Greatest Repentance Dua

This is one of the most powerful dua for repentance. It is recommended to be read before Fajr prayer (although I read it after Maghrib as well). It is called Sayyid-ul-Istigfar.

Allahumma anta rabbi la ilaha illa anta khalaqtanee wa ana abduka wa ana a'la a'hdika wa w'adika mastat'atu auzhubika min sharri ma sana'atu abuo laka bini'amatika alayya wa abou bizhambi fagfirli fainnahu la yagfiruzhunuba illa anta.

Oh Allah, you are my lord. None has the right to be worshiped except you. You created me and I am Your servant and I abide to Your covenant and promise (to honor it) as best I can. I take refuge in You from the evil of which I committed. I acknowledge Your favor upon me and I acknowledge my sin. So forgive me for verily none can forgive sins except You.

Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) has been recorded as saying, " 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"(mentioned in Sahih Al Bukhari).

I just want to clarify the meaning of this statement else people will think they will land in Paradise by just reading this dua. You need to ask daily, with sincere devotion to Allah to forgive your sins. Once you are void of sins, you enter Paradise and this is what our Prophet meant to say through his statement. So, ask for forgiveness, do good deeds...in essence, be a good Muslim so you can enter Paradise.

Powerful Way Of Getting Your Dua Accepted

One of the most powerful ways of calling on Allah is to say the following just before your dua:

Ya arhamar rahimeen 

 (say it three times and then proceed with your dua)

Sorry I could not find the image of the Arabic verse.

The meaning of this verse is: ""Oh most merciful, out of all those who provide mercy". It is said, when you utter this verse thrice,Allah's eye/focus is on you. Imagine how powerful this verse is! Imagine Allah looking at you directly and you are asking for what you desire. It is also said, that when this verse is uttered an angel in the heaven says to Allah, "Look, someone is calling you" and then Allah's sight/eyes look at you. This verse can also be said when you are in sujood.

Brothers and sisters, as mentioned before please be sincere in your duas especially when using this verse. Try not to have distractions in your mind (sometimes it can be what did I park my car correctly or what to cook or has my download of a movie completed etc). Speak to Allah with a clear mind and you will see how well you connect with Him with no interruptions from the accursed devil.

Dua: After Drinking Milk

There are duas to be said before and after you eat or drink but this is one easy dua you can learn to say after you drink milk. We all drink milk everyday, alhamdullilah so here's the dua:

Allahumma barik lana fihi wa zidna minhu

This is a small dua so take a picture of it in your phone so it will be available to you every time.

Forgiveness Of Sins

Everyone has sins- major and minor. That is why we must pray to Allah and repent sincerely so He can wipe away those sins. I want to clarify something. Most of the time, you will hear the phrase 'forgiveness of sins''. Some people think that by just saying, "Allah, I repent. So forgive my sins"- they feel their sins will be forgiven. Maybe Allah forgives them but you should remember:

Allah loves to forgive. This is why one must grab the opportunities and repent sincerely until the Gates of Mercy are open. Once they have been closed ( You know you have repented sincerely when you start to cry when you are asking for forgiveness. Sometimes you don't know why tears come in your eyes- it happens all of a sudden. This is the time when your heart and mind realize the punishment of your sins and the wrath of Allah- and that's when you are truly connected to Allah and asking for forgiveness. Tears are a sign of your devotion and sincerity. There are many people who just say, "Forgive me" and get up from their salaah/ prayer and continue with their life. Sometimes, we cannot concentrate in our duas or prayers as we have worldly matters in the back of your head. Please, brothers and sisters- remember that a sincere dua from the heart is what brings you closer to Allah, whether the dua is for asking for material possessions or for forgiveness. I'm not saying that you should forcefully cry in your duas/ repentance. The tears will come automatically once you have blocked out everything from your mind and the focus is to receive Allah's forgiveness (you also come closer to Allah with full concentration- that is a bonus!)

So- here are 4 things you can do to wipe away your sins:

Point 1: This is a powerful dua that the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) told his wife Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) to read on Laylat ul Qadr. If you read the meaning of it, you will understand why it was recommended to read on that night and why should make it a point to read it every time after each salaah/prayer:

Allahumma innaka affuwan tuhibul afwa fa'fu anni

Oh Allah, you are pardoning and you love to pardon. So pardon me.

Point 2: hould you have committed a sin, them you must make Wudhu and read 2 rakats asking Allah for forgiveness. Insha'Allah, you will be forgiven. You can also read the above dua after the prayer.

Point 3:  The Tahajjud prayer is one of the best ways to seek whatever you want from Allah, be it forgiveness or His blessings or something else. It is said you can either read 2 rakats nifl or 4 or 12 (but done in sets of 2; so if you want to read 4 then, 2 rakats + 2 rakats). This prayer is read during the last portion of the night (so perhaps wake up say, 2 hours or so before Fajr to pray this). It is also said that the Tahajjud prayer time starts right after Isha until Fajr. So you can pray anytime between this. Please remember that the Witr prayer has to be the last prayer before Fajr. So you should not end your Isha prayer with Witr if you are going to pray Tahajjud. After Tahajjud, read Witr of Isha prayer.

Point 4: Apart from this, always ask Allah to forgive you for the sins. Minor sins are forgiven insha'Allah by reading the 2 rakats I have mentioned in point 2. The bigger ones, however you  need to ask for repentance daily along with reading the above dua as many times as you can. It is best to read the above dua on the tasbeeh to increase the count.

 

Read: Surah Yaseen

Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) has said that everything has a heart and the heart of the Quran is Surah Yaseen. Apart from the different benefits of this Surah, here are two which I wanted to highlight:

• Reading this Surah means receiving the reward from Allah of reading the Quran ten times.
• Reading this Surah for the pleasure of Allah means having your past sins forgive.

It is also mentioned that reading Surah Yaseen helps ease one's hardships or difficulties in life.