Part 34

3. For Every Prophet there is a Special Du'‘a

One of the favours that Allah has bestowed upon His prophets is that He has given each one of them one du @ that will be answered.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (3%) said:

“For every prophet, there is a dz‘ a@ which he makes that is an-

407 sidstlah al-Sahihah (2/146).

swered. However, I wish to postpone my du '@ (to the Day of Judgement) as an intercession for my zmmah.

In another hadith he (8) said:

“For every prophet there is a du‘a that is responded to, and I have kept my de'@ as an intercession for my ummah on the Day of Judgement. And it will be for those, Allah willing, who died without having associated partners with Allah”.

This is an indication of the Prophet's (#8) mercy and kindness to his ummah, since he will use his du‘ a for his ummah, when they need it the most.

It should also be remembered that the dua referred to in the ' above hadith are special du’ as of the prophets, and not every dua that they make is answered by Allah. The proof for this is found in the hadith in which the Prophet (3) said:

“I asked my Lord three things. He gave me two of them, and

In this hadith, it is shown that not every dua of a prophet is answered.

4. The Most Important Matters to Ask For

The servant asks Allah for his each and every matter, for the treasures of all matters belong to Allah:

papa sers i) siecaal)

And there is nothing except that We possess its treasures (or stores),

408 Narrated by Ahmad and al-Bukhari, as mentioned in Sahih al-Jami # 5178.

NON arrated by Ahmad, Muslim and others, from Sa‘d, as mentioned in Sahih

However, without a doubt, certain matters have more right to be asked than others, for not all affairs are equivalent in importance. Of the matters that one should ask continuously and without fail are the following:

Every day, over twenty times a Muslim cries out to Allah:

You Alone do we worship, and You alone do we ask for Help"?

So it is of primary importance that we ask Allah for help in worshipping Him, and that we be guided to the Straight Path, the Path of those whom He is pleased with, and not the Path of those who have gone astray. For Allah alone is the only one that can guide:

ww? ot iS Cea 7 ae cob Sven 49 gl gs altace 4 bay ate s OL 20 di4 So whoever Allah guides is the (only) one that is truly guided,

and whoever He leads astray will never find a protector, or a

Hence why the Prophet (#%) would regularly pray in his Wier prayer: 415,

O Allah! Guide me along with those whom You have guided. He (8%) would also pray:

M2 See al-Qahtani, pp. 137-145.

4B Sarah al-Fatihah, 5.

‘4 Sarah al-Kahf, 17.

415 Reported by al-Tirmidhi; see Sahih al-Tirmidhi, 1/144. Reported by Muslim, 4/209.

No matter how pious a person becomes, or how rightly guided he is, he is bound to fall into error occasionally, for he is only human. The righteous person realises this, and is ever-quick to turn to Allah in repentance, doing so frequently and sincerely. And in doing so, he keeps in front of him Allah’s statement as follows:

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And I am indeed Ever-Forgiving to the one that repents, and believes, and does good deeds, and then is rightly guided.*”

And the Prophet (#8), the most perfect of the Children of Adam, informed us of his own situation, and commanded us to follow it, when he said:

O Mankind! Repent to Allah and seek forgiveness, for verily I ask for Allah’s forgiveness a hundred times a day!"

The ultimate goal of every believer should be to earn the pleasure of Allah, and, through it, Paradise. So if this really is the goal of the believer, he should ask for it in every single du’ a that he makes, day and night, morning and evening. And if a person finds that he does not ask frequently for Paradise, then he must ask himself how important it is to him, and re-evaluate the priorities that he has made for himself.

Ponder over the wisdom of the Companion of the Prophet (#8), Rabi‘ah ibn Ka'b al-Aslami, who served the Prophet (3%), and attended to his needs. Once, the Prophet (#%), impressed with his dedication, said:

“Ask (whatever you want)”.

4! seerah Ta Ha, 82. ‘18 Reported by Muslim, 4/2076.

So see what his response was, and his great maturity and wisdom, when, without a second’s hesitation or doubt, he responded, “T wish that I be with you in Paradise”. The Prophet (#8) said:

“Anything else besides this?”

So he said, “No, that is what I want”. Then the Prophet (2%) responded:

“Then help me with your (request) by numerous

So he did not even ask for anything else, since to him this was his ultimate goal and desire, thus he had no need of anything else.

Asking Allah for Paradise necessitates seeking His protection from the Fire of Hell. Therefore the Prophet (#%) would often combine these two requests.

Once he (#8) asked a Bedouin which du'as he recited in his prayer? The Bedouin responded: “I say my tashahhud, and then I ask Allah for Paradise, and seek His refuge from the Fire of Hell. For verily, by Allah, I am not able to comprehend (and memorise) your humming or the humming of Mu‘adh!” So the Prophet (#8) responded, bemusedly:

420 And around these two requests we hum!

“1? Reported by Muslim, 1/353. This hadith should not be interpreted to mean that the Prophet (#%) had complete control over everything, and thus the ~ decision of who will enter Paradise will be his. It was merely a request from the Prophet (3%) to Rabi‘ah to inform him of what he wanted, and, once Rabi‘ah did so, that the Prophet (3) would try his best to give it to him. In this case, this would have been accomplished by dua to Allah — and whose du‘ @ has a greater chance of being accepted than the Prophet’s (3%)? Hence why the Prophet (#%) asked him to help him in getting this dua accepted, by increasing the number of voluntary prayers he performed, thus making himself more worthy of accompanying the Prophet (#8) in Paradise.

#20 Reported by Abu Dawad, # 792, and authenticated in Sahih Abi Dawid,

So this poor Bedouin, who used to pray behind the Prophet (#) and Mu‘adh ibn Jabal, admitted that he did not know the ‘complicated’ du’ as that the Prophet (#%) used to recite, and, therefore, was forced to ask something very simple. The Prophet (3%) responded that all of these ‘complicated’ du’ as that he (3%) used to make were, in reality, summarised in his simple request for Paradise, and seek-

ing refuge from the Fire of Hell.

iv. Protection from Afflictions

One of the comprehensive matters that the Prophet (#) exhorted us to ask for is protection from afflictions, or ‘afiyah. This is a com- . prehensive word that denotes good health and protection from major affliction and tribulation in this world and the Hereafter.

Once, the Prophet’s (#8) uncle, ‘Abbas, asked him to teach hima comprehensive dv'a that he should ask of Allah. So the Prophet (3) responded:

Ask Allah for ‘aftyah.

He pondered over this for a few days, but felt that there was something more that he should ask as well. So he returned to the Prophet () with the same request, after which the Prophet (#8) said:

O ‘Abbas! O Uncle of the Prophet of Allah! Ask Allah for ‘aftyah in this life and the Next.)

And Abi Bakr narrated that he heard the Prophet (3) saying while he was on the pulpit giving the Friday khuthah:

Ask Allah for forgiveness and ‘afiyah, for no onc has been given, after certainty (i.e. iman), anything better than ‘afiyah.”

v. Perseverence in One’s Faith

A person always strives to protect the valuables that he has, and takes every precaution that they are not taken away from him. And

2 Reported by al-Tirmidhi; see Sahih al-Tirmidhi 3/170.

422 Reported by al-Tirmidhi; see Sahih al-Tirmidhi 3/180.

without a doubt, the greatest blessing that a Muslim has been given is the blessing of zman, and hence why he continually asks Allah to protect his iman.

Umm Salmah once asked the Prophet (2%): “O Messenger of Allah! Why is it that most of your dy'@ is (the phrase), ‘O He who turns the hearts! Make my heart firm upon your religion’?” So the

O Umm Salmah! There is nota single person of the Children of Adam except that his heart is between two of the Fingers from the Fingers of Allah. So whoever Allah wishes, He establishes and makes firm (the heart on His obedience), and whoever He wishes, He leads astray.”

There are many other important matters that one must always ask Allah of, such as the continual attainment of Allah’s Mercy and Blessings, and patience at His Decree and contentment with whatever one has been blessed with, and other matters. The main point to realise is that a believer must prioritise his goals, and place the needs and requirements of his religion over those of this world. Although both worlds are sought from Allah, one of them is temporary, and is a means and test to achieve happiness in the other one, so the wise person realises this, and asks Allah accordingly.

5. The Disbeliever does not Remember Allah Except in a State of Need

One of the signs of a person who does not truly love Allah, or rejects the truth, is that he only calls upon Allah when he is in a state of extreme desperation. This because he feels that when he is in a state of richness and contentment he has no need of his Creator, yet he does not realise that if Allah willed, all of his richness and contentment could leave him immediately. Only a true believer realises that he is always in need of Allah’s blessings.