Astaghfirullah, a hundred times
What the two narrations actually say, and what the number is not.
Last updated: September 16, 2026
In his own words
The clearest statement of the practice is the Prophet ﷺ describing his own day, and it is worth reading rather than summarised:
“I seek forgiveness from Allah a hundred times a day.”
A second narration puts it differently, and both are authentic:
“By Allah, I seek the forgiveness of Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.”
What the number is not
It is not a quota, a debt, or a price. Neither narration places an obligation on anybody else — they describe what one man did, and he was a man with nothing to seek forgiveness for. That is the part worth sitting with: the hundred is not a measure of how much is owed, but of how constant the returning was.
It is also not a transaction. You will find pages promising that a hundred a day brings a specific sum of money or a specific outcome. The narrations above do not say that, and the Qur’an’s own account of what seeking forgiveness brings is on its own page here, quoted rather than paraphrased.
Counting it, if counting helps
Nothing requires you to count. But a hundred is easy to lose track of, and a number kept for you is one less thing to hold, which is the entire reason a tasbih exists. Sets of 33 are the familiar unit; three of them make 99 and one more makes the hundred.
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Common questions
How many times should you say Astaghfirullah in a day?
The Prophet ﷺ described his own practice as a hundred times a day (Sahih Muslim 2702a), and in another narration as more than seventy times a day (Sahih al-Bukhari 6307). Neither is given as a limit or as a requirement placed on anybody else.
Why do the two narrations say different numbers?
They describe the same habit at different moments rather than contradicting each other. Both are authentic; both describe a practice repeated many times through an ordinary day.
Do you have to say it a hundred times in one sitting?
No. Nothing in either narration requires it to be counted at once. A hundred across a day is a hundred.
Why are tasbih counted in 33?
A set of 33 is the familiar unit of dhikr after prayer, and three of them make 99. It is a convenient way to keep count, not a rule about istighfar in particular.