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? Tawbah - Turning back to Allah. Tawba is a journey (Hijra) from the disliked to the liked; from disobedience to obedience; from Allah's anger to His grace. 3. Tawbah completes the purification of soul and it has got a sequence of requisites to be fulfilled. Some of the steps mentioned below are in and of themselves istighfar. And since the spiritual forms of deeds are like a man's offspring, or something even more closely linked to him, and since the reality of tawbah and the form of istighfar is tantamount to disowning and cursing (li'an), God Almighty, since He is the All-forgiving and the Veiler, dissociates those offsprings of the penitent from him on Tawbah and Istighfar are introduced as two different techniques leading to forgiveness of Allah and purifying a Muslim's soul, so we will go through each in detail to know what is the difference between them and how to apply each in a correct way. What is Tawbah? 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. Difference Between Tawbah And Istighfar. Tawbah and Istighfar are two distinct methods for winning Allah's pardon and sanctifying a Muslim's soul. Tawbah is the act of asking Allah for forgiveness after sinning or doing improperly. It is used to glorify Allah and express regret for previous transgressions as well as a determination to Istighfaar and Tawbah. Istighfar, meaning seeking forgiveness, is mentioned in the Qur'an in two ways: either by itself or coupled with tawbah (repentance). The single mention of istighfar (without the mention of tawbah) finds an example in the saying of Nuh alayhes salam in the Noble Qur'an: All Official Links from the Mufti Menk Channel can be found here: OF SCAMMERS WHO OPERATE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION PRETENDING In this article, we will understand what is tawbah and what is istighfar in addition to the difference between them. Let's start. What is tawbah? Tawbah is the act of asking Allah for forgiveness, repenting for a sin we made, telling Allah that we are not going to repeat that mistake again. Tawbah is the way to coming closer to Allah, walking Imam al-Tabari's tafsir says: وقَوْلُهُ :( فَاِسْتَغْفَرُوهُ )، يَقُولُ : اِعْمَلُوا عَمَلًا يَكُونُ سَبَبًا لِسَتْرِ,Other Culture,qur'an,adaab (etiquette),tawbah (repentance),istighfar (seeking forgiveness) efxaT.