Divine forgiveness (maghfira)
المغفرة
Divine forgiveness in the forty-second hadith — the last of al-Nawawi's Forty — is the widest promise God made His servants: 'son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and hope in Me, I forgive you whatever has issued from you, and I do not care; son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and then you sought My forgiveness, I would forgive you; son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and then meet Me associating nothing with Me, I would come to you with an earthful of forgiveness' — from which Ibn Rajab drew three means by which it is won: supplication joined to hope, seeking forgiveness, and meeting God without association — so forgiveness answers sins however great, so long as they are free of shirk and met with hopeful supplication and sincere seeking of pardon (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 830–831).
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Global / Diaspora
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
Forgiveness in the forty-second hadith, the last of the Forty of al-Nawawi, is among the widest of God's promises to His servants. In it, God forgives whoever calls on Him and hopes in Him, however much he has done. 1
Ibn Rajab draws from the hadith three causes by which forgiveness is obtained: supplication with hope, seeking forgiveness, and meeting God without associating anything with Him. 1
Forgiveness is part of the chapter on repentance. 2
Connections
People and things also explored
Muhammad· Muwatta, Book of Prayer· Abu Hurayra· Salah (the prescribed prayer)· Abd al-Rahman ibn Hormoz al-A'raj· Abd Allah ibn Dhakwan Abu al-Zinad· Al Bukhari· ابن عبد البر
Sources
- Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, p.830-831
- Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Divine forgiveness (maghfira)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/maghfira/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.