Sat 1st Sep 2018
Lesson 22: The importance full focus and humbleness when making dua
- Indeed dua is from the strongest of the causes that will bring you the desired goals
- Dua is also from the strongest of methods to remove from oneself disliked affairs
- However sometimes the benefit of the dua may be weakened and the dua sometimes may not be answered at all. What is the reason behind this?
- It could be due to the dua being made is not good in of itself, e.g. one which has transgression within it etc
- It also could be due to the weakness of one’s heart when turning to Allah and lack of focus at the time of making dua
- It could be due to the person doing something which prevents his dua from being accepted e.g. having a haraam income, committing many sins, having an overwhelming amount of negligence and heedlessness etc
- Therefore it is one of the important criteria that your heart and mind is fully focused and in submission before your lord when making the dua
- The Prophet (ﷺ) encouraged us to focus and warned us from being heedless when making dua
- The hadith of ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Al-‘As (May Allah be pleased with them)
- Therefore we must be focused when making dua and we must have certainty and trust that Allah will answer it (See Lesson 18 in this series about the different ways of dua can be answered)
- Ibnul Qayyim said one of the factors which causes the dua not to be answered is one having a negligent heart
- Dua is a cure for illnesses
- Ibnul Qayyim said if dua is made with a focussed heart with a complete focus on the intended affair, and this occurs at the time when due is more likely to be answered (see Lesson 20 in this series), and he/she makes their dua with a submissive heart, purely focused in humbleness before his lord, upon wudhu, raising one’s hands to Allah, and you begin with praising Allah and send salutation upon the Prophet (ﷺ), then you mention your matter with keenness, asking Allah with his names and attributes then that type of dua is rarely rejected
- Summarised points from the above statement of what is needed:
- Full focus
- Make the dua at the times mention in the Qu’an and Sunnah as being superior
- Humbleness and submission before Allah
- Face the Qiblah
- Be upon wudhu
- Raise your hands
- Start first by praising Allah and sending salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ)
- Seek forgiveness for your shortcomings and sins even before asking about your matter
- Then make your dua with conviction and full certainty that Allah will answer your dua
- Have hope and fear of Allah whilst making your dua
- Call upon Allah using his names and attributes (see Lessons 10, 11 and 12 in this series)
- You can give charity before or after making your dua
- Try to use the duas that have been mentioned in the Sunnah (e.g. from Fortress of the Muslim)
- If a person does all of the above, then it is rare that such a dua will ever be rejected. However it should be stressed that even after doing all of this, then one should not just sit back and wait, rather he/she should continue and strive towards what he wishes for.
- For example, if a student makes due to do well in an exam, then he/she should make the due having full certainty in Allah, and also continue to strive to do as much as they can.
- Another example is someone making dua for guidance below:
- Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) used to supplicate (in these words): ” O Allah, set right for me my religion which is the safeguard of my affairs. And set right for me the affairs of my world wherein is my living. And set right for me my Hereafter on which depends my after-life. And make the life for me (a source) of abundance for every good and make my death a source of comfort for me protecting me against every evil.” [Sahih Muslim]
- However such a person if he/she is serious about this then he should strive to seek knowledge and take the necessary steps in addition to making the dua.
- Summarised points from the above statement of what is needed:
Next part: Our poverty and great need for Allah
- From the greatest of characteristics a slave can have is for him to recognise how significant he is before his Lord and his poverty and need for him
- Us, the creation, we have nothing that belongs to us, rather everything is created by Allah and he is the one who fashioned them and he is the owner of everything.
- We are all in need of Allah, and besides him there is none that we need
- Allah says: “O mankind! it is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah is Rich (Free of all wants and needs), Worthy of all praise.” [Surah Al-Fatir (The Originator) verse 15]
- It is wrong of people to call upon creation in times of need where they cannot help them rather than calling upon Allah
- Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Allah, the Exalted, and Glorious, said; ‘O My slaves, I have prohibited Myself injustice; and have made oppression unlawful for you, so do not oppress one another. O My slaves, all of you are liable to err except the one whom I guide on the Right Path, so seek guidance from Me so that I will guide you to the Right Path. O My slaves, all of you are hungry except the one whom I feed, so ask food from Me, I will feed you. O My slaves, all of you are naked except those whom I clothe, so ask clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My slaves, you commit sins night and day and I forgive all sins, so seek My forgiveness and I shall forgive you. O My slaves, you can neither do Me any harm nor can you do Me any good. O My slaves, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any man of you, that would not increase My domain a thing. O My slaves, were the first of you, and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any man of you, that would not decrease My domain in a thing. O My slaves, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to stand in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decrease the sea if put into it. O My slaves, it is but your deeds that I reckon for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good (i.e., in the Hereafter) praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.”‘.[Muslim].
- Ibn Rajab said about the above hadith that all of the creation are in need of Allah to attain all good and to remove any harm
Q&A:
- How to end the dua
- Can dua change the decree
- If someone goes to university via student loan, then earns an income, is that income haraam?
- If someone has a haraam income and buys food, is the food haraam?