Question:
I write to request your comment on the difference in meaning between ‘ahd and wa’d and if there is a reason why one is mentioned after another in the famous sayyidul istighfar?
Jazakallahu khair, wassalamualaikum.
Answer:
`alaykum as-salam,
It means:
– loyalty to the pact made on the Day of Promises and certainty in the Divine Promise that none dies on pure monotheism and belief in the next life except the Divine Promise of safety for them will be realized on the Day of Resurrection (Ibn Battal and Ibn Hajar, Sharh al-Bukhari and al-Khattabi as quoted in Subul al-Salam);
– my contract (`ahd) with You and my promise (wa`d) to You that I do and will ever believe in You and obey You. (al-Baghawi, Sharh al-Sunna; al-Munawi, al-Taysir Sharh al-Jami` al-Saghir).
The `Ahd of Allah is also His Qur’an, which contains His Wa`d.
The morning before Badr the Holy Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) kept saying: O Allah I ask you your `Ahd and Your Wa`d until Sayyidyna Abu Bakr (Allah be well-pleased with him) took him by the hand and they went out. And Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
