Al-Ghafir

Al-Ghāfir (الغافر) is one of the titles of God in Islam, translated as "The Forgiver". It is derived from the root gh-f-r (غَفَرَ). The basic meaning of the root is "to cover, to shield, to protect", besides "to forgive".

Al-Ghafūr (الغفور) and Al-Ghaffār (الغفار) are two of the 99 Names of God in Islam derived from the same root. Their traditional translations are "The All-Forgiving" and "The Forgiving".

The root gh-f-r has given rise to three names in the Qur'an: Ghaffar, Ghaffur and Ghâfir. However, only Ghaffar and Ghaffur were included in the list of 99 names narrated by Tirmidhi.

The difference between Al-Ghaffar and Al-Ghafur has been explained by various means. Traditionally, Al-Ghaffar is translated as "The Forgiving". This type of forgiveness is a continuous and repetitive action. No matter how many times a person may sin, God can continually forgive him/her for his/her sins. Al-Ghafur, on the other hand, is understood as forgiving a sin no matter how large the sin may be. A way to make a distinction between the two names is to consider Al-Ghaffar as dealing with the quantity of sins, while Al-Ghafur deals with the quality of a sin. In his book, Al-Maqsad Al-Asna fi Sharah Asma' Allahu al-Husna (The best means in explaining God's Beautiful Names), Imam Al Ghazali translates Al-Ghaffar as "The Very Forgiving One" and Al-Ghafur as "The Most Forgiving One".

Al Ghazali writes:

Both of these Names appear in the Quran a number of times. For example, Al Ghaffar is found in verses 20:82, 38:66, 39:5, 40:42, 71:10, Al-Ghafur in 2:173, 8:69, 16:110, 41:32.

E.g. verse 4:48: "Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him, but He forgives other than that to whom He wills. And whoever sets up partners with Allah has indeed invented a tremendous sin."

The Prophet Noah says in verse 71:10 of the Quran, "Ask forgiveness of your Lord, surely He is Ghaffar."

Sura 40 of the Quran is titled Al-Ghafur or Al-Mu'min

It has been transmitted from Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that Abu Bakr related, "I said to the Prophet: 'O Messenger of Allah! Teach me a supplication that I may make in prayer.' He replied: 'Say: O Allah! I have done my soul a great harm and no one can forgive sins except You; so grant me forgiveness with Your pleasure, and have pity on me. You are Al-Ghafur, Ar-Rahim.'"

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