This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Abu Hamza Abdul Khaliq Siddiqi's book Sahih Fazail Amaal.
Human beings are prone to error, and knowingly or unknowingly commit sins against Allah Almighty. If one persists in their sin, it is greatly disliked by Allah Almighty. However, if one feels remorse for their sins and errors and raises their hands in supplication before the Divine Presence, Allah Almighty loves the return of His servants and their seeking of forgiveness very much. As a result, He not only forgives the sins and elevates their ranks but also blesses them with abundant sustenance, offspring, rainfall, deliverance from punishment, and other great worldly and hereafter blessings. Numerous verses of the Holy Quran indicate this.
Here are a few examples:
① Repentance is a cause of increase in strength:
﴿وَيَا قَوْمِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا وَيَزِدْكُمْ قُوَّةً إِلَىٰ قُوَّتِكُمْ وَلَا تَتَوَلَّوْا مُجْرِمِينَ﴾
"O people of my nation! Seek forgiveness from your Lord, then repent to Him. He will send abundant rain for you and increase your strength. Do not turn away from His religion while being criminals in the sight of Allah."
Reference: (11-Hud:52)
②Repentance erases sins:
﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ ۖ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ﴾
"O you who have believed! Repent sincerely to Allah. Perhaps your Lord will remove your sins and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow. The day Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who have believed with him. Their light will run before them and on their right. They will say, 'Our Lord, perfect our light for us and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent.'"
Reference: (66-At-Tahrim:8)
③Repentance is the ladder to success:
Allah Almighty says:
﴿وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ﴾
"O believers! Repent to Allah all together, that you might succeed."
Reference: (24-An-Nur:31)
④Through repentance, provision and offspring are granted:
Allah Almighty commanded through the tongue of Noah (peace be upon him):
﴿فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا . يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا . وَيُمْدِدْكُم بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ أَنْهَارًا﴾ .
"So I said: Ask forgiveness from your Lord; indeed, He is ever Forgiving. He will send rain from the sky upon you in abundance and give you increase in wealth and children and provide for you gardens and provide for you rivers."
Reference: (71-Noah:10 to 12)
"The benefit of seeking forgiveness in this world is that it removes poverty and many other troubles. Once, a person complained to Hasan Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) about drought, another about poverty, and a third about not having children. He instructed all three to seek forgiveness. Someone said that their complaints were different, yet you are instructing all of them to seek forgiveness? In response, he recited these very verses (numbers 10 to 12) to reassure him.
Indeed, some scholars say that for achieving every goal, one should seek forgiveness from Allah. Once, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) went out to pray for rain and only relied on seeking forgiveness. Someone said: Commander of the Faithful! You did not pray for rain? He said: I have knocked on the doors of the sky from where rain descends. Then he recited these same verses from Surah Noah to the people."
Reference: (Taysir al-Rahman: 526/4)
⑤Punishment is averted by repentance:
Allah Almighty has said:
﴿وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ﴾
"And Allah does not punish them while they seek forgiveness."
Reference: (8-Al-Anfal:33)
﴿وَأَنِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُم مَّتَاعًا حَسَنًا إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى وَيُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِي فَضْلٍ فَضْلَهُ ۖ وَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ كَبِيرٍ﴾
"And ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is Merciful and Affectionate. He will let you enjoy good things for a specified term and give every doer of good a reward better than what they used to do. But if you turn away, then indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a Great Day."
Reference: (11-Hud:3)
⑥Message of Forgiveness:
عن أبى موسى عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: إن الله يبسط يده بالليل ، ليتوب مسيء النهار، ويبسط يده بالنهار ، ليتوب مسيء الليل ، حتى تطلع الشمس من مغربها
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa Abdullah bin Qais Al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Allah extends His hand during the night so that the one who committed evil during the day may repent at night, and He extends His hand during the day so that the one who committed evil during the night may repent during the day, until the sun rises from the west."
Reference: Sahih Muslim, Book of Repentance, Chapter on Acceptance of Repentance from Sins ..... No: 2759.
⑦The vastness of Divine Mercy:
عن أبى هريرة قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : والذي نفسي بيده لو لم تدنبوا لذهب الله بكم، ولجاء بقوم يذنبون فيستغفرون الله فيغفر لهم
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allah would replace you with people who would sin and then seek forgiveness from Allah, so He would forgive them."
Reference: Sahih Muslim, Book of Repentance, Chapter on the Removal of Sins by Seeking Forgiveness and Repentance, Hadith No: 6965.
عن أبى هريرة رضي الله عنه عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فيما يحكي عن ربه عز وجل قال: أذنب عبد ذنبا ، فقال: اللهم اغفر لي ذنبي ، فقال تبارك وتعالى: أذنب عبدي ذنبا ، علم أن له ربا يغفر الذنب، ويأخذ بالذنب ، ثم عاد فأذنب، فقال: أى رب! اغفر لي ذنبي ، فقال تبارك وتعالى: أذنب عبدي ذنبا ، فعلم أن له ربا يغفر الذنب ويأخذ بالذنب ، اعمل ما شئت فقد غفرت لك .
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the words of Allah Almighty: "If a servant commits a sin and then says: O Allah! Forgive my sin, Allah the Blessed and Exalted says: My servant has sinned and he knows that his Lord forgives sins and punishes for sins. Then he commits sin again and says: O my Lord! Forgive my sin. Allah the Blessed and Exalted says: My servant has sinned and he knows that his Lord forgives sins and punishes for sins. (O my servant) I have forgiven you, do as you wish."
Reference: Sahih Bukhari, Book of Monotheism, Chapter on the Saying of Allah Almighty: ﴿They want to change the words of Allah﴾, Hadith No: 7507 - Sahih Muslim, Book of Repentance, Chapter on Acceptance of Repentance from Sins, Hadith No: 2758.
⑧The Permit of Forgiveness:
عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: فإن العبد إذا اعترف ثم تاب تاب الله عليه . .
Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a servant repents with acknowledgment of sin, Allah accepts his repentance."
Reference: Sahih Bukhari, Book of Tafsir, Tafsir Surah Noor, Chapter: If you hear it, No: 4750 - Sahih Muslim, Book of Repentance, Chapter on the Hadith of Al-Ifk, No: 2770.
Narrated by Sayyiduna Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Iblis (Satan) said (addressing Allah): By Your Honor! I will always misguide Your servants as long as their souls remain in their bodies. Allah Almighty replied: By My Honor and Majesty! I will always forgive them as long as they seek forgiveness from Me."
Reference: Musnad Ahmad: 3/29 - Mustadrak Hakim: 261/4.
Hakim declared it "Sahih" (authentic), and Dhahabi agreed with this ruling.The Master of mankind Muhammad Rasul Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
من استغفر للمؤمنين وللمؤمنات كتب الله له بكل مؤمن ومؤمنة حسنة . .
"Whoever seeks forgiveness from Allah for believing men and women, Allah will write for him a good deed for every believing man and woman."
Reference: Majma' al-Zawa'id: 210/10 - Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, No: 6026.
Make frequent istighfar (seeking forgiveness) a habit in your life, as it will be a means of salvation in the Hereafter. Therefore, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
من أحب أن تسره صحيفته، فليكثر فيها من الاستغفار .
"Whoever wants his record of deeds to be presented to him on the Day of Resurrection with honor, let him seek forgiveness abundantly."
Reference: Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, No: 5955.
عبد الله بن بسر رضى الله عنه يقول: قال النبى : طوبى لمن وجد فى صحيفته استغفارا كثيرا .
Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Basr (may Allah be pleased with him) says the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Blessed is the person who finds abundant istighfar in his record of deeds."
Reference: Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Adab, Chapter on Istighfar, No: 3818.
Allama Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) declared it authentic.
Reference: At-Tal'iq ar-Ragheeb: 2/268.
