15. Supplication (du‘a)

١١٢. عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:

«اَلدُّعَاءُ مُخُّ الْعِبَادَةِ».

112.  Anas bin Malik (r.a.) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said:

“Supplication (du‘a) is the essence of being the servant of Allah.” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 1/3371)

 

١١٣. عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهَا قَالَتْ:

«كَانَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَسْتَحِبُّ الْجَوَامِعَ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ وَيَدَعُ مَا سِوَى ذٰلِكَ».

113. Aisha (r.anha) said:

“The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) liked comprehensive supplications and abandoned the other kinds.” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 23/1482)

١١٤. عَنْ فَضَالَةَ بْنِ عُبَيْدٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: سَمِعَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ رَجُلًا يَدْعُو فِي صَلَاتِهِ لَمْ يُمَجِّدِ اللّٰهَ تَعَالَى وَلَمْ يُصَلِّ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

«عَجِلَ هٰذَا» ثُمَّ دَعَاهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ أَوْ لِغَيْرِهِ:

«إِذَا صَلَّى أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَبْدَأْ بِتَمْجِيدِ رَبِّهِ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ وَالثَّنَاءِ عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ يُصَلِّي عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ثُمَّ يَدْعُو بَعْدُ بِمَا شَاءَ».

114. It is narrated that Fadala b. Ubaid (r.a.) said the following:

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) heard a person supplicating during prayer. He did not mention the greatness of Allah, nor did he invoke blessings on the Prophet. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh):

“He made haste!”

He then called him and said either to him or to any other person:

“If any of you prays, he should mention the exaltation of his Lord in the beginning and praise Him; he should then invoke blessings on the Prophet (pbuh); thereafter he should supplicate Allah for anything he wishes.” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 23/1481)

١١٥. عَنْ أُبَيِّ بْنِ كَعْبٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ إِذَا ذَكَرَ أَحَدًا فَدَعَا لَهُ بَدَأَ بِنَفْسِهِ.

115. Ubai b. Qa’b (r.a.) narrated that when the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) would mention someone and pray for him, he used to start his supplication first by saying prayers for himself. (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 10/3385)

١١٦. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:

«يُسْتَجَابُ لِأَحَدِكُمْ مَا لَمْ يَعْجَلْ، يَقُولُ: دَعَوْتُ رَبِّي فَلَمْ يُسْتَجَبْ لِي».

116. It is narrated from Abu Huraira (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“One of you is granted an answer to his supplication provided he does not say: “I prayed but I was not granted an answer.” (Bukhari, Daawat, 22; Muslim, Dhikr, 90, 91. Also see Abu Dawud, Witr, 23; Tirmidhi, Daawat, 12; Ibn Majah, Du’a, 7)

 

١١٧. عَنْ أَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

«مَا مِن عَبْدٍ مُسْلِمٍ يَدْعُو لِأَخِيهِ بِظَهْرِ الْغَيْبِ إِلَّا قَالَ الْمَلَكُ: وَلَكَ بِمِثْلٍ».

117. Abu al-Darda (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“He who supplicates for his brother behind his back (in his absence), the Angel commissioned (for carrying supplication to his Lord) says: Amin, and may you receive the like.” (Muslim, Dhikr, 86. Also see Abu Dawud, Witr, 1534)

Explanations:

In a noble verse Allah the Almighty says:

“And your Lord says: “Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): but those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves in Hell – in humiliation,”^[1] and declares that prayer is one of the fundamentals of being servants of Allah.

Supplication (du‘a), which means to call, to invoke, to ask, and to appeal for help, is “for a servant of Allah to turn towards Allah with all his consciousness” or “as a mortal being whose power is limited and finite, to accept his impotence before the omnipotent Allah and to ask for help.” Supplication is to turn to Allah and humbly and modestly express our own individual needs to Him. In fact with our supplications, we want to express our respect and trust in Allah and that we expect everything only from Him rather than asking the realization of our personal wishes.

If a person prays to Allah with all his heart and takes refuge in Him, then he expresses his respect to Allah Who is closer to him more than anything.

According to the Qur’an, offering a supplication is the easiest way to get closer to Allah. As a matter of fact, Allah is closer to us than our carotid and He is omniscient and All Hearing… Even a single thought that passes our minds cannot be secret to Allah. In order to show the right path to His servants by eliminating their doubts on this matter, Allah the Almighty says:

“When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me. Let them also, with a will, listen to My call, and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way.” (Al-Baqarah; 2:186)

A person can gain value before Allah only as he gains consciousness of the servanthood of Allah. For this reason, we must turn to Allah and ask His forgiveness for our mistakes and ask help only from Him.

Supplication, compressed only to the end of five daily prayers or some other acts of worship these days, actually covers the whole life and constitutes its axis. It is impossible to imagine a life in this world without supplication. Our lives are all about supplication. If we pay attention, we can see that those who do not take saying supplications seriously are the ones who do not take the acts of worship seriously. Such people neglect invoking to Allah but feel grateful to the courtesies of the creation. In contrast, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informed us that prayer is the essence of worship.

In one of his sayings, he stated:

“Supplication (du‘a) is itself the worship.” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 23/1479; Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 2/2969)

This statement draws our attention to the importance of supplication in being the servants of Allah. Otherwise, even though supplication is a kind of worship, there are many other kinds of worship as well. The importance of supplication comes from the state of begging Allah humbly for help whenever we are in need and are destitute.

There are Prophet’s other sayings which are similar in terms of the logic of the saying “Supplication (du‘a) is itself the worship.” For example, the hadith “Hajj is Arafat”^[2]  is one of them. Everyone knows that Hajj is not an act of worship performed only on the Day of Arafah in the plain of Arafat in Mecca. There are many other rituals of Hajj and Tawaf (circumambulation of Ka’bah) is one of them. However, those who do not stay in the plain of Arafat for a while on the Day of Arafah cannot fulfill the requirement of Hajj. Thus, just like staying in Arafat on the Day of Arafah is the most important ritual of Hajj, supplication is the most important essence and fundamental of worship, in other words, being a good servant of Allah.

Therefore, saying supplication is an act of worship whether it is granted or not. That is because by saying a supplication, one expresses that he has acknowledged his weakness and fully comprehended that only his omnipotent Lord can answer his prayers and that is why he seeks refugee in Him.

The Messenger of Allah explained the following verse “Say (O Muhammad, unto the disbelievers): My Lord would not concern Himself with you but for your prayer. But now ye have denied (the Truth), therefore there will be judgment”^[3] saying “There is nothing before Allah that is more valuable than du’a.”^[4] The Prophet also encouraged us to pray continuously to Allah by saying:

“Ask from the graciousness of Allah! As a matter of fact, Allah likes when He is being asked.”^[5]

According to a noble hadith that is narrated from Abu Huraira (r.a.), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“Ask Allah for everything, even if it is only a shoelace, because if Allah does not make it easy, then even that will not be possible!”^[6] and he integrated the lives of Muslims with du‘a.

Abdullah b. Umar (r.a.), who held tight on every advice of the Messenger of Allah, said:

“I pray to Allah in everything even to give ease to the walk of my animals…  I have witnessed good things that made me happy due to this.” (Bukhari, al-Adab al-mufrad, no: 628)

Aisha (r.anha), the mother of the believers, told that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) loved concise prayers. Allah gave our Prophet (pbuh) the trait of “jawami‘ al-kalim: expressing a lot with a few words.”^[7] For this reason, as his speeches, he used to say his prayers concise.

Believers should also be concise in their prayers while they express their needs and wishes to Allah. When a person prays, he should keep in mind that he is in the presence of Allah and pay attention to his words. Since prayer is a way to express wishes to Allah, one must ask from Him good things both in this world and in the Hereafter.

The son of Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas said:

My father heard me say; “O Allah, I ask You for Paradise, its blessings, its pleasure and such-and-such, and such-and-such; I seek refuge in You from Hell, from its chains, from its collars, and from such-and-such, and from such-and-such.”  Upon this, he said:

“I heard the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) say “There will be people who will exaggerate in supplication.” You should not be one of them. If you are granted Paradise, you will be granted all what is good therein; if you are protected from Hell, you will be protected from what is evil therein.” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 23/1480; Taharah, 45/96; Ahmad, I, 172, 183, 269)

Exaggerating a supplication is interpreted in three ways:

a. As in the above mentioned hadith, listing the details of what is already asked for,

b. Asking for things that are not normal such as “rising to sky without a vehicle,” “transforming a mountain into gold,” or “resurrecting someone from death,”

c. Trying to make it poetic by repeating the similar words (in other words praying as if reciting a poem) and shouting while praying. As a matter of fact, pointing out this fact, Ibn Abbas (r.a.) said:

“Avoid using a poetic language when praying. As a matter of fact, I lived in the time of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and his noble companions and they haven’t done so.” (Bukhari, Daawat, 20)

The situation of those who pray loudly as if they are commanding or who repeat what they already said with different words as if they do not know and have not heard of the noble verse of Qur’an saying “Call on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah loves not those who trespass beyond bounds”^[8] is really saddening. Allah who commanded us to pray Him and promised that He will answer our prayers explained how we should pray and His messenger the Prophet (pbuh) established many examples of it. The befitting act of a servant of Allah is to pray in remembrance of being in the presence of Him, with a supplicant manner, careful voice, and concise expressions.

 The Prophet (pbuh) who was the best example in every aspect explained the manners and fine points that we have to pay attention while praying.

One has to start his prayer by praising and thanking Allah and invoking blessings on the Messenger of Allah. We have already mentioned that praying is a way of remembering and praising Allah in addition to expressing our wishes and needs. In the prayers of the prophets mentioned in the Qur’an our Lord is exalted together with His characteristics. The Prophet (pbuh) indicated that a prayer that does not start by praising and thanking Allah and invoking blessings on the Messenger of Allah is a prayer performed in haste. When praying, one must distant himself from everything else except Allah. Then, in order to perfectly acknowledge his impotency, he must praise and thank Allah by turning towards Him. After that he should express his gratitude to the Messenger of Allah for delivering the message of Islam by invoking blessings on him, and finally he must continue on with his prayer. This is like greeting the one who is holding the keys to the door at which you are knocking. On the other hand, the meaning of invoking blessings on the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is to ask that he be given the same blessings that were given to Abraham and his family and be blessed with the same kind of respect that Abraham had in the hearts of people. In a way, following this process in sayng supplications guarantees that requests followed by these two acceptable forms of prayers will be granted.

One day, when the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was sitting at the prayer room, a man came in. After the prayer, the man supplicated saying “O Allah, forgive me and show mercy on me!”  Upon this the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“O performer of the prayer! You made haste. When you pray and then sit, you should mention the exaltation of your Lord in the beginning and praise Him; then you should invoke blessings on me; thereafter you should supplicate Allah for anything you wish.”

Then another person performed a prayer. After the prayer, the man mentioned the greatness of Allah and invoked blessings on the Prophet (pbuh). The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to this man:

“O the man who performed a prayer!  Make du‘a (supplication), you will be answered.” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 64/3476; Abu Dawud, Witr, 23/1481)

Another manner of praying is to begin from oneself and then praying for others starting from the closer people to the further ones. As a matter of fact, the same order is recommended when spending money or donating it (sadaqah). This order should not be confused with being selfish. Above all, a person is responsible to save himself. And it is obvious that everyone would make mistakes to ask for forgiveness or needs to express. The act of skipping himself and praying for others may mean that the person is spoilt and does not need help. Therefore, a believer should act humbly and think that he is the one who needs forgiveness and mercy of Allah before everyone else, and then pray for others.

After we express our wishes and needs to our Lord by a prayer that started by praising Him and invoking blessings on His Messenger, we must not hurry for our wishes to come true. This is because, in the fifth hadith:

We are given the good news that our prayers will be answered sooner or later as long as we do not hurry and say “I prayed but I was not granted an answer.”  As expressed in a qudsi hadith^[9] “Allah the Almighty says: I am just as My slave thinks I am (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him),”^[10] Allah will show mercy to those who pray with no hurry. So, praying by paying attention to its manners is an important blessing for the servants of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“When the door of prayer opens up to a person, the door of mercy opens up for him as well. Allah loves when He is being asked for wellness. Prayer is good for existing and future troubles. For this reason, O servants of Allah, hold on tight to prayer.” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 101/3548)

If a person says “I have prayed but it was not accepted” when his wish did not come true or happened some other way, it implies that the person became hopeless and his faith is in danger. As a matter of fact, it is said in a noble verse:

“… and never give up hope of Allah’s Soothing Mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah’s Soothing Mercy, except those who have no faith.” (Yusuf; 12:87)

When someone sees that his wish did not come true, he may think that his prayer is not accepted. In reality, the acceptance of a prayer may be in three ways. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“When a Muslim asks Allah for something other than asking for something forbidden or getting disconnected from his relatives, then Allah accepts his prayer for sure or prevents a bad thing happening to him as big in value as the person has asked for.

Upon these words of the Prophet (pbuh), someone present there said:

“In this case, we would ask Allah for many things.”  Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“The blessings of Allah are more than what you ask for.” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 115/3573; 9/3381)

Zaid b. Aslam (r.a.) said:

“Every person who prays obtains one of these three things:  Either his prayer gets accepted, or it will be kept for him for the hereafter, or the prayer becomes expiation for his sins.” (Muwatta, Qur’an, 36)

In narrations about the virtues of praying, it is said that:

“Accidents can be prevented only by prayer and lifetime can be extended only by good deeds” (Tirmidhi, Qadar, 6; Ibn Majah, Muqaddimah, 10; Ahmad, II, 316, 350; V, 277, 280)

“Should I say something that will save you from your enemies and make your bread abundant?  Pray to Allah at night and during the day. That is because prayer is the weapon of a believer.” (Haythami, X, 147)

While we pray with absolute submission, we also must pay attention to certain conditions for our prayers to be accepted. A person who says that his prayer did not get accepted even if he fulfilled all the requirements is for sure mistaken. There is either a fault with him or his prayer. Otherwise, his prayer will be accepted in one of the three ways that we have mentioned before.

For our prayers to be accepted, one of the most important requirements is being fed by permissible food that is earned by honest work. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“A person who travels widely, his hair disheveled and covered with dust lifts his hands towards the sky (and thus makes the supplication): “O Lord, O Lord,” whereas his diet is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, and his nourishment is unlawful. How can then his supplication be accepted?” (Muslim, Zakat, 65; Tirmidhi, Tafsir al-Qur’an, 3)

Ibn Ata said that there are elements, wings, facilitators, and times of a prayer and continued: “If the elements of a prayer are complete the prayer gets stronger, if the wings fit, it ascends to Heavens, if the time is caught it wins, and if its facilitators are found, it reaches its goal. The elements of a prayer are peace in heart, compassion, obedience and awe; its wings are righteousness; its time is dawn, and its facilitator is invoking blessings on the Messenger of Allah (pbuh)” (N. Yeniel-H. Kayapınar, Sünen-i Ebû Dâvûd Terceme ve Şerhi, V, 479)

In several of his sayings, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said that the time of a prayer is also important. He informed us that the prayers said in certain times are acceptable such as while the call to prayer (adhan) is being recited, when facing with the enemy in a war,^[11] between the call for prayer and call for actual start of the prayer (al-Iqamah),^[12] in a short period of time hidden on Fridays,^[13] during the last hours of the night, after the obligatory prayers,^[14] and while it’s raining.^[15]

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“Extol in bowing (ruk‘u) the Great and Glorious Lord, and while prostrating yourselves be earnest in supplication, for it is fitting that your supplications should be answered.” (Muslim, Salat, 207; Abu Dawud, Salat, 148/876; Nasai, Tatbiq, 8, 62)

“The time when the servant of Allah gets closest to Allah is the time of prostration. For this reason, try to pray Allah a lot in prostration!” (Muslim, Salat, 215; Abu Dawud, Salat, 148/875; Nasai, Tatbiq, 78)

Our Lord sent Islam as a life system and He announced believers to be brothers and sisters, and advised them to love each other, wish each other’s goodness, and pray for each other.

As the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) always prayed for other Muslim brothers and sisters in Islam, he advised us to do the same. In our sixth hadith, by saying:

“He who supplicates for his brother behind his back (in his absence), the Angel commissioned (for carrying supplication to his Lord) says: Amin, and may you receive the like”, he drew our attention to another point that we should be careful about in our prayers.

One day, when Umar (r.a.) asked for permission to go to Umrah, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“My beloved brother, do not forget us in your prayers!”

With the expression “my beloved brother,” the Messenger of Allah gained the love of Umar and became an example to us how to ask for a prayer from each other.

Upon such a compliment, Umar (r.a.) said:

“This compliment of the Messenger is worth the whole world to me. I would not be happier if they have given the world to me” and expressed what it meant for the Noble Companions to receive the compliment of the Messenger. (Also see Abu Dawud, Witr, 23/1498; Tirmidhi, Daawat, 109/3562; Ibn Majah, Manasik, 5)

In this hadith, it is told that when Muslims pray for each other in their absence, their prayers get accepted and an angel prays for them in order the same things that they wish for their brothers to be given to them as well.

When it is said “in his absence,” the first thing comes to mind is “in somewhere far from him, or not in his appearance.”  The intended meaning of “in his absence” in this hadith is that the prayer is not heard by the person who is prayed for. In other words, he does not know about the prayer that is made for him. As this can be by being physically away from the person one is praying for, it can also be by praying next to him from his mind or so quietly that he does not hear the prayer.

The prayers done for Muslims in their absence are so important since they indicate real sincerity and are free from hypocrisy or two-facedness. Also, this indicates the noble-heartedness of the person who prays, and it distances him from bad traits such as greed and jealousy. He would experience the noble feeling as mentioned in the hadith of “You would not have the perfect faith unless you pray for the same things (that you pray for yourself) for your brother in Islam.”^[16]  Praying for the other Muslims makes believers get used to altruism.

The verses of Qur’an that command Muslims to pray for each other and teach how they can do this prove the importance of the subject:

“O our Lord! Cover (us) with Your Forgiveness – me, my parents, and (all) Believers, on the Day that the Reckoning will be established!” (Ibrahim; 14:41)

“… and ask forgiveness for your fault, and for the men and women who believe.”  (Muhammad; 47:19)

“And those who came after them say: “Our Lord! Forgive us, and our brethren who came before us into the Faith…” (Al-Hashr; 59:10)

As humanity gained economic freedom, people started to see themselves as not in need of anything and in time got further away from praying to their Lord. This situation is harmful for them both in this world and in the hereafter. Hence, believers should get back to practice praying as soon as possible, which is the essence of being servants of Allah and try to live a life filled with prayers.