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Fatwa CenterDifference between Tawbah and Istighfaar
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. What is the difference between Istighfaar (seeking forgiveness) and Tawbah (repentance)? I read somewhere that both words may be used interchangeably to mean either of the two. So how do we know when Tawbah means Istighfaar or when it means Tawbah in the Quran or hadiths? Please, I am confused. Also, are we certain that Allaah will forgive us when we make Istighfaar without thinking not to do it again, or does this fall under supplications to which there are three responses; either it takes place, or Allaah saves that person from something bad, or He saves it for the hereafter? And are we sure that our Tawbah has been accepted after feeling sorry, repenting, and deciding not to do it again? May Allaah reward you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The difference between Tawbah and Istighfaar is that Tawbah denotes quitting the sin along with regret for having committed it as well as resolve never to commit it again in the future. When the person repents to Allaah and fulfills the conditions and pillars of Tawbah, this entails that Allaah will forgive him and erase his sin. On the other hand, Istighfaar denotes asking Allaah for His forgiveness; it may not be accompanied with the fulfillment of some of the conditions of repentance, and, in this case, it falls under the category of Du'aa' (supplication). Allaah, The Exalted, may or may not answer it.
Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah 
said, "Istighfaar is to ask for forgiveness, and it is a kind of Du'aa'. It is mostly accompanied by Tawbah, and this is enjoined. However, the person may repent to Allaah without supplicating Him for forgiveness, and he may supplicate without repenting ... and Tawbah erases all sins ... As for Istighfaar that is not accompanied with Tawbah, it does not necessarily entail earning the forgiveness of Allaah; rather, it is one of the means of earning His forgiveness."
Ibn Rajab said:
"When one makes Istighfaar by the tongue while his heart is still insistent upon committing the sin, it is considered a Du'aa' for forgiveness. This is good, and hopefully his Du'aa' shall be accepted. As for those who call it 'the Tawbah of liars,' they mean that it is not real Tawbah, as some people believe. This is true, because there is no Tawbah as long as the sinner persists in committing the sin... When the person merely says, 'O Allaah, forgive me,' it is a supplication for forgiveness and not Tawbah. Its ruling is the same as supplication; both depend on the will of Allaah Almighty, Who may or may not accept it. He forgives if He wishes, especially if the supplication emerges from a heart laden with guilt and it is made at one of the blessed times in which supplications are most likely answered, such as the time before dawn or after prayers."
For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 321226.
Hence, you come to know that whoever supplicates Allaah and makes Istighfaar without fulfilling the conditions of Tawbah, the answer of his supplication depends on the will of Allaah and it is not certain that it will be accepted. As for the person who repents to Allaah and fulfills the conditions of Tawbah, according to the decisive opinion of many scholars his Tawbah is accepted.
Allaah knows best.
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