Salat al-Tawbah, the prayer of repentance
After a sin, purify yourself, pray two rakahs and ask Allah's forgiveness. Here is how, step by step, with what to say.
Repentance starts in the heart. Stop the sin now, feel sincere regret for it, and resolve not to go back to it. These three are the conditions of tawbah for a sin between you and Allah.
Make wudu carefully. The hadith of Salat al-Tawbah begins: "There is no servant who commits a sin, then purifies himself well."
Intend two rakahs of Salat al-Tawbah. Pray it like any two-rakah prayer, as in how to pray: thana, Al-Fatiha and a surah, ruku, two sajdahs, then the second rakah, tashahhud, salawat, dua and salam.
اللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allāhu akbar
Allah is the Greatest.
After the salam, seek forgiveness. You may use your own words, in any language. The best words are the Sayyid al-Istighfar:
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ، وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ لَكَ بِذَنْبِي، فَاغْفِرْ لِي، فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ
Allāhumma anta rabbī, lā ilāha illā ant, khalaqtanī wa ana ʿabduk, wa ana ʿalā ʿahdika wa waʿdika mastaṭaʿt, aʿūdhu bika min sharri mā ṣanaʿt, abūʾu laka bi-niʿmatika ʿalayya, wa abūʾu laka bi-dhanbī, faghfir lī, fa-innahū lā yaghfirudh-dhunūba illā ant
O Allah, You are my Lord. There is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I keep Your covenant and promise as far as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favour on me, and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for no one forgives sins except You.
Sayyid al-Istighfar, the best way of seeking forgiveness: Sahih al-Bukhari 6306, from Shaddad ibn Aws.
أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ
Astaghfirullāha wa atūbu ilayh
I seek Allah's forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6307: the Prophet ﷺ said he sought forgiveness and repented to Allah more than seventy times a day.
After narrating this hadith, Abu Bakr recited this ayah:
وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا۟ فَٰحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ فَٱسْتَغْفَرُوا۟ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا۟ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٣٥﴾
Wallazeena izaa fa'aloo faahishatan aw zalamooo anfusahum zakarul laaha fastaghfaroo lizunoobihim; wa mai yaghfiruz zunooba illal laahu wa lam yusirroo 'alaa maa fa'aloo wa hum ya'lamooo
And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.
Quran 3:135 (Surah Al Imran), translation by Sahih International.
If the sin wronged a person, return what you took, or ask their forgiveness, as far as you can without causing more harm. Follow the bad deed with a good one: give charity, make up missed prayers with the qada calculator, and keep good company.
- Ruling
- Mustahabb (recommended)
- Rakahs
- Two
- Time
- Any time outside the forbidden times
- Basis
- Sunan Abi Dawud 1521, graded sahih by al-Albani
The method shown first is the Hanafi one. Where the other madhhabs differ, the guide below explains how. Use the arrow keys to move between steps.
Guide
Repentance, and the two rakahs that go with it
Salat al-Tawbah is two rakahs you pray after committing a sin, then ask Allah for forgiveness. Ali reported from Abu Bakr that the Prophet ﷺ said: "There is no servant who commits a sin, then purifies himself well, then stands and prays two rakahs, then asks Allah for forgiveness, except that Allah forgives him." Then he recited the ayah of Al Imran shown in the steps.1 This hadith is in Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi, and al-Albani graded it sahih.
The conditions of tawbah
- Stop the sin straight away.
- Regret it sincerely. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Regret is repentance."2
- Resolve not to return to it.
- Return the rights of anyone you wronged, or seek their pardon.
The prayer is not a condition of repentance. Tawbah with the heart and tongue is accepted without it. The prayer is a good deed that goes with the repentance and makes it stronger.
Salat al-Tawbah is mustahabb. It is two rakahs, prayed like any voluntary prayer, with no special surah. Because it is voluntary, it is not prayed in the forbidden times: at sunrise, at the sun's height, at sunset, after the Fajr prayer until sunrise and after the Asr prayer until sunset. If you sin at such a time, repent at once with your heart and tongue, and pray the two rakahs when the time has passed.3
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Hanbali
- Also recommended. Some scholars of these schools, and Ibn Taymiyyah, allowed it even after Asr, as a prayer with a reason (dhat sabab).
- Maliki
- Recommended as a voluntary prayer.
If you fall into the same sin again
Repent again. Allah does not tire of forgiving. In a hadith qudsi, a servant sins and repents several times, and each time Allah says: "My servant knew that he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds to account for them. I have forgiven My servant."4 Keep the resolve sincere each time, and change what leads you back to it.
- Sunan Abi Dawud 1521; Jami at-Tirmidhi 406. Quran 3:135, translation by Sahih International.
- Sunan Ibn Majah 4252, from Ibn Masud.
- Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, on the nawafil and the forbidden times. The other madhhabs' positions are summarised from their standard manuals.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 7507; Sahih Muslim 2758.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Questions
Good to know
How do you pray Salat al-Tawbah?
Make a good wudu, pray two rakahs like any voluntary prayer, then seek Allah's forgiveness sincerely, with the intention never to return to the sin.
How many rakats is Salat al-Tawbah?
Two rakahs, according to the hadith of Abu Bakr in Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi.
What do you recite in Salat al-Tawbah?
There is no special surah. Recite Al-Fatiha and any surah. After the prayer, say the Sayyid al-Istighfar and Astaghfirullaha wa atubu ilayh.
When can I pray Salat al-Tawbah?
As soon as you can after the sin, outside the forbidden times. At night, in the last third, is a good time for any dua.
Can I pray Salat al-Tawbah for any sin?
Yes, for small and great sins. For a sin against a person, also return their right or ask them to forgive you.