One whose Istighfar Needs Another Istighfar
Istighfar (Asking for Forgiveness)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم, الحمد لله رب العالمين, و صلى الله و سلم و بارك على نبينا محمد و آله و صحبه أجمعين, أما بعد:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praises be to Allah, Lord of the universe. Peace and prayer and blessing of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his companions.
Firstly: An Istighfar should be uttered at all time…
وَقَالَ شَيْخُ الْإِسْلَامِ تَقِيُّ الدِّينِ أَحْمَد ابْنُ تَيْمِيَّة – رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى – :
فَالْعَبْدُ دَائِمًا بَيْنَ نِعْمَةٍ مِنْ اللَّهِ يَحْتَاجُ فِيهَا إلَى شُكْرٍ وَذَنْبٍ مِنْهُ يَحْتَاجُ فِيهِ إلَى الِاسْتِغْفَارِ وَكُلٌّ مِنْ هَذَيْنِ مِنْ الْأُمُورِ اللَّازِمَةِ لِلْعَبْدِ دَائِمًا فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَزَالُ يَتَقَلَّبُ فِي نِعَمِ اللَّهِ وَآلَائِهِ وَلَا يَزَالُ مُحْتَاجًا إلَى التَّوْبَةِ وَالِاسْتِغْفَارِ . وَلِهَذَا كَانَ سَيِّدُ وَلَدِ آدَمَ وَإِمَامُ الْمُتَّقِينَ مُحَمَّدٌ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَسْتَغْفِرُ فِي جَمِيعِ الْأَحْوَالِ .
Sheikh al Islam Ahmad Ibn Taimiyya -may Allah have mercy upon him- said, “A slave is always between a favor of Allah, which needs gratitude, and a sin which needs istighfar or repentance; every of these two things is among the affairs that will always come to a slave, he’ll still indulge in Allah’s favors and graces, and he’ll always need to repent from his sins. Thus, the leader of Adam’s sons and the leader of the pious men, Muhammad -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- kept on uttering the istighfar at all time.” (See: “Majmu’ Fatawa”, 10:88).
Secondly: But not the istighfar that needs another istighfar
قال القرطبي رحمه الله: قال علماؤنا: الاستغفار المطلوب هو الذي يحل عقد الإصرار ويثبت معناه في الجنان، لا التلفظ باللسان. فأما من قال بلسانه: أستغفر الله، وقلبه مصر على معصيته فاستغفاره ذلك يحتاج إلى استغفار، وصغيرته لاحقة بالكبائر. وروي عن الحسن البصري أنه قال: استغفارنا يحتاج إلى استغفار.
Al Qurtuby -may Allah haver mercy on him- said, “Our scholars said, ‘The appropriate istighfar is the one that untie the continuous chain (of sins), which meaning stays in heart, not merely by words. As for people who say, “Astaghfirullah” but his heart intends to continue his sin, then his istighfar needs another istighfar, the minor sins (that he did) will lead to major sins.'” It was narrated that Al Hasan Al Bashry said, “Our istighfar needs another istighfar.” (See: “Tafseer Al Qurthuby”).
وقال النووي : وعن الفضيل بن عياض رضي الله تعالى عنه : استغفار بلا إقلاع توبة الكذابين.
An Nawawi -may Allah have mercy on him- said, “Al Fudhail Ibn Iyadh -may Allah be pleased with him- said, ‘Uttering istighfar without stopping the evil doings is the repentance of the liars.'” (See: “Al Adzkar”, by An Nawawi).
قال المناوي: تنبيه سئل أحدهم أيهما أفضل: التسبيح والتهليل والتكبير أو الاستغفار؟ فقال: يا هذا الثوب الوسخ أحوج إلى الصابون منه إلى البخور، ولا بد من قرن التوبة بالاستغفار لأنه إذا استغفر بلسانه وهو مصر عليه فاستغفاره ذنب يحتاج للاستغفار ويسمى توبة الكذابين . انتهى.
Al Munawi -may Allah have mercy on him- said, “Look! A scholar was asked, “Which is more excellent; reciting tasbeeh, tahleel, takbeer, or reciting istighfar?’ He answered, ‘O you, a dirty clothes needs more of the soap than perfume, and repentance should be accompanied by istighfar, because if someone uttering istighfar with his tongue, whereas he keeps on committing (his sins), then his istighfar is a sin that needs another istighfar and it is what we called repentance of the liars.” (See: “Fath Al Qadir”, by Al Munawi).
قال ابن رجب: فأفضل الاستغفار ما اقترن به تركُ الإصرار ، وهو حينئذ توبةٌ نصوح ، وإنْ قال بلسانه : أستغفر الله وهو غيرُ مقلع بقلبه ، فهو داعٍ لله بالمغفرة ، كما يقول : اللهمَّ اغفر لي ، وهو حسن وقد يُرجى له الإجابة ، وأما من قال : توبةُ الكذابين ، فمرادُه أنَّه ليس بتوبة ، كما يعتقده بعضُ الناس ، وهذا حقٌّ ، فإنَّ التَّوبةَ لا تكون مَعَ الإصرار .
Ibn Rajab -may Allah have mercy on him- said, “Hence, the most excellent istighfarjs the one that is accompanied by stopping the continuation of sin, and it is what we called ‘the true repentance ‘, and if someone said, ‘Astaghfirullah’ (I ask forgiveness from Allah) but his heart refuse to abandon that sin he repented of, then he is as a man who invoke Allah for repentance, as if he said, “O Allah, forgive me”, this is a good thing and we expect a grant for his prayer. As for those who said, “Repentance of the liars, then its meaning is not a repentance that some people believe in, and this is a truth, because indeed, repentance will not exist with the continuation of sins.” (See: ” Jami’ Al Ulum wa Al Hikam”, by Ibn Rajab).
Author: Ahmad Zainuddin
friday, 4th of Jumadal Ula, 1432 H
Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Article of www.whatisquran.com