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Benefits of Istighfar from the Holy Qur’an

By Raiiq Ridwan
01 January 2016   |   4:08 am
AND give you increase in wealth and children.” (Quran, 71:12) Isn’t wealth one of the big things that we are running after today? Isn’t wealth one of the main aims of our capitalist society? Allah is promising us that wealth comes with istighfar, as does children.

Blue-Quran-with-Beads

CONTINUED FROM DECEMBER 18, 2015

AND give you increase in wealth and children.” (Quran, 71:12) Isn’t wealth one of the big things that we are running after today? Isn’t wealth one of the main aims of our capitalist society? Allah is promising us that wealth comes with istighfar, as does children. It is for us who are struggling financially, and also those who are struggling to conceive, that they do more and more istighfar. Istighfar will open the doors that have been closed till today. Wealth and children come from Allah and it is in turning to Him that we will get them, not in turning away from Him.

• “… And provide for you gardens and provide for you rivers.” (Quran, 71:12) Allah will not only give us what we want, He will give us more. Gardens and rivers are luxuries that very few of us can afford in life. And yet for istighfar, Allah promises us that. He promises us that we will be given gardens and rivers. It could be in this world and in the hereafter or only in the hereafter (as gardens and rivers are the most common description of paradise). Isn’t this a cause worth struggling for? The paradise of Allah awaits those who make constant istighfar.

• “… Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. He will send (rain from) the sky upon you in showers and increase you in strength (added) to your strength.” (Quran 11:52) Again this verse mentions the sending of rain from the sky. But also adds that Allah will add strength. For those of us who want strength added to our lives – whether mental, psychological, physical or otherwise, this is the deed we need to do! We are struggling with doing a good deed – make istighfar, Allah will provide strength. We are struggling with a sin, make istighfar, Allah will give strength. We are struggling with heartbreak, let us make istighfar, He will provide strength to get over it.

• “Seek forgiveness of your Lord and repent to Him, (and) He will let you enjoy a good provision for a specified term and give every doer of favour his favour.” (Quran, 11:3). This verse promises again a good provision for a specified term for those who make istighfar. However, the specified term is important. It shows that life is not permanent and that the good provision will also come to an end one day.

And that naturally makes us fearful. And that is where Allah gives His biggest promises to the people of astaghfirullah. He says He will grant us His good favour. What else in life do we want other than to know that we have earned His favour? Every blessing is a curse if His favour is not upon us, and everything can be endured if His favour is the answer. And yet, He asks for so little. All He asks is that we seek His forgiveness.

• “And Allah would not punish them while they seek forgiveness.” (Quran, 8:33). One of the scariest things in human life is disaster— when something horrible happens out of the blue and without us expecting it. There are very few things that terrify people more than something like that. Islamically, they can be both tests and punishments. As Muslims, we don’t want to be punished by Allah. We don’t want to experience any of it. And istighfar is the promise from Allah that it’s not going to happen. He has our back as long as we seek His forgiveness.

• “My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower.” (Quran 38:35). This was the dua (supplication) of Sulaiman, alayhi salam. The beauty of the dua is that he starts it by seeking forgiveness from Allah. And He makes a request. That request was granted and will stand until the day of judgement. The Prophet Sulaiman was given a kingdom that no one will ever be given after him. And he started his dua while making istighfar to Allah. Scholars say that one of the ways of having our supplications answered is by making istighfar first and then seeking from Allah.

Culled from the website of Understand Quran Academy , Hyderabad, India

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