Istighfar, a gateway of relief in a Muslim’s life, is a beautiful and profound act of asking for Allah’s forgiveness. Within the folds of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), lies the essence and the power of Istighfar – seeking the forgiveness of Allah (SWT) for our sins and wrongful actions.

One of the realities of life for us is that no matter how hard we try, we often fall short and commit sins. The good thing about being a Muslim however, is Allah (SWT)’s promise that He will go on forgiving us no matter how many/big our sins are, as long as we pray to Him and aspire for His forgiveness (Tirmidhi). This is the purpose of istighfar – to seek forgiveness from Allah (swt) from every wrongdoing that we have committed.

How to do Istighfar

When we seek forgiveness from Allah (SWT), we do so in the same way that we recite duas for other things that we ask him for. And like all duas that we recite in Islam, duas for istigfhar have been taught to us from the Quran, as well as the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), so that we can use them as a means of seeking forgiveness and getting closer to Allah.