Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: I have sometimes noticed that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite this one hundred times in a single gathering: "O Allah! Forgive me, accept my repentance, indeed You are the Acceptor of repentance, the Most Merciful."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I have not heard anyone else recite this phrase more frequently than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "I seek forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance."

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The Noble Mustafa (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek forgiveness from his Lord in various circumstances, as we have mentioned, even though Allah Almighty had already forgiven his past and future sins. There can be two meanings to the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) seeking forgiveness. One is that Allah Almighty sent him as a teacher for his people in both word and deed, so he would invite his Ummah to seek forgiveness and to be regular in it, because he knew that his Ummah would often fall into sins. Thus, they would continue to act upon the practice of seeking forgiveness. The second meaning is that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would seek forgiveness for himself regarding any shortcoming in performing good deeds. He did not seek forgiveness from sins, because Allah Almighty kept him pure (from sins) among all His creation, and He accepted his supplication regarding the (innate) devil that is with everyone, until he became a Muslim. So, the situation is such that this was included in the character of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He would act regularly in obedience to Allah Almighty. He would not discontinue it, to the extent that sometimes, due to being engaged in another good deed, he would not be able to perform a particular good deed, and that good deed would be missed by him. Just as, due to being busy, he could not perform the two rak‘ahs after Dhuhr, because a delegation from the tribe of Tamim had come and he was distributing wealth among them and providing them with mounts. Because of this, the two rak‘ahs after Dhuhr were missed by him, so he performed them after ‘Asr. After that, he continued to perform those rak‘ahs regularly at that time. So, the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) seeking forgiveness was regarding the shortcoming in good deeds, that due to being busy, he could not perform them at their prescribed time, and he was engaged in other good deeds which, at that time, were more necessary than the ones he regularly performed. It was not that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sought forgiveness from sins that he had committed.

Abu Burdah narrates: I heard a man named "Agharr" from the tribe of Juhainah narrating, and he was among the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He informed Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: "O people! Repent to your Lord, for I repent to Him one hundred times a day."

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him), "Repent to your Lord," means seek forgiveness from your Lord. Similarly, the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him), "I repent to Him one hundred times a day," means that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to seek forgiveness regarding any shortcoming in his good deeds, which he had set as a regular practice for himself. It was his routine that when he performed a good deed, he would maintain it and do it regularly. Sometimes, due to some engagement, he could not perform that good deed which he used to do regularly. And this would happen because of being occupied with another good deed, just as he was busy with the delegation of Banu Tamim, and due to distributing wealth among them, he could not perform the two rak‘ahs which he used to offer after Zuhr. So when he performed the ‘Asr prayer, he also performed those two rak‘ahs. Thus, the seeking of forgiveness by the Prophet (peace be upon him) was regarding the shortcoming in that good deed which he could not perform due to being occupied with another good deed, as we have mentioned earlier.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates this statement of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him: "When a servant commits a mistake, a dot is placed on his heart. Then if he separates himself, seeks forgiveness, and repents, it becomes clean. But if he commits the mistake again, it increases. Then if he commits the mistake again, it increases, until it overcomes him. This is the rust or (veil or covering) that Allah mentioned in these words: 'Beware! Rust has covered their hearts because of what they used to do.'"

Sayyiduna Agharr Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him), who was a companion of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Sometimes a particular state overcomes my heart, and I seek forgiveness from Allah Almighty one hundred times a day."

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "A particular state overcomes my heart," means that a state of distress regarding the constriction of the chest would overcome him. When, due to some virtue, he was unable to perform a virtuous deed, and he would reflect upon it. Or when he would be concerned about those commands of which he had no knowledge, and this would occur before their revelation, then the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would consider his unawareness of the commands present in Surah Al-Baqarah while in Makkah as a shortcoming, which was due to his unawareness before the Surah was revealed in Madinah. Because of this, a particular state would overcome his heart, to the extent that he would seek forgiveness from Allah Almighty one hundred times a day. This does not mean that a veil would come over his heart due to the commission of any sin, as happens with his Ummah.

Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The chief of seeking forgiveness (Sayyid al-Istighfar) is that a servant says: 'O Allah! You are my Lord, there is no deity except You. You created me and I am Your servant. I am upon Your covenant and promise as much as I am able. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favor upon me, and I acknowledge my sins, so forgive me. Surely, none forgives sins except You.'"

Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws رضي الله عنه narrates that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said: The chief of seeking forgiveness (Sayyid al-Istighfar) is that a servant says:“O Allah! You are my Lord, there is no deity except You. You created me and I am Your servant. As much as I am able, I remain steadfast upon Your covenant. I acknowledge Your blessings upon me, and I confess my sins before You. So forgive me, for surely none forgives sins except You.”(The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says:) If a servant recites these words with certainty in the morning and then passes away, he will enter Paradise. And if he recites these words with certainty in the evening (and then passes away, he will enter Paradise).

(Imam Ibn Hibban رحمه الله says:) Abdullah bin Buraidah heard this narration from his father, and he narrated it from Bashir bin Ka’b on the authority of Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws رضي الله عنه as well. So both chains are preserved.

Hashim bin Abdullah bin Zubair narrates: Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was afflicted by a calamity. He went to the service of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), complained to him about this matter, and requested that he order a wasq (measure) of dates to be given to him. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: If you wish, I will order a wasq of dates to be given to you, and if you wish, I will teach you some words which will be better for you. So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Teach me those words and also order a wasq to be given to me. I am in dire need of it. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Recite this: "O Allah! When I am sitting, protect me regarding Islam, and when I am standing, protect me regarding Islam, and when I am sleeping, protect me regarding Islam, and do not accept the word of any jealous enemy about me, and I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything whose forelock You have seized, and I ask You for goodness, all of which is in Your Hand of Power."

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) When Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away, Hashim bin Abdullah bin Zubair was 9 years old.

Abu Ubaidullah Muslim narrates: I set out with Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him). We camped at the place of "Marj al-Safr." He said: Bring our provisions so that we may use them. Those present wanted to keep that thing safe from him, so he said: My nephew, do not keep that thing safe from me, rather keep safe from me what I have heard from the tongue of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). (The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:) When people are amassing treasures of dinars and dirhams, you should amass the treasure of these words: "O Allah! I ask You for steadfastness in religion, and I ask You for determination in guidance, and I ask You for gratitude for Your blessing, and I ask You for good worship of You, and I ask You for every good that You know, and I seek refuge in You from every evil that You know, and I seek Your forgiveness for what You know. Surely, You are the Knower of the unseen."

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) visited a man who, due to illness, had shriveled up like a bird. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked: What supplication do you make, or what do you ask for? He replied: I say, "O Allah! Whatever punishment You have destined for me in the Hereafter, give it to me in this world." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Allah is free from all defects; you cannot bear that. (The narrator is in doubt, perhaps these are the words) You do not have the strength for that. Rather, say: "O Allah! Grant us goodness in this world and goodness in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of Hell."

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The narrator named Humaid heard only eighteen hadiths from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him). The rest of the narrations he heard from Thabit, who narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him).