One of the greatest gifts that Allah has blessed us with is the ability to make tawbah and istaghfar after committing sins continuously. He (سبحانه وتعالى) has taught our forefather Adam (عليه السلام) the words of repentance and He taught Rasoolullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) a very special dua. The dua is called the sayyidul istaghfar, and it is one of the pearls from the Sunnah that we should know.
On the authority of Shaddad ibn Aws (رضالله عنهم) the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said, “The chief of prayers for forgiveness is:
Allahumma anta Rabbi la ilaha illa Ant
Khalaqatani wa ana ‘abduka
wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa’dika mastata’tu
audhobika min sharri ma sana’atu
abu ooh laka bi ni’matika ‘alayya
wa abu ooh bi zanbi
faghfir lee fa innahu la yaghfiruz zunooba illa Ant
The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) added, “If somebody recites it during the day with firm faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the morning he will be from the people of Paradise.”
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
The dua in Arabic:
Wow! Subhan Allah! Is this beautiful dua part of your daily life? We should make a habit of at least saying it once or twice a day, and maybe even more…and saying it like we mean it. May Allah accept from us, ameen.