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Quarterly: Issue No 95

Rajab 1441 – February 2020

TAQWA (PIETY)

DU’AA – SUPPLICATION TO ALLAH

 

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.  All thanks and praise are due to Allah and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, his family and all his companions.

 

DU’AA is a three-letter Arabic word written in English letters. These letters make up one word but a subject that is very comprehensive. This word DU’AA is roughly translated to mean “SUPPLICATION” or “INVOCATION”.  But neither of these words adequately define DU’AA. 

In Islamic terminology, DU’AA is an act of supplication.  It is calling out to Allah. It is a conversation with Allah, our Creator, our Lord, the All KNOWING, and the ALL POWERFUL. In fact the word is derived from the Arabic root meaning to call out or to summon. 

 

DU’AA is uplifting, empowering, liberating and transforming. It is one of the most powerful and effective act of worship a human being can engage in. DU’AA has been called the weapon of the believer. It affirms a person’s belief in One God and it shuns all forms of idolatry or polytheism. DU’AA is essentially submission to the will (mash’iyyat) of Allah and a manifestation of a person’s exclusive need for Allah.   Whenever we make DU’AA, whether we call upon Allah in our times of calamities, or express our gratefulness, or for any other reason that includes simply to feel the comfort of being close to Allah, we must remember to examine our sincerity and check our intention. DU’AA must be addressed to Allah Alone, who has no partners, sons, daughters or mediators. Our intention when making the DU’AA must be to ask Allah alone and place our trust in Him completely.

 

Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aala) says:

And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad SAW) 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.   (Surah Al-Baqarah: Chapter 2: Verse 186)

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Invoke Allah or invoke the Most Beneficent (Ar-Rahman), by whatever name you invoke Him (it is the same), because to Him belong the Beautiful Names. And offer your Salaah (Prayer) neither aloud nor in a low voice but follow a way between.  

(Surah Al-Israa: Chapter 17: Verse 110)

O Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.   (Surah Az-Zumar: Chapter 39: Verse 53)

And your Lord said: "Invoke Me, [i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islamic Monotheism)] (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation). Verily! Those who scorn My worship [i.e. do not invoke Me, and do not believe in My Oneness, (Islamic Monotheism)] they will surely enter Hell in humiliation".   (Surah Ghaafir: Chapter 40: Verse 60)

 

Our Beloved Prophet Muhammad Mustapha (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said:

“The Du’aa of any one of you will be answered so long as he does not seek to hasten it, and does not say, ‘I made dua’ but I had no answer.’”   (Bukhari: Muslim).

“Know that Allah does not answer a DU’AA from a distracted heart.” (Tirmidhi).

“Nothing extends one’s life span but righteousness, nothing averts the Divine Decree but supplication (Du’aa), and nothing deprives a man of provision (rizq) but the sin that he commits.” (Ibn Maajah)

 

Trials, tribulations and challenges are part of our lives. However, to counter that, Allah has provided us a very powerful tool – and that is the tool of Du’aa or asking Allah for help and His Mercy when we need it. And we definitely need it all the time.

 

However, to understand trials and tribulations that we face in our daily lives, we also need to understand “SINS” and how our sins may be related to our trials and tribulations.  The better and quicker we understand this ghastly nature of our SINS, and the rate at which we accumulate them - along with their undesirable impact in our daily lives and the hereafter - the more it can propel us away from committing sins in general.  It will drive us to seek forgiveness for our sins – through making Du’aa for ourselves and for others as well. 

 

Here below are some indications of how our sins impact our lives:

·        A sinful person experiences a sense of isolation (indifference) with his Lord, and between him and other people.

·        A person who commits sins sees that things become difficult for him in any matter that he turns to.  He finds the way blocked or he finds it difficult. By the same way, for the one who fears Allah, things are made easy for him.

 

 

 

Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aala) says in the Quran:

Whatever of good reaches you, it is from Allah, but whatever of evil befalls you, it is from your own self. And We have sent you (O Muhammad SAW) as a Messenger to mankind, and Allah is Sufficient as a Witness.  (Surah al-Nisaa’: Chapter 4: Verse 79)

 

Whether we encounter challenges in earning a living, in our family affairs, or other matters of life, the burden of sins greatly inhibits us from seeking the ultimate blessings of Allah and to have the potential of leading a good life in this world for the hereafter. Fundamental to this is the loss of dependence and trust upon Allah. We do not turn to Allah in our times of need but instead put our trust, dependence and hopes on worldly things that we think will solve all our problems. Let’s refine and amend our ways of living away from sins – and Allah will surely listen to us and answer our prayers.  For how long are we going to live a life of oblivion and forgetfulness - away from the Mercy of Allah and Blessings of His beloved messenger?  O Allah!  We all need Your Guidance and Help in this regard. O Most Merciful of those who show mercy!

 

WHEN WE MUSLIMS COME UNDER TRIALS AND HARDSHIPS, LET US SEEK HELP FROM ALLAH ALONE, THE GREATEST OF ALL.  LET US MAKE WUDHOO, OFFER TWO RAKAATS OF SALAAT UL HAAJAT, SEND DUROOD AND SALAAM ON OUR BELOVED PROPHET - AND THEN MAKE DU’AA WITH A SINCERE HEART WITH ALL ATTENTION TO ALLAH FOR HELP.  ALLAH’S HELP WILL SURELY COME.

 

Dua is the key to all human needs – be it in this world or the hereafter. However, being human as we are, we are always in a haste whenever we make Du’aa to Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aala) and expect an immediate answer. The most important thing to note is that once Du’aa is done conscientiously with good intentions, be guaranteed that Allah (SWT) will answer it. We may not see immediate result or get what we asked for but surely, we will be answered. As humans, we may not know whether what we are asking from Allah (SWT) is the best for us at the time of our need or not. Allah (SWT) therefore knows what is best for us at ALL TIMES and may decide to provide us with something better instead of what we had asked for.  May Allah (SWT) answer and make our Du’aas beneficial to us, our family, our Deen and the Muslim Ummah at large - both in this world and hereafter.

 

Our beloved Prophet (SAW) used to pray: “O Allah! grant to my soul (Nafs) the sense of righteousness and purify it, for You alone are the Best Purifier of my soul. You are the Protecting Friend (Waliy) of it and the Guardian (Mawlaa) of it as well. O Allah!  I seek refuge in You from the knowledge which does not benefit, from the heart that does not fear (You), from the soul that does not feel satisfied and from a DU’AA that is not answered.” (Muslim)

 

O Allah! Your Forgiveness is far greater than my sins and I have more hope in Your Mercy than in my own deeds.

 

Requesting your duas!

 

Abdul Haq Abdul Kadir

Johannesburg, Gauteng

South Africa