Istighfar: Difference between revisions

The word "istighfar" literally means to ask for forgiveness. It is from the Arabic root, “gh-f-r”, (غ-ف-ر) which originally means to cover. Terminologically, it means to verbally or practically ask God to forgive one's sins in order to be immune to the pernicious effects of the sins and divine punishment. Some scholars have taken some occurrences of the word “istighfar” in the Quran to refer to believing, converting to Islam, or saying one's prayers. These are instances of the practical sort of istighfar.

Istighfar is either a verbal expression, such as “استغفر اللّه” (I ask for God's forgiveness), or a deed, such as doing something that leads one to be forgiven by God. The verbal istighfar is discussed in [[fiqh]] in issues such as [[tahara]], [[prayer]], [[fasting]], [[hajj]], commerce, [[zihar]] and [[kaffara]].