Part 6

“And I have not created jinn and man except to worship Me”.

2. Du'@ is the Best Act of Worship

Dua is the most beloved and greatest act of worship. It is a direct link between man and his Lord, and it is a sign of the relationship between them. The Prophet (#8), said:

The best form of worship is du' a.”

3. dua@ is the Essence of Worship

The verses quoted above are clear enough proof of this, as is the

hadith of the Prophet (3%) in which he said:

4. Du‘ a is a Sign of One’s Iman

When a person makes dua to Allah, this is a clear indication that he believes in Allah, and in the proper understanding of tawhid. For it automatically implies that he believes that Allah exists and is

the true Lord (Tawhid al-Rubabiyyah), and that He is the One that deserves to be asked and worshipped (Tawhid al-Ulihtyyah), and

7 Reported by al-Hakim (1/491), who considered it authentic, and alDhahabi agreed with him, as did al-Albani (see a/-Sahihah, # 1579).

8 The takhrij (extrapolation) of this hadith has already been given.

that He is the One that has Perfect Attributes and Names, for He is capable of responding to the du’ a of His slave (Tawhid al-Asma wa al-Sifat). This is why dua is one of the greatest acts of worship, and, when directed to other than Allah, one of the clearest acts of

shirk. 5. To Make Du‘ is to Obey Allah Allah states: 2 eae Sg pote GN rales e315 “And Call upon Him, making the religion Sincerely to Him”.”

Hoe oF. seta Bea. Ni cosihes oid 58S “And your Lord has said: Make du'@ to Me, I will respond to

Therefore by making du‘a, mankind is in fact obeying what he has been commanded to do by Allah. The person who makes dua will be rewarded by Allah even if his request is not responded to, simply because he has obeyed Allah’s command!

6. Allah is Close to the One Making dua As Allah states in the Qur’an: RaSOAHI eee ae cer yg AM ve ee DESI gla 525 AT Es GG Secate

“And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near to them. I respond to the supplications of the supplicant when he calls on Mel”!

So Allah is close to His servants, and He responds to their du‘ a when they call upon Him. The fact that Allah mentions dua immediately after stating that He is close to them shows that this is one of the ways in which a person can come closer to Allah, and one of the ways in which Allah will come closer to him.

7. dua@ is the Only Cause of Allah’s Concern for Us

Were it not for the fact that mankind makes dw’ a to Allah, Allah would not care about creation. This fact, in and of itself, is sufficient to make a person realise the importance of du’ a. Allah states

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Say (O Muhammad): My Lord only pays attention to you (Ar. Ya‘ ba’u) because of your dua to Him. But now you have indeed rejected (Him), so the (torment) will be yours permanently.”

One of the authorities of the salaf (the early generation of the Muslims) said: “It has reached me that the meaning of this verse is: I have not created you because I have a need for you, I have only created you so that you may ask Me, so I will forgive you and give you what you ask”. 3

Al-Shawkani writes in commentary of this verse: “Allah has made it clear in this verse that He is not in need of anyone’s worship, and that He has only commanded them so that they can benefit themselves. It is said, ‘I did not ab‘a (the Arabic word used in the verse) someone’ meaning, ‘I did not care about him, nor does he hold any status with me’, ... so the meaning of the verse is, ‘Were it not for the fact that you make dua to Him, He would not care about you.”*

>? Sarah al-Furgan,77. 8 Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 13/83. 4 Fath al-Oadir, 3/121.

Al-Sa'di writes: “Allah has informed us that He neither cares, nor concerns Himself except with these people (the believers), and that, were it not for your du’ ds to Him — the du’ a of worship and the dua@ of asking — then He would not care about you nor love

So only those people who make du' 4 to Allah, the du’ a al-mas‘alah and the du‘ a al-'ibadah, are those whom Allah is concerned with.

8. dua is An Indication of Allah’s Generosity

Of Allah’s Names is a/-Karim, or the Ever-Generous. The con-

. cept of dua@ proves the extreme and infinite Generosity of Allah, as every single created being asks Allah, day and night, morning and evening, for all of their needs, and Allah gives, and gives, and gives.

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This concept is also proven in the following hadith, in which the Prophet (3%) said:

When one of you wishes for something, then let him increase (his wishes), for verily he is asking his Lord, the Most Exalted and High.”

And in another wording:

When one of you asks something (from Allah), then let him be plentiful (in what he asks for), for indeed he is asking his Lord.*

7 Reported by ‘Abd ibn Humayd in his Muntakhab (1/193); authenticated by al-Albani in a/-Sahihah, # 1266.

9. Du‘a is a Sign of Humility

When a person makes dua, he demonstrates his own humility and meekness to the Creator, and frees himself from arrogance.

Hence why Allah has stated: Qa Le Ncetthe esi eats alts) Ger CAB re arr oer bee oe aes PERCE LA Se BOGE OMG GD aS! ers “And your Lord has said: Make du‘ a to Me, I will respond to You. For whoever is (too) haughty (and arrogant) to worship

Me will enter the Fire of Hell, in a state of humiliation”.”

10. Du'@ Repels Allah’s Anger

Abia Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (#%) said:

Verily, the person who does not ask Allah, Allah gets angry at

$' Authentic, narrated by al-Tirmidhi from Aba Hurayrah, as is mentioned in Sahih al-Jami’ , 2418.

This because, by leaving du’ a, a person in fact abandons the most noble act of worship. In addition, if he were to leave dua out of arrogance, or a feeling of self-sufficiency, this would, in reality, be a type of disbelief in Allah, and a deification of one’s self.

Concerning this hadith, one of the poets versified: Allah gets angry if you stop asking Him And the son of Adam, when he is asked, gets angry!

This relates to the fact the Allah loves to be asked. ‘Ubadah ibn Samit reports that the Prophet (#8) said:

“There is no Muslim on the face of the earth that asks Allah for anything except that Allah gives it to him, or averts from

him a similar evil, as long as he does not ask for something evil

So this once again shows the importance of dua, as it is obligatory for a person to avoid Allah’s anger. Since leaving du‘@ entails Allah’s anger, this is proof enough that making du‘ a is obligatory.

11. Du‘a@ is a Cause of Being Saved from the Fire

Since du‘ a is the highest form of worship, ifa person leaves du’ a, then he has left worshipping Allah. Therefore, he will enter the fire of Hell.

‘A’ishah asked the Prophet (#) about a person who used to do good, but did not accept Islam. She said: “O Messenger of Allah! Ibn Jud‘an used to, in the days of Jahiliyyah, take care of his relatives, and feed the poor. Will (his actions) be of any benefit to him?” So the Prophet (#8): responded:

No, O ‘A’ishah! For never did he say: O Allah! Forgive me my sins on the Day of Judgement.

& Authentic, narrated by al-Tirmidhi from ‘Ubadah ibn Samit, as is mentioned in Sahih al-Jami’ # 5637. Shaykh al-Albani said of it in Sahih alTirmidhi, # 2827:, “It is hasan sakih (authentic).”

83 Reported by Muslim.

So in this hadith, the Prophet (#%) informed ‘A’ishah that Ibn Jud‘an would not benefit from any of his good deeds, and would enter the Fire of Hell, purely and simply because he never made dua@ to Allah to forgive him. The hadith implies that Ibn Jud‘an did not accept Islam, but since acceptance of Islam necessitates asking Allah for forgiveness, the Prophet (#%) equated not accepting Islam with leaving du’ a.

12. Leaving Du‘a is a Sign of Laziness The Prophet (3%) said:

The most incapable (or lazy) person is he who does not make du‘ a, and the most miserly is he who does not give salam.”

How true are these Prophetic words of wisdom! For what energy does it take a person to make du‘ to Allah? And what greater sign of laziness and incapability is there than the one who leaves this act that does not take up any of his time or effort?