1475 – Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, “Teach me a supplication I may recite in my prayer.” He replied:
“Say:
‘O Allah, I have wronged myself with much wrongdoing, and none forgives sins but You. So forgive me with a forgiveness from Yourself and have mercy on me; indeed, You are the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.’”
Agreed upon.
In another wording: “…in my prayer and in my house.”
One narration reads “with much wrongdoing,” another “with grave wrongdoing”—the first with the letter thāʾ, the second with bāʾ—so it is best to combine them and say: “with much and grave wrongdoing.”
[Commentary]
This is one of the reports the author—may Allah have mercy on him—cites in the chapter on the command to supplicate and its virtue. It is narrated from Anas b. Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ used to say:
“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief.”
Grief concerns what has already passed, whereas anxiety relates to what lies ahead. When a person is distressed over the past and anxious about the future, his life becomes strained; yet if he contents himself with the present and prepares for what is to come in the manner prescribed, his heart is at ease. For that reason the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would seek refuge from anxiety (for the future) and grief (over the past).
Many people burden themselves with excessive worry about what is to come, without any real reason, and so their lives become miserable and exhausting—yet when the time for action finally arrives, it proves easy. Others never let go of what has already happened, so their sorrow is constantly renewed and they grow weary.
He also said: “I seek refuge in You from incapacity, decrepitude, and laziness.” Incapacity is the lack of ability, decrepitude is old age, and laziness is the absence of willpower. When a person fails to act, it is either because he is unable—due to illness or the weakness of age—or because he lacks determination. Hence the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge from all three.
“And I seek refuge in You from cowardice and stinginess.” Cowardice is miserliness with one’s own self—he is not brave when courage is required. Stinginess is miserliness with wealth—he withholds, even from obligations that are due.
“And I seek refuge in You from the burden of debt and the domination of men”—or “…from the oppression of debt and the tyranny of men”; both wordings are sound. Debt is a torment: worry by day and sleeplessness by night. The debtor is anxious and troubled. Yet good news awaits the one who takes people’s money intending to repay: Allah will settle it for him. If, however, he takes it intending to waste it, Allah will destroy him. So if you take people’s wealth—whether as a loan, the price of goods, or house rent—and you intend repayment, Allah will enable you to pay, either in this world or, as authenticated from the Prophet ﷺ, in the Hereafter. As for the cheat who takes people’s wealth with no intention of repaying but rather of consuming it, Allah will ruin him—may He protect us.
As for the ḥadīth of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he asked the Prophet ﷺ for a supplication to recite in the prayer. Consider who is asking and who is asked: the questioner is Abu Bakr, and the one asked is the Prophet ﷺ. The person dearest to the Messenger ﷺ is Abu Bakr, and the Messenger ﷺ is certainly the dearest to Abu Bakr. A request from one beloved to another merits the finest answer. His phrase “in my prayer” may refer either to during prostration or after the final tashahhud.
He said:
“O Allah, I have wronged myself with much wrongdoing, and none forgives sins but You. So forgive me with a forgiveness from Yourself and have mercy on me; indeed, You are the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.”
This is a comprehensive and beneficial supplication. “O Allah, I have wronged myself with much wrongdoing”—this is the servant’s admission of his own wrongdoing, and such an admission is one of the means by which supplications are answered, for a person lays bare his condition before his Lord, Mighty and Majestic.