the will of Allah as He may forgive by His mercy and bounty, or He May punish by His wisdom and justice; truly, He is the only one Who should be praised.
Perhaps this is why some scholars say that the monotheist will not be thrown in Hell, like the disbelievers will be, and he or she will never remain in there like them. Thus, if a slave was a true and sincere believer in one God and fulfilled all the conditions of Tawheed with his or her heart and tongue at the time of death, and with the limbs during life, he or she will be absolved and will not enter Hell at all. That is so, for the one whose heart is truly filled with certainty in Tawheed, nothing else will imbue it except love and glorification of Allah, fear of Him, reliance on Him and hope for His mercy. Thus, at that moment, all his sins will be erased, even if they are as much as the foam of the sea; and they may even be transformed into good deeds.
Therefore, Tawheed is the greatest elixir: one atom of it over mountains of sins turns them into rewardable acts. Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “We keep hope that Allah The Almighty will forgive the sins of the monotheists, just as He does not accept the polytheists’ good deeds.”
Virtues of seeking forgiveness
‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, would say: “Blessed is the person who finds many pleas for forgiveness [from Allah The Almighty], in his [or her] record of deeds.” Moreover, ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Allah inspires those whom He does not want to torture to seek His forgiveness.”
Qataadah advised us: “This Noble Quran guides you to your illness and its treatment. Your disease is sin, while your cure is in seeking forgiveness from Allah.”
Once, a Bedouin was heard supplicating, while clinging to the curtains of the Ka‘bah: “O Allah, the request for forgiveness that I make, along with my insistence on sinning, is meanness. However, not seeking Your forgiveness while knowing how great Your pardon is, is impotence. You shower me with Your blessings while You are in no need of me; and I displease You with the sins that I commit, despite the fact that I need You badly. O Allah! O You who keeps His word when He promises and forgives if He threatens, include my great sins in Your great mercy, O You, the most Merciful.” However, saying “[He] forgives if He threatens”, contradicts the creed of Islam and that of our righteous predecessors, may Allah be pleased with them, as both the promise and the threat of Allah are true. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {The word will not be changed with Me, and never Will I Be unjust to the servants."} [Quran 50: 29]
Allah The Almighty will forgive or punish as He wills; we ask Him to include us among the former group.