Dear brothers and sisters,
We are a few weeks away from the month of the Glorious Quran. This week, we will look at dua (supplication). In life, we have our day to day responsibilities with humankind but our true purpose is to commit to worshipping Allah (The Most High) and live peacefully as our religion and upbringing have taught us through our speech, our actions, our mannerisms, our character and our approach. When approaching the blessed month of Ramadan, we need to ask Allah (The Most High) to give us the strength spiritually; physically and; accept our good deeds and forgive our bad deeds. Upon seeing the crescent moon, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made a special dua. Talhah bin Ubaidullah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: At the sight of the new moon (of the lunar month), the Prophet used to supplicate: “O Allah, let this moon appear on us with security and faith; with safety and Islam. (O moon!) Your lord and mine are Allah. May this moon be bringing guidance and good”. [Hadith, Al-Tirmidhi] Why make dua? The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Dua’ is worship.” [Hadith, Al-Tirmidhi 3372, Abu Dawood 1479, Ibn Majah 3828] One of the 99 names of Allah (The Most High) is the Responding one. Allah responds to our duas as we call onto Him. He knows what is best for us. We need to build trust in Allah (The Most High) who loves to be asked. “And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible.” [Quran, Ghafir (The Forgiver) 40:60] Never lose hope in the mercy of Allah (The Most High) - He might respond straight away, may delay to test our patience, prevent it and give you something better for He knows the Unseen. During good times, we thank Allah (The Most High). During sad or challenging times, we also seek Allah (The Most High). This is the first who to approach, to seek guidance and relief. Upon making dua, there is a feeling of peace, connection, strength and tranquillity. Allah (The Most High) always has time for us who has blessed us continuously and unlimitedly. He is always there but how many of us make time for Allah? How many of us pray on time? How many of us supplicate to Him? How many of us acknowledge this through dua and dhikr? Our Beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Call upon Allah when you are certain of a response, and remember that Allah will not answer a du’a that comes from a negligent and heedless heart.” [Hadith, Al-Tirmidhi] In another hadith, Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Your Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, is Kind and Most Generous, and He is too kind to let His slave, if he raises his hands to Him, bring them back empty.” [Hadith, Abu Dawood, 1320] It is us who distance from Him and fall into the traps of the Shaytan. Allah (The Most High) says: “And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright” [Quran, Surah al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:186] In the Quran, there is much evidence that our Prophets made dua, why we as common people do not seek from Allah? Let us look at the example of Prophet Younis (Jonah) (peace be upon him), a large whale swallowed him, he made this beautiful dua for forgiveness before relief. The dua is in the Quran, where Allah refers him to Dhul-noon. “There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.” [Quran, Surah Al-Anbiyah (The Prophets), 87] Another Prophet Salih (peace be upon him) with courage said to the People of Thamud: “And to Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. He has produced you from the earth and settled you in it, so ask forgiveness of Him and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is near and responsive." [Quran, Surah Hud, 11:61] This suggests the etiquettes when making dua, the sincerity and asking for forgiveness is essential before the dua you ask of the Almighty. My dear brothers and sisters, every one of us is sinful knowingly and unknowingly, let us raise our hands for istighfar (forgiveness) and tawfeeq (success). Make it a habit wherever to recite the following dua: أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْه __Astaghfirullaaha wa 'atoobu 'ilayhi._ “I seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent to Him.” [Hadith, Al-Bukhari, Muslim] When making dua, there needs to be an essence of hope and fear, humbleness, not arrogance, trust and patience not haste. Prophet Zakariyyah (peace be upon him) and his wife were mocked by people of his tribe, he made a beautiful dua: “And ˹remember˺ when Zachariah cried out to his Lord, “My Lord! Do not leave me childless, though You are the Best of Successors. So We answered his prayer, granted him John, and made his wife fertile. Indeed, they used to race in doing good, and call upon Us with hope and fear, totally humbling themselves before Us.” [Quran, Surah Al-Anbiya (The Prophets), 21: 89-90] After sincerity and firmness of the mindset that Allah (The Most High) knows what is best for us, the next step of the dua is the position and Qibla (direction of prayer). We need to hold our hands together, raise them to in the air to the Almighty and quietly supplicate to the Al-Mujeeb. Below are evidence from the Quran and sunnah: “Call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors.” [Quran, Surah Al-Araf (The Heights), 7:55] Malik ibn Yasar (may Allah have mercy upon him) said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “When you ask of Allaah, ask of Him with the palms of your hands, not with the backs of them.” [Hadith, Abi Dawood, 1318] ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) looked at the mushrikeen, who were one thousand strong, and his companions numbered three hundred and nineteen. Then the Prophet of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) turned to face the qiblah, then he stretched forth his hands and started to cry out to his Lord: “O Allaah, grant me what You have promised me, O Allaah, give me what You have promised me. O Allaah, if this small band of Muslims perishes, You will not be worshipped on earth.” He kept on crying out to his Lord, stretching forth his hands, facing towards the qiblah, until his cloak fell from his shoulder.” [Hadith, Muslim, 1763] Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Sharh Muslim: This shows that it is mustahab to face towards the qiblah when making du’a, and to raise the hands. We should also send blessings on our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) when ending the dua: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Every du’a is kept back until you send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” [Al-Tabarani in al-Awsat, 1/220] Once making the dua, we need to wait patiently for the response and ask frequently. In some hadiths, it is said to say it three times. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The slave will receive a response so long as his du’aa’ does not involve sin or severing of family ties, and so long as he is not hasty.” It was said, “What does being hasty mean?” He said: “When he says, ‘I made du’aa’ and I made du’aa’, and I have not seen any response,’ and he gets frustrated and stops making dua.” [Hadith, Al-Bukhari, 6340; Muslim, 2735] When you are happy “Glory is to Allah. Allah is the Most Great.” [Hadith, Al-Tirmidhi, 2:103] “He responds to those who believe and do good, and increases their reward out of His grace. As for the disbelievers, they will suffer a severe punishment.” [Quran, Surah Ash-Shura (The Poets) 42:26] Dua in moments of challenging times: When you feel sad or distressed “There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.” [Quran, Surah Al-Anbiyah (The Prophets), 87] The response from Allah: “Or ˹ask them,˺ “Who responds to the distressed when they cry to Him, relieving ˹their˺ affliction, and ˹Who˺ makes you successors in the earth? Is it another god besides Allah? Yet you are hardly mindful!” [Quran, Surah Al-Naml (The Ant) 27:62] When you feel scared. Those who were warned, “Your enemies have mobilized their forces against you, so fear them,” the warning only made them grow stronger in faith and they replied, “Allah ˹alone˺ is sufficient ˹as an aid˺ for us and ˹He˺ is the Best Protector.” [Quran, Surah Al-Imran (Family of Imran), 3:173] The response from Allah. “So they returned with Allah’s favours and grace, suffering no harm. For they sought to please Allah. And surely Allah is ˹the˺ Lord of infinite bounty.” [Quran, Surah Al-Imran (Family of Imran), 3:174] When unwell: And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord, "Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful." [Quran, Surah Al-Anbiyah (The Prophets), 21:83] So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity. And We gave him [back] his family and the like thereof with them as mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers [of Allah ]. [Quran, Surah Al-Anbiyah (The Prophets), 21:84] My dear brothers and sisters, Pray to Allah before we return to Allah. Never lose hope and give gratitude. Below is a short reminder with practical advice extracted from a message from a sister called Shamsiya Noorul Quloob. “Pay attention to the duas you make and how you talk to Allah. Pay deep attention to what you talk about when you raise hands in front of Allah. The duas you make say a lot about who you are and what your priorities and attachments in life are. If you keep asking Allah for things that are duniya specific without ever thanking Him for what you already have and without making a major part of your dua focused on hereafter there is a deeper issue within you that needs attention. Balance out your duas. Start your duas with gratitude. Start and end your duas with durood/salawat. When talking to Allah count His blessings and thank Him. Make dua for the grave. Make dua for an easy death and not a death that leaves our loved ones scarred for life or in pain. Pray for the status of a shaheed/martyr even if you die in the comfort of your bed whilst sleeping. Make dua for death that is quick without becoming a burden and liability on loved ones. Make dua for protection against fitna of the grave, Dajjal and hellfire. Make dua for drinking water from the fountain of Al Kawthar by the blessed hands of rasool Allah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ when people will be drenched in their sweat. Make dua not just for Jannah but Al alaa right under Allah's arsh. Sometimes we get lost and lose focus. Pride, materialism, chasing attachments and arrogance is so real. May Allah help us keep ourselves humble and seek Him above all else.”
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AuthorThe AFT team have organized a series of weekly inspiration, every Wednesday to help motivate and prepare you for this amazing moment we all yearn for. ArchivesCategories |