Mantras
Islam Mantras
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Origin Seventh century CE in vocabulary
The formula of seeking forgiveness, recited after prayers, at the close of gatherings and as a running remembrance. Hadith report the Prophet saying it seventy or a hundred times a day, which the tradition reads as showing that seeking forgiveness is not confined to the guilty. It is expanded in longer versions, notably the sayyid al-istighfar, the chief of the formulas of forgiveness, which is a full supplication rather than a repeated phrase. In Sufi practice it commonly opens a session of dhikr before the tahlil begins.
Facts
Practice
Who Performs ItAll adherents of the tradition 1 FrequencyAs the occasion requires 1 On the recognition of fault, and in counted litanies Solitary or CommunalPerformed alone or together 2 Origins
Origin PeriodSeventh century CE in vocabulary 1 Origin PeriodThe counted recitation is established in early Islamic devotion 1 Use
What It Is Used ForPenitence: confesses fault and asks forgiveness 1 Form
Type of Mantra Learn More
Seeking Forgiveness
Istighfar is the seeking of God's forgiveness, most often through the formula astaghfirullah, I ask forgiveness of God, recited after the prayers, at the close of gatherings, and as a constant devotional practice. The Quran repeatedly commends the seeking of forgiveness and holds out God's readiness to forgive those who turn to him, and the tradition presents the frequent asking of pardon as a mark of the devout, following the example attributed to the Prophet, who is reported to have sought forgiveness many times a day though held to be without sin.
As dhikr it keeps the worshipper mindful of their dependence on God's mercy and of the need continually to return to him, and in Sufi practice it forms part of the litanies of repentance. To make istighfar is to acknowledge one's shortcomings and to trust in a forgiveness the tradition presents as always available to the one who sincerely asks.
A Formula Recited as Personal Practice, Not a Prescribed Count
Hadith reports have the Prophet stating that he sought forgiveness a large specific number of times each day, with figures of seventy and, in another widely cited report, a hundred appearing in different narrations, despite theological consensus in Sunni Islam that prophets are protected from major sin. Commentators reconcile the apparent tension by reading the practice as a model of humility and constant God consciousness rather than as evidence of actual wrongdoing requiring pardon, istighfar functioning for an already sinless figure as an expression of creaturely dependence rather than as remedial confession, and this reading is what licenses ordinary believers to recite it as routine spiritual practice rather than only after a specific transgression.
Its transmission today runs through both structured and unstructured channels: recited a fixed number of times after each of the five daily prayers as part of the standard post prayer dhikr sequence alongside tasbih and takbir, and also used far more informally, muttered after any lapse, minor or major, real or merely feared, throughout the day. This double use, formal counted repetition on the one hand and spontaneous, situational utterance on the other, distinguishes istighfar from formulas like the tasbih of Fatima, which are tied to one specific prescribed count and occasion, and reflects how the concept of turning back to God after error is treated in Islamic devotional life as continuous rather than confined to any single ritual moment.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Element Of
Recited after the prayers and at the close of gatherings as a running remembrance.
Held Differently
Tijaniyyah, Religious Orders The Tijani wird counts a hundred askings of forgiveness morning and evening, a fixed number received with the order's authorisation rather than a devotion left to the disciple's discretion.
Originates in Language
The mantra is transmitted in Arabic.
Part Of
Istighfar is recited after the ritual prayer and at the close of gatherings.
Related To
The general Islamic concept of seeking forgiveness this specific taught formula is named for and belongs to.
In Sufi practice istighfar commonly opens a session of dhikr immediately before the tahlil begins.
Sources
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