In this series, Shaikh Bilal explains two Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad which they begin with the word Allahummah. The first Hadith is concerned with seeking Allah’s forgiveness. This Hadith is called “The master form of repentance”: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The most superior request for forgiveness is to say: O Allah, You’re my Lord there’s no god beside You. You created me and I’m Your servant following Your covenant and my promise to You as much as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I’ve done. Before You I acknowledge Your blessings bestowed upon me and I confess my sins to You so forgive me for indeed no one forgives sins beside You” The second Hadith is called “The prayer for seeking good”. Jabir ibn Abdillah (one of the companions of the Prophet) shows that the Prophet used to teach them this payer for seeking good in all of their affairs the way he used to teach a chapter from the Quran. The Prophet says: “If any of you decide on a matter, he should pray two units of voluntary prayer and then he should say this du’aa’ (supplication) ‘O Allah, I seek Your guidance to what’s good for me because of Your infinite knowledge, I seek Your help because of Your infinite power and I ask You from Your infinite grace for surely You’re able and I’m not and You know and I don’t and You alone know the unseen. O Allah, If You know that this affair – and this is where you will mention the name of it – is favorable for my religion, my livelihood and my aftermath of my affairs then decree it for me, make it easy for me and bless me in it but if You know that this affair is harmful for my religion, my livelihood and the aftermath of my affairs then turn it away from me and turn me away from it and decree for me what’s better wherever it may be and make me content with it”
