Istighfar Initiative for those interested

Bismillah,

I've found that when people come together with a common goal, they generally tend to make progress and often meet that goal. The environment and encouragement we get from individuals with a similar goal is very important and often drives us forward.

For some time now, I've wanted to "reboot" my Istighfar and ultimately add a deep spiritual aspect that I feel was lacking. As we often say, quality over quantity. So there are two aspects that I wanted to prioritize:

1) Consistency is key even if the quantity is small.

Meaning even if all you do is 1 quality Istighfar consistently on a daily basis, it's better than a large quantity periodically. This is actually established in hadith.

2) Depth is the focus.

One of the challenges we all face is being present and focused in our Ibadaat (worship). Often we just rattle off things without focusing or truly reflecting on what we are doing. While that is better than not doing the worship, we should always try and improve and take the next step. So with each "Astaghfirullah", we do an accounting of our actions and self and attach that "Astaghfirullah" to a sin or negative trait. Each "Astaghfirullah" should be as if we are taking account of that sin in front of Allah(swt). Imagine the black spot that sin had created on our heart and recite the "Astaghfirullah" slowly with full focus and regret. This is the important part I want to focus on.

For example, looking back at my previous day I admit to Allah(as) saying "Oh Allah(swt), I abused by gaze when I was grocery shopping , Astaghfirullah". "Oh Allah(swt), I said something about someone I shouldn't have said, Astaghfirullah". "Oh Allah(swt), I judged that person in my mind in a way I shouldn't have, Astaghfirullah".

Even if all we do is 1 "Astaghfirullah" a day that's ok, as long as we maintain the focus and depth when we take account of our sins. My hope is that it will slowly build a depth to not just our repentance, but other parts of our Ibadaat, such as wudhu and our Salah.

I want to extend this out to everyone in the hope we can encourage each other and so if you are interested, please let me know. We'll have period "updates", where we share what worked for us. What I struggle with, I'm sure someone else either will have the same struggle or will have found a way to overcome the struggle. Even if we didn't do any, that's ok, we should still check in and atleast gain dua's from everyone. Together though, we can all learn from each other and Insha'Allah establish a good habit in our lives that hopefully lasts throughout our lives and pass onto others.

submitted by /u/g3t_re4l
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from Islam https://ift.tt/2WeALRV