The Nine Significant Advantages of Istighfar
1.Protection from divine punishments
وَما كانَ اللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ
“God will not punish them while they seek [God’s] forgiveness.”
(Quran: 8:33)
2.Obedience and fulfillment of God’s order
وَاسْتَغْفِرُواْ اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“Seek forgiveness with God! Certainly, God is Ever Forgiving [and] Merciful.”
(Quran: 73:20)
3.God’s grace and mercy
اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاء عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا وَيُمْدِدْكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَللَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ أَنْهَارًا
“Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Ever-Forgiving. He will send rain to you in abundance, increase you in wealth, children, orchards and rivers.”
(Quran: 71:10-12)
لَوْلا تَسْتَغْفِرُونَ اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
“Why do you not seek forgiveness with God, so that you may receive [His] mercy?”
(Quran: 27:46)
4.Relief from anxiety and stress
مَنْ لَزِمَ الِاسْتِغْفَارَ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لَهُ مِنْ كُلِّ ضِيقٍ مَخْرَجًا وَمِنْ كُلِّ هَمٍّ فَرَجًا وَرَزَقَهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ
“If anyone continually asks pardon, God will appoint for them a way out of every distress, a relief from every anxiety, and provide for them from where they cannot imagine.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah)
5.Extension of Provisions
وَأَنِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُمْ مَتَاعاً حَسَناً إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمّىً
“Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment [of provisions].”
(Quran: 11:3)
6.Likeness to Prophets and the Pious
قَالاَ رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
“Adam and Eve supplicated, “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. We shall be the losers if You do not forgive or bestow Your Mercy upon us.”
(Quran: 7:23)
إِنَّهُ لَيُغَانُ عَلَى قَلْبِي وَإِنِّي لأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ فِي الْيَوْمِ مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ
Muḥammad (peace and blessings upon him) said, “There is [at times] some sort of shade upon my heart, and I seek forgiveness with God [at least] a hundred times a day.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
7.Pardon and mercy
وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ اللَّهَ يَجِدِ اللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
“Whoever does evil or wrongs themselves but afterwards [sincerely] seeks God’s Forgiveness, they will find God Very Forgiving [and] Most Merciful.”
(Quran: 4:110)
8.Worthy of God’s praise and tidings
طُوبَى لِمَنْ وَجَدَ فِي صَحِيفَتِهِ اسْتِغْفَارًا كَثِيرًا
“Glad tidings to those who have excessive ‘seeking forgiveness’ in the record of their deeds.”
(Ibn Mājah)
9.Entrance to Paradise
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُواْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُواْ اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّواْ عَلَى مَا فَعَلُواْوَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ أُوْلَئِكَ جَزَآؤُهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ
“Those who have committed indecent actions or wronged themselves with evil, [after that] remember God and ask forgiveness for their sins; – and none can forgive sins but God – and do not knowingly persist in what [wrong] they have done. For such persons, the reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens with rivers flowing underneath [in Paradise], wherein they shall reside forever. How excellent is this reward for the doers [of righteous deeds].”
(Quran 3:135 – 136)