The Times When Du'a is Most Answered

Among the most practically valuable knowledge in the science of dua is the identification of specific times and circumstances when supplication is most likely to receive divine response. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) — who possessed the most intimate knowledge of the divine will and of the conditions of divine mercy — specified particular moments in which the gates of divine acceptance are most wide open, and the Muslim who acquaints themselves with these times and makes deliberate use of them in their supplications possesses a tremendous practical advantage in their spiritual life.

The last third of the night is among the most frequently and most emphatically identified times for accepted dua. The Quran praises those who 'ask forgiveness at pre-dawn times' (3:17) and describes the sincere believers as those who 'would sleep but little of the night' and 'in the hours before dawn would ask forgiveness' (51:17-18). The Prophet described Allah as 'descending to the lowest heaven every night in a manner befitting His majesty' during the last third of the night and calling out: 'Who is calling upon Me that I may respond to him? Who is asking of Me that I may give to him? Who is seeking My forgiveness that I may forgive him?' The believer who rises in the last third of the night to pray and make dua is responding directly to this divine invitation and finding the divine mercy at its most immediately and personally available.

Friday — the blessed day of the Muslims — contains a special hour in which dua is virtually guaranteed acceptance. The Prophet described this as an hour 'in which a Muslim servant who stands and prays and asks Allah for something, He will grant it to him.' The scholars have differed on the precise identification of this hour, with the two most commonly held opinions being the time between the Asr prayer and sunset, and the time when the imam sits between the two khutbahs of the Friday prayer. The practical implication is clear: Muslims should use the entirety of Friday afternoon for intensive supplication, covering the likely times of the special hour.

The time between the adhan and the iqamah (the call to prayer and the commencement of the prayer) is specifically identified by the Prophet as a time when dua is not rejected. The few minutes between these two calls — often spent in the mosque or at the prayer rug — are among the most precious supplication windows in the daily schedule of the Muslim. Similarly, the time immediately after the obligatory prayer is recommended for dua by many scholars, and the Prophet taught his Companions to seek forgiveness seventy times after the Fajr prayer before rising.

The day of Arafat — the ninth of Dhul Hijjah — is described by the Prophet as the day on which Allah most extensively forgives sins and accepts dua. For those performing Hajj, the standing at Arafat is itself the supreme dua occasion of human life. For those not at Hajj, the fast of the Day of Arafat and intensive dua on that day provides a significant spiritual opportunity. The Prophet also identified the night of Laylat al-Qadr in Ramadan — the Night of Power, in which the Quran was first revealed — as a night in which dua and worship carry the reward of a thousand months of worship.

The dua of the parent for their child, the dua of the oppressed against the oppressor, the dua of the traveler, and the dua of the fasting person at the moment of breaking the fast are all identified in the hadith literature as forms of supplication that are particularly likely to be accepted. Said Abd al-Azim notes that awareness of these specially blessed times and conditions transforms the Muslim's relationship with time itself: every day becomes a landscape dotted with moments of heightened divine accessibility, and the spiritually alert Muslim navigates this landscape with intentional and eager supplication at each of these precious windows.