without committing a sin.

He said:
“Your servants err, while You are a Lord
who has charge of death and all that is decreed.”

Al-Farrā’ said: “Khata’ means sin. Al-khatā, al-khatā, and the lengthened form al-khatā’: three linguistic forms.”

I say:
Khata’ is used of deliberate acts, just as it is used of unintentional acts, according to Ibn ‘Āmir’s reading. Thus, someone who acts unintentionally may be told akhta’ta (“you erred”), just as he may be told khattayta (“you erred”). The word khatī’ah (“sin”) is derived from this. Examples include the words of Allah Most High:

“Because of their sins they were drowned,”

and the words of the magicians:

“We hope that our Lord will forgive us our sins, since we were the first to believe.”

Another example is His saying in the authentic divine hadith:

“My servants, you sin by night and day, and I forgive all sins. So seek My forgiveness, and I will forgive you.”

In the two Sahīh collections, Abū Mūsā reported that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to say in his supplication:

“O Allah, forgive my sin, my ignorance, my excesses in my affairs, and whatever You know better than I do. O Allah, forgive what I have done in jest and in earnest, unintentionally and deliberately; all of these are found in me.”

The two Sahīh collections also relate from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), the following exchange:

“Tell me, what do you say during your silence between the opening takbīr and the recitation?”

He replied: “I say: ‘O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the east from the west. O Allah, cleanse me of my sins as a white garment is cleansed of dirt. O Allah, wash away my sins with water, snow, and hail.’”