Seven kinds of Istighfaar

Istighfaar means “to ask for Maghrifah (forgiveness).”  It also means to forgive, to cover, to conceal, etc.  From this viewpoint, Istighfaar means a worshipper hiding himself (or herself) in the mercy of Allah Ta’ala, to surrender oneself to the Lord Almighty. 

 

Commonly, Istigfaar is done for sins, etc., but some men of Allah, my father Hadhrat Syed Ibrahim Adeeb Razwi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) have described that there are 7 kinds of Istighfaar.

 

(1)  Istighfaar of sins i.e. to hide sins in the mercy of Allah Ta’ala.

 

(2)  Istighfaar of worship, for example while offering Salaat various thoughts cross the heart and the mind, which spoil the quality of the Salaat.  Thus, Istighfaar is performed to compensate for this.

 

(3)  Istighfaar on complaining about fate.  There is a Hadith Qudsi:

 

Translation: Whoever is not acquiescent of my decree (fate), is not thankful of my bounties, is not patient on my trials, is not content with my grant, should search for some other god other than me.

 

This Hadith shows that complaining about fate is not correct, but some time or the other, due to grief, disease, etc., complaining about fate does occur.  For this reason, Istighfaar should be performed on complaining about fate.

 

Anecdote:

 

A certain saint had a trial about his house going on in a court.  Eventually, the judgment went against him in favor of the relative.  The next morning, the saint organized a session of Istighfaar.  His disciples asked him:  Hadhrat!  Today against the usual custom, you have organized a session of Istighfaar?  The saint replied:  The house was ours.  We fought the case, but as per the decree of Allah Ta’ala, the judgment was given in their favor.  It is as if we were fighting the case against the decree of Allah Ta’ala.  That’s why this session of Istighfaar.

 

(4)  Istighfaar on actions.  Surrendering one’s actions to Allah Ta’ala meaning no action should go against the will of Allah Ta’ala and the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).

 

(5)  Istighfaar on attributes (Sifaat).  Surrendering life, knowledge, will, hearing, sight, power, speech, etc. all attributes to Allah Ta’ala.  Being alive only because of Allah’s attribute of life, being knowledgeable only because of Allah’s attribute of knowledge, being able to decide only because of Allah’s attribute of decision, being able to listen because of Allah’s attribute of hearing, being able to see because of Allah’s attribute of sight, having power because of Allah’s attribute of power, being able to speak because of Allah’s attribute of speech.

 

As many attributes are surrendered to Allah Ta’ala, to that extent the radiance of Allah’s attributes will shine on that person’s attributes.

 

(6)  Istighfaar of being (Wujud).  Surrendering one’s being to Allah Ta’ala, i.e. being present because of the presence of Allah Ta’ala.

 

(7)  Istighfaar of person.  Now the only thing left is one’s person (Dhaat).  Thus, this also should be surrendered to Allah Ta’ala.  When actions, attributes, being, person everything is surrendered to Allah Ta’ala, then the stage of Fani Fillah, annihilation in Allah Ta’ala, is crossed over into Baqi Billah, Biding with Allah Ta’ala and Baqa will be to the extent of Fana i.e. the more one is annihilated in Allah Ta’ala, to that extent that person will bide with Allah Ta’ala.

[Excerpted from Asrar-e-Istighfaar by Sadr Shuyukh Syed Shah Tahir Razwi (May Allah shower His mercy on him)]