Part 1

THE WEAPON OF THE BELIEVER

A treatise on the status and etiquette of dua in Islam

by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi

C — Du a The Weapon of the Believer

A treatise on the status and etiquette of du‘ a in Islam

Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi

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'o) S) yan And your Lord has stated: Make du’ a to Me, I will (of

a surety) respond to you. Verily, those who are too arrogant to worship Me will enter the Fire of Hell, humiliated.

Du ‘a is (the essence of) worship. Prophetic hadith

dua and the seeking of protection from Allah are like weapons, but the sharpness of a weapon is not sufficient for it to cause effect, for the person that handles it also plays a role. So whenever the weapon is a perfect one, having no flaw in it, and the forearm is strong, and there are no preventing factors, then it will cause an effect on the enemy...

€ a Du a The Weapon of the Believer A treatise on the status and etiquette of du‘ a in Islam

1. With Respect to the Actuality of Du‘a 2. With Respect to the One Being Asked 3. With Respect to The One Making Du‘a

20. Du‘a is a Sign of Brotherhood

1. The Realisation that only Allah Responds to Du‘a. 2. Sincerity in Du‘ To Allah Alone

9. Prayer upon the Prophet (#8)

Chapter 5: The Etiquette of Di! @....ctsesseesstessessseessstessseees 71

1. Praising Allah before the Du‘a, and Praying upon the Prophet (98) ...c..cessesceseseeessesesssssesceessesseeneesesseses 7)

2. Raising One’s Hands ... 3. Facing the Qiblah..

10. Acknowledging One’s Sins...

17. To Pray for All Muslims 18. To Say ‘Amin’ 19. To Make Du’a at all Times 20. To Make dua for all Matters oc... cseseeseseseseesesesseseseseeneeeaes 99

22. To Make Du‘as When One is ina Condition of Response

Chapter 6: Discouraged Acts During Du'‘a

7, Du‘a Against Oneself and Family ..

8. To Curse Someone

14. To Experiment in One’s Du’...

15. To Have Evil Intentions .... 16. To Make Frequent Mistakes ....

Chapter 7: The Recommended Times for Dit’ @...csesceseee: 117 1. Du‘a in the Last Third of the Night 00.0... eee 117 2. An Hour of the Night

17. dua on ‘The Night of Decree” ...eccscsssseseecseesnestesteessenees 128 18. Du‘a Inside the Kabah oo... eccesceceseseeeseeeseeeeeseseeeceeeeneseneerees 129 19. Dua At Safa and Marwa ..e.scccsessssssesscecessesesceescseseeceesceeeeees

26. Before LUA .ececceccsssssssessssssssescecececssssetcesesessseeacsussesesseasecaenes

in being Answered vi.cscsccesssesessssessessesseaesesesees 145 L. SUNCELIY Lee ceestesecesseeneeeeseesssestesesussnesesseassesssessssnessceeesensneenees 145 2. To Expect the Best from ANah wc icceeesecesesesscceeetsseeessenses

3. Doing Good Deeds w.eeceeecsssesssecsssseseeestesteneesseneaseneaseaeneenes 4. Fulfilling the Rights of Parents 5. To Make Du‘a at All Times

Chapter 10: Factors that Prevent Du’ as being Answered .. 155

1. Hardt Sustenance w.eeeecseccecseeeseerssstesasssceesesenescessseeeseettseeeaesees 155

3. Leaving Advice to Others.. 4. Being Hasty

7, A Man Married to an Evil Woman; One who Gave a Loan but Did Not Take Precaution.

and a Man who Gave his Money to a Fool u.... te teseseseeeeeees 160

8. Abandoning the Etiquette of Di‘... c..eececctesesseeseteeeteseeeee 161

2. Man does not have a Right Over his Creator

3. A Delay in Response is a Trial

9. Something Hated Sometimes Brings Good

10. It Causes the Believer to Reflect on Himself ..

2. To Wish For Death in Severe Circumstances

3. To Pray For and Against Non-Muslims ....

4. To Request a Pious Person to Perform a Du'Gl v.sesceceseeccsveoee 182

3. Tawassul by Mentioning the State One is in 4. Tawassul through Good Deeds 5. Tawassul Through Mentioning the Effect of the Du‘a

7. The Du‘a of Yanus 8. The Du‘a of Animals 9. The Du‘a of the Prophet (#%) Against a Person

6. The Sixth Hadith

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His aid, and ask His forgiveness. We also seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls, and from our impious deeds. Indeed, whoever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whoever He misguides, there is none that can guide him. I bear witness and testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, all glory be to Him, and IJ bear witness and testify that Muhammad is His final Messenger, and His perfect worshipper.

Verily, man has been created for a noble and great purpose ~ in fact, the most noble and dignified goal that can exist — and that is that he may worship Allah alone, without any partners. Allah has said in the Quran:

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And I have only created jinn and mankind to worship Me.

And the greatest and most noble form of worship is du’ a. It is a plea from the very heart of a believer directed towards Allah — the Hearer of all things’, the Knower of all secrets. It is a confession that emanates from the heart of a believer that he is weak and helpless, that he cannot achieve anything without Allah’s help and aid. _ It is an implicit affirmation of every single Name and Attribute of Allah, for it affirms that Allah is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Controller of all Affairs, the Hearer, the Seer, the Merciful, the Great, the All-Powerful, the Ever-Capable. The concept of dua entails

' Sarah al-Dhariyar, 56. 2 Tt should be remembered that Allah’s Names and Attributes are only in Arabic, and that the translations used in this treatise — and in all English books — convey only a small fraction of the real Arabic meaning of the word. Therefore, these translations should not, and cannot, take the place

of the actual Arabic Names and Attributes of Allah.

complete submission to Allah, and perfect recognition of His right to be worshipped. It also consigns man to his proper status — a poor, created being, who has no control of any matter by himself, but rather he is the one that is controlled. It is a confirmation and attestation from the worshipper that he is in need of his Creator at every instance, and that Allah is independent of any need from him. It shows that man is in a dire state of poverty towards his Lord, and that he cannot live without Him in any circumstance. In fact, his need for his Lord is more than his need for food, drink and air, for it is his Lord that provides him with all this and more. In particular, he is in need of continual guidance from His Lord, and this is .the most important of all his needs, and the most noble of all his wants,

Du ‘ais the essence of worship. This can be seen by imagining the condition of one making du‘ a — a worshipper repenting from his sins, humiliated in front of His Lord, in a state of fear, submitting himself to the will of Allah, earnestly desiring Allah’s rewards, raising his hands, turning to Allah with the best of hopes from Him, exemplifying the statement of Allah:

BIE Dp e45] Or SOE CAC AL “Verily, they used to hasten to do good deeds, and they used to

make du’ 4 to Us with hope and fear, and used to humble themselves before Us.”

Such a person makes du‘a, keeping in mind the promise that Allah has given him, hopeful of achieving that promise:

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3 Sarah al-Anbiya, 90.

And your Lord has said: “Call upon me, and I will answer you!” Verily, those who are (too) arrogant to worship Allah will enter Hell, humiliated!‘

So when one visualises such a person, and the state that he will

So the entire concept of worship, the purpose for which mankind was created, can infact, be summarised in one simple act: that of du’ a.

Dua is a noble, spiritual form of worship which allows the created to appreciate the majesty and eminence of the Creator. This is because the worshipper turns to his Lord at his time of need, after all other types of aid have been cut off, and all other sources have been despaired of. He turns to his Lord to obtain from Him contentment, peace and serenity, and he finds Beneficence which will never be found from other sources. And how can this not happen, when he is turning to the Lord of all lords, and the King of all kings, the One Who is Self-Sufficient from all wants, and Who is Praised at all times?

So with the noble status of this act of worship in mind, it becomes obligatory on every single believer, without exception, to become familiar with this great concept of du’a. So many questions that abound in one’s mind must be answered. What is dua? What are its blessings and its excellence? What is the proper etiquette that one must follow while making du‘ a? Why is someone’s dua responded to, and someone else’s not? And how can one increase one’s chances of getting one’s dua@ accepted? And what are the factors that prevent one’s du'@ from being accepted? Also, if everything is already predestined, then what is the purpose of making

* Sarah Ghafir, 60.

Authentic, narrated by Ahmad and the four Sunans, and others, from Nu‘man ibn Bashir, as reported in Sahih al-Jami # 3407.

du 4, for surely, if it is already written, it will happen whether the dua is made or not, and if it is not written, then no matter how much du‘ one does, it will never occur?

All these questions, and more , are answered in the short treatise in your hands. Although there are many books in English about the concept and etiquette of du'a, in this author’s humble opinion, none of them have done justice to this topic. Most only deal with some of the etiquette of dz‘ a, and none actually discuss the importance and status of dw‘ a in a Muslim’s life. Therefore, I felt a dire need for such a book in the English language, and compiled this short, yet insha-Allah comprehensive, treatise, in which I pray that the reader will find essential information that is needed by every Muslim with regard to this greatest act of worship. I have deliberately not elaborated unnecessarily on many advanced points or difficult concepts, nor have I diverged to discuss obscure tangents, for the purpose of this book is not so that a person masters the many facets of du’ @, but rather that the reader obtains practical benefit, by applying what he has read in his daily life. This work is meant for the layman who wishes to learn more about dua@ so that he can worship Allah properly; it is not for the scholar. Therefore, the chapter sections have deliberately been left short, for I have restricted myself to quoting some @ya¢ and ahadith, and the statements of scholars, along with short explanations where appropriate.