بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah, the Exalted, and His beloved Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) have called us to call upon Allah. There is nothing more dear to Allah than a slave making du'a to him. [Tirmidhi]
We can call upon Allah in whichever way we wish as long as we ask for befitting meanings both spiritually and worldly. The basis of du'a is not the action of the tongue of saying certain things rather the essence of du'a is the state of the heart, expressed in words. But words are the vessel of expressing inward meanings. The inward meaning of du'a is that du'a is the expression of need, the expression of our desperate neediness for Allah's favor. Du'a is not about simply asking for particular things. The thing we are asking for is expressing a state of our neediness we have for Allah.
... أَمَّن يُجِيبُ ٱلْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ
Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him... [Qur'an, An-Naml 27:62]
In order for our du'a to be truly meaningful, we must accompany that du'a with a certain brokenness in the heart. This brokenness is the feeling of utter need, submission and surrender to Allah, and realizing that truly it is only He who can get us out of our state. In a beautiful hadith Qudsi, Allah says:
“O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.
O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you,
O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you.
O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you.
O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.
O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more that a needle decreases the sea if put into it.
O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good, praise Allah, and let him who finds other than that, blame no one but himself.” (Muslim)
This hadith requires us to read it more than once to truly grasp its meaning. In essence, Allah is telling us that everything is from Him – He possesses this whole world and all that is in it, therefore we should seek all of our needs from Him.
Often the best way of expressing your neediness is in our own words. So don't hesitate to raise your hand and express your need for Allah, but don't neglect the supplications of the Qur'an and Sunnah because they express the most eloquent, the most elevated, the most complete ways of turning to and asking of Allah. When you say the supplication of the Qur'an and of beloved Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam, say them with your heart and reflect on what they are saying before you say them. Don't make it simply a routine .. that after prayer say this 3 du'as, etc. and just say them with the tongue. Du'a is an expression of the need of the heart and you are responded to by Allah to the extent of the neediness that you expressed in your supplication. And make some supplication from yourself in your own language as well.
Sometimes you will find a state when you feel the neediness but you don't know what to ask. One thing you may say is 'Ya Rabb' or 'Ya Allah' repeatedly. Your Lord knows what is in your heart and your Lord knows your need better than you do. The most solace you will find is not in supplication but in remembrance. When you feel a certain state of need, sit down and make remembrance of Allah (dhikr), recite the Qur'an with reflection, with complete trust that if you turn to Allah, He will turn to you in His favor.
Hadith Qudsi:
"Whoever is busied by My remembrance to ask Me, I give to him the best of what I give to those who ask Me." In another narration, "Whoever is too busy with reading the Qur’an to ask Me, I give to him the best of what I give to those who ask Me." [Tirmidhi]
If you are busy in remembrance you are with Allah. So do you think He will give you less than those who ask Him?
The doors of turning to Allah are many. When you have a need, ask. If you don't know how to ask, find solace in remembrance.
Remember Allah loves to be asked and dislikes not to be asked. Hold fast to the promise of Allah.
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدْعُونِىٓ أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." [Qur'an, Ghafir 40:60]
And you ask Allah, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam tells us, with complete certainty that He will answer، (Tirmidhi). But know well that He will respond in the way He wills, not in the way that you wish, in the time He wills, not in the time that you wish, and what Allah chooses for you is better than what you wish for yourself.
Allah has named Himself Al-Mujeeb, which means the One who responds. Just as we are certain that the Qur’an is true, we must be certain that Allah, Al-Mujeeb, will answer our call. We should never think that Allah will not answer, because by feeling so, we are denying this attribute (siffat) of Allah. Whenever we are feeling down, we should not hesitate to ask Him over and over again, and to go into sujood (prostration) and plead because that is the closest that we are to Him. If we realize this, the doors of mercy have been opened for us, because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “For whoever the door of du`a’ opened, for him the doors of mercy are opened.” (Tirmidhi).
Your du`a’ is deposited with Allah, and as was narrated from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam, your du`a’ does something. Either Allah will speedily answer your du`a’ or He will save it for you until the Hereafter, or He will avert something bad equal to the value of the du`a’ (Ahmad). So we should never leave du`a’. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam told us, “Do not stop making du`a’, because nobody who makes du`a’ is forsaken.” (Hakim)
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “Verily your Lord is Generous and Shy. If His servant raises his hands to Him (in supplication) He becomes shy to return them empty.” (Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi)
Just as we know that Allah is Al-Mujeeb, we must also know He is Al-Hakeem (the Most Wise). Allah knows when it is best to answer.
There is a beautiful hadith Qudsi which states that Allah sometimes delays the answer because He loves hearing the sound of His servant (At-Tabari). Allahu Akbar. Many of us would ask and then when we get what we want we stop going to Allah; but imagine that when the answer is delayed, Allah loves to hear you voice again as you call Him. Allahu Akbar.
Remember: our Lord is not forgetful. Sometimes you might even forget that you once made du`a’ for something, but He might give it to you years later.
Ibn Al-Qayyim said he who fulfills the following conditions should know that Allah will surely answer his du`a’:
1. Have certainty that Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala will answer your du`a’. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, ”Ask Allah with certainty that He will answer your prayers.” (Tirmidhi)
2. Show submissiveness and devotion during your du`a’. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, ‘Know that Allah will not accept the supplication from an absent heart.’ (Tirmidhi)
3. Be patient and do not hasten for an answer. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said: ‘The du`a’ of any worshipper will continue to be responded to, as long as… he is not hasty’ i.e. as long as he doesn’t lose patience. [Muslim]
4. Continue to gain a lawful means of living. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam narrated a story about a man asking Allah, saying “O Lord! O Lord!” but his food was unlawful, his drink was unlawful, his clothing was unlawful, and he was nourished unlawfully; so how can he be answered?!” (Muslim)
May Allah help us turn to Him and grant us tranquility. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
And Allah knows best and He alone grant success.
Wassalaam
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