Al-Istighfaar (Seeking Repentance)
Shaykh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyah rahimahullaah
Majmoo al-Fataawaa 10/88-90

The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, said:

“The master of invocations for forgiveness is that the servant says:

O’ my ‘ilãh You are my Lord, there is no ‘ilãh but You. You created me, and I am your bondservant, and I will stick to my covenant and promise [of faith and sincere obedience] to You, as to my ability. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done, I acknowledge, to You, your bounties upon me, and I acknowledge, to You, my sin. Thus forgive me, for none forgives sins except You.

Whoever says this as he enters upon evening, then, dies that night, he would enter Paradise; and if one says this as he enters upon morning, then, dies that day, he would enter Paradise.” [Al-Bukhari]

The servant is always in the blessings of Allah, which necessitate thankfulness, and in sinfulness, which requires seeking forgiveness. Both of these matters are required and essential for the servant at all times, as the servant does not cease to alternate between Allaah’s (various) favors and blessings, and does not cease to be in need of repentance and seeking forgiveness.

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Usool al-Ibaadah
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah

[Majmoo` 10:172-174]

Worship, obedience, uprightness, necessity of adhering to the Straight Path etc. are from the names by which one and the same is intended and which have two basic principles.

* One of them is that nothing be worshipped except Allah.

* The other is that He be worshipped by what He ordered and legislated, not with innovations.

Allah the Exalted says: “So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord – let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.” [al-Kahf (18):110]

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The Great Benefit and Virtue of Supplication
Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim al Jawziyyah

Taken from ‘ad-Daa`u wa ad-Dwaa`u’ of Imaam ibn al-Qayyim

It is the weapon of the believer as is reported by al-Haakim in his ‘Mustadrak’ from the hadeeth of Alee bin Abee Taalib (RA) from the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) that he said, “supplication is the weapon of the believer, the pillar of the religion, and the light of the heaven and earth.”

CHAPTER ONE: SUPPLICATION IS A CURE

[Takhreej by Shaykh Alee Hasan with some summary]

Supplication is from the most beneficial types of healing, it is the enemy of illness and affliction - repressing it and treating it, preventing its occurrence, removing it or at least alleviating it. It is the weapon of the believer as is reported by al-Haakim in his ‘Mustadrak’ from the hadeeth of Alee bin Abee Taalib (RA) from the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) that he said, “supplication is the weapon of the believer, the pillar of the religion, and the light of the heaven and earth.” [Abu Ya`laa [no. 439], ibn Adee [2/296], al-Haakim [1/492] and al-Qudaa`ee [no. 143].

The hadeeth is maudu` as declared by al-Albaanee.

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Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah

Ikhlaas (sincerity) cannot coexist in a heart which [embraces] the love of praise and commendation, [nor] the yearning [to obtain] that which is possessed amongst the people, save in the [manner] that fire and water, or a lizard and fish may coexist.

If your soul informs you to quest for Ikhlaas, turn first towards your yearning and slaughter it with a knife [in a state] of desperation. Then turn [in a state of] asceticism upon praise and commendation, the asceticism of the [one] who loved the Dunya for the sake of the Hereafter. If your quest in the [act] of slaughtering the yearning, and [the acquisition of] asceticism [against] praise and commendation is successful, your [journey] shall be facilitated in your [quest] for Ikhlaas.

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The Supplication and Al-Qadar
Imaam Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah

Here there occurs a very popular question and it is:

If the thing that is being supplicated for is already decreed for the servant, then there is no doubt that it is going to come to pass for him, regardless of whether he supplicates for it or not. And if it has not been decreed for him, then it will not come to pass, regardless of whether he asks Allaah for it or not.

There is one group that perceives this question to be valid and so they have abandoned the supplication and are of the view that there is no benefit in doing it. These people, along with their excessive ignorance and misguidance are in clear contradiction, for if we were to follow their opinion, it would require us to reject all the different means for attaining something (desired).

So it can be said to one of them:

If satisfying your appetite and quenching your thirst were already decreed for you, then there is no doubt that they are going to come to pass, whether you eat and drink or you don’t. And if they were not decreed for you, they will not come to pass, whether you eat and drink or you don’t.

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