Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) says in the Quran:

{I told my people ‘say Astaghfirullah, turn to Allah, ask Allah for forgiveness.}

See the same statement we are saying today. What is the model of today’s message: “Astaghfirullah”. Seek Allah’s forgiveness, that is the model. So he told his people the same thing and then he explained to them why he’s saying that.

Why am I saying “Say Astaghfirullah”?

1- Forgiveness

Because Allah is very forgiving. You see there is a difference between Ghafoor and Ghaffar. Ghafoor is one who is forgiving and Ghaffar is one who continues to forgive all the time.

Allah will continue to forgive you repeatedly again and again until the day you die, no matter how many times the sin is done, your duty is to keep on asking Allah’s forgiveness.

When you ask Allah’s forgiveness, you need to be genuine not to go back. But if Satan has trapped you again and you went back after having planned not to go back, still you’ll find Allah most Forgiving most Merciful. That is the meaning of Ghaffar (who just keeps on forgiving). That’s the name and quality of Allah.

So Noah (peace be upon him) says:

{I told my people to keep on asking Allah’s forgiveness}

“Saying Astaghfirullah” because he will keep on forgiving you. For as long as you keep on asking him, he will keep on forgiving you.

So don’t lose hope. Ask Allah’s forgiveness everyday and ask him forgiveness because asking forgiveness will elevate your status even after your sin is forgiven.

2- Provision

Then what will happen?

{He will grant you beneficial rain from the skies}

Through what? Through saying “Astaghfirullah”

What does rain depict?

Rain depicts the flourishing of earth and the beauty of the economy and your entire nation begins to flourish because of the beautiful rain. The crop is produced, people are eating, people are happy, the rivers are flowing and the water is there… so everything is beautiful. That is rain.

How did we get it?

Through saying Astaghfirullah. (O Allah I seek your forgiveness).

Now the young people of today have a problem. If you tell them Astaghfirullah will give you rain, they will tell you ‘I don’t want rain, I want money.’

This is shallow and narrow mindedness because obviously you will only get money through hard work and that will only happen if your economy is flourishing and you have a job and so on.

So Allah says we will grant you the rain

3- Wealth

Because Allah wants to give us even more, guess what He says? Immediately after He speaks about rain, He says:

{And He will strengthen you with money.}

Which means, don’t worry, we know what you want, wealth. You want the cash, we’ll give you. Through what? Through saying: ‘Astaghfrullah’.

Allah says we will give you the wealth, sustenance, we will provide for you. Be happy and content… no need to steal, and no need to live a life higher than your means, get down to your means. You own 1000 Ringgit, manage your month so that you will not use more than that… you earn a million, so manage that month so that you give away a lot of that million Inshallah to a good cause.

Allah is telling us that He is going to give you wealth.

4- Children

And you know what He says:

{He will grant you strength through sustenance, He will provide for you, and He will give you offspring, children}

What type of children?

Those who don’t have children will be blessed with children. You know what that means? Saying ‘Astaghfirullah’ will open the doors of marriage for those who are not married because you need to be married in order to have children.

So if Allah will give you children, it means that we will get you married someone good so that you will have children by the Will of Allah. So number one you want to get married.

Saying Astaghfirullah (O Allah forgive me) a hundred times a day, a million times a day for 5 or 10 years… and you’ll find the doors opening one after the other. And after that may Allah bless those who don’t have children with children.

But some people don’t have kids in a rush… don’t lose hope. Allah knows if it’s better for you and when it’s better for you but will open the door… it’s the door that might be sealed for now you can open it through saying ‘Astaghfirullah’ (O Allah forgive me).

And on top of that, let’s continue… if a person does have children, sometimes they are depressed because the biggest form of hurt that a person can feel is the hurt that comes from their children.

If you’re hurt by your neighbor, it’s fine because you can shift your house… when you are hurt by your own child, it hurts you much more. How? What is the solution for that thought?

Turn back to Allah.