Part 9

8! Sarah al-Namil, 62.

The proof for this condition is found in many Qur’anic verses and akadith. Some of these verses are:

FAIRS wg ee ‘Oy Cite [e354 Jos) at “And Verily the mosques are for Allah alone, so do not call upon anyone besides Him!”

LO TUA NA. LSS BE au el “Will you call upon other than Allah if you are truthful?”

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“Those whom you call upon besides Allah are slaves like yourselves”

y yp pa BPMN 293 2 64 SAMS Go) PS BAG OPO cal “And those who you ask besides Him can neither come to your

aid, nor can they help themselves!”*”

The meaning of the phrase, ‘...besides Allah...’ includes everything that is worshipped besides the Creator, from lifeless objects like idols or the sun to trees, animals, men, a pious person, a prophet, an angel, or any other object besides.

Another proof is the advice that the Prophet (#%) gave to Ibn - ‘Abbas one day, when he (38) said:

“O slave! Guard (the duties of) Allah, and He will guard you! Guard (the duties of) Allah, and you will find Him in front of

82 Surah al-Jinn, 18.

8 Sarah al-An' am, 40. 8 Sarah al-A' raf, 194. 8 Surah al-A' raf, 197.

you! And when you ask, ask only from Allah, and when you seck any help, seck help only from Allah!"**

3. To Perform Tawassul Properly

Tawassul is the seeking of Allah’s help and response through the performance of certain acts. In other words, the person making dua@ uses tawassul to increase the chances of his du‘ a being accepted. Tawassul is performed by mentioning Allah’s Names and Attributes, or by mentioning a good deed that a person has done, or by asking a living, pious person to make du '@ on his behalf, or by showing his own humility and faults in front of Allah.

Due to the great misunderstandings that exist regarding sawassul, this topic calls for more discussion, so we will elaborate further on this in a separate section.

4. Lack of Hastiness

“The du’ a of any worshipper will continue to be responded to, as long as he does not ask for a sin or breaking the ties of kinship, and as long as he is not hasty”.

It was asked, “O Messenger of Allah? And what does it mean to be hasty?” He (#8) responded:

“A worshipper says, ‘I have prayed and prayed, and I don’t see

that it will be accepted’, so he gives up hope of being answered,

gy 87 and leaves du‘ a”

To ‘give up’ means to turn away and break off from something, and the meaning intended here is that a person leaves du‘ a. This same meaning is given in the verse:

86 Authentic, narrated by Aba Dawid, Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim from Ibn ‘Abbas, and authenticated by al-Albani in Sahih al-Jami' #7957.

87 Narrated by Muslim from Aba Hurayrah, as mentioned in Sahih al-Jami’

Vee a aa Aa oe QPS y SEY paleo by SIN, “They are not too proud to worship Him, nor do they weary”,”*

meaning that they do not stop worshipping Him.

This shows that the du’ a@ should be continuous, and that a person should avoid giving up du‘ a just because it has not been responded to. There is another hadith which also proves this point, for Aba Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (#8) said:

“You will be responded to as long as you are not hasty, mean-

ing that (a person) says, ‘I have prayed and prayed, and my

prayer has not been answered!”

Yet another proof of this is the verse,

Apt per. we oes STS DBO Ftd ore ONAioeemuai aay “And man invokes (AlJah) for evil as he invokes (Allah) for

good, yet man is ever hasty!”

Ibn al-Qayyim mentions: “And of the diseases that afflict du‘a and prevent its response is that a person is hasty in expecting a response, and the response is delayed, so he gives up hope, and leaves dua. His example is like that of a person who planted a seed, or a seedling, then guarded it, and took care of it, and watered it, but when it delayed in (giving its fruit) and reaching perfection, he left it and did not take care for it anymore!”

This does not mean, however, that a person should not pray that his du‘ a be answered quickly, for it has been authentically narrated that the Prophet (#%) prayed for rain and said:

“quickly, and not delayed...”.”

88 Surah al-Anbiya, 19.

89 Narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Aba Dawid and others, from Abu Hurayrah, asis mentioned in Sahih al-Jami' # 8085.

2 Authentic, narrated by Ibn Majah, al-Tahawi, al-Hakim and others, from Ka‘b ibn Murrah, as mentioned in Irwa al-Ghalil 2/145.

The hastiness that is prohibited is that a person leaves du’ a, thinking that he will not be responded to. There is no harm in asking Allah to respond to the dz‘ a quickly, so understand this difference!

5. dua for Things that are Good

In order for the du‘ a to be accepted by Allah, all Glory and Praise be to Him, it is essential that it must be for something pure and good. The hadith quoted earlier stated that, “The du‘@ of any worshipper will continue to be responded to, as long as he does not ask for a sin or breaking the ties of kinship”, and this clearly shows this aspect. The reason that the sin of breaking ties of kinship is men- * tioned explicitly is due to its grave nature of that sin, but the same rule applies to all other sins.

6. To Have Good Intentions

It is imperative that a person making dua have the best of intentions for whatever he is asking. So, if someone asks for an increase in wealth, he should intend with that that he spend more on his relatives and the poor, and increase in reward in this manner. Likewise, if someone asks that Allah bless him with a pious spouse, his intention should be so that he can avoid falling into prohibited acts, and begin a pious family.

The proofs for this are obvious, for it is not possible fora Muslim to ask Allah for something in order that he do evil with it.

This principle is alluded to in the du‘@ that the Prophet (#%) taught us to say when visiting the sick. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr narrates that the Prophet (3%), said:

When a person comes to visit the sick, then let him say: O

Allah! Cure your servant so-and-so, for he will then inflict a

wound on an enemy, or walk for your sake to the prayer.

So the purpose for which the cure is asked is so that the sick person may aid the religion once he is cured.

3 Reported by Aba Dawid (# 3107), See Sahih al-Jami', # 466.

7. The Presence of an Attentive Heart

The whole point of du‘ a is that a person call out with a sincere heart to his Creator. This sincerity cannot be achieved if one calls out heedlessly, without earnestness. The Prophet (#8) said,

“Make du‘a to Allah in a state that you are certain that your dua will be responded to, and know that Allah does not respond to a dua that originates from a negligent, inattentive

This shows that the dua must be made with a mindful heart, such that one knows exactly what one is asking for, and remembers who he is asking, for he is asking the Lord of Honour. It does not befit, therefore, a servant to ask his Lord in a neglectful manner, such that he is not even aware of what he is saying, or using memorised sentences that he repeats over and over again without understanding these phrases and appreciating their meanings.

There is another hadith that also helps clarify this point. Imam Ahmad reports from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet (#8) said:

“Hearts are like vessels, some have greater capacity than others. Therefore, O people, when you ask from Allah, all Glory and Praise be to Him, ask from Him in a state in which you

are certain that your prayers will be answered, for verily Allah

does not accept from His slave any du’ a that is made from a

Al-Hafiz al-Nawawi stated: “Know that the purpose of du‘a is that one have an attentive heart (towards Allah), as we have already mentioned, and the proofs for this are more than can be mentioned, and the knowledge of it is so apparent that it need not be discussed!”

a Authentic, narrated by al-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim from Abia Hurayrah, and authenticated by al-Albani in Sahih al-Jami’ # 245.

% Al-Adhkar, p. 356.

8. Purity of One’s Sustenance

Allah, all Glory and Praise be to Him, says: 5 S88 NN a aoe oe ew Me ry re - @) 3B Sse sh usage

“For, verily there are those amongst men who say, ‘O Our Lord! Grant us in this world,’ and they have no share of the Hereaf-

Abt Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (#8) said:

“O People! Allah is a/-Tayyib (Pure), and He only accepts that which is pure! Allah has commanded the Believers what He has commanded the Messengers, for He said,

“O Messengers! Eat from the pure foods, and do right”. Furthermore He said:

“O you who believe! Eat from the pure and good foods We have given you”.

Therefore, among the necessary conditions for any du a@ to be

accepted is the purity and lawfulness of one’s food.

Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqis, one of the Prophet’s (#%) famous Companions, was once asked: “Why is it that your prayers are responded to, amongst all of the other Companions?” He replied: “I do not raise to my mouth a morsel except that I know where it came from and

where it came out of”.

*7 Sarah al-Baqarah, 200.