Where is the Answer to My Du’a?! Authors: Rizwan Ali & Issa Abbasi

Du’a is hands down one of the most powerful tools in Islam.  If you ever wanted to speak to your Lord and Creator, Allah (S.W.T.), then Du’a is your link.  Unfortunately, a number of us Muslims are not properly educated in the area of making proper Du’a.  In order to understand the proper rites of making Du’a, we must first ask a basic question; what is Du’a?  Du’a is one of the best acts of worship and a sign of Eman, which brings us closer to Allah (S.W.T.). Du’a is important because it is a sign of one’s Eman.  We are a servant of Allah (S.W.T.) and so Du’a humbles us by asking Him for anything we want and showing our true dependence on Him for everything.  Du’a is so important that is even said to be the brain of ibada!  One of the beautiful and best parts of making Du’a is that you can never make enough or ask for “too much”.  If you were to continually ask a good friend for favors over and over again, while not giving much in return, surely, that friend would eventually become fed up with you.  On the contrary, Allah (S.W.T.) wants us to continually ask Him for our needs both in this life and the Hereafter.  Unlike this friend who would be annoyed at your constant asking, Allah (S.W.T.) would become furious if you did not ask Him for your needs! Du’a also is a sign on one’s Eman, brings us closer to Allah (S.W.T.), is a sign of humility, repels Allah (S.W.T.)’s anger, a cure for all diseases, a sign of wisdom, a beloved act by Allah (S.W.T.) and has a guaranteed reward.  But can you imagine a being becoming angered at you for not asking Him for anything?!  Now you can, because Allah (S.W.T.) wants you to ask, and ask for more.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: a person finishes Salah, raises their hands and quickly says “Ya Allah, give me an A on my next test! Aaammmeeen!!” and then gets up and just runs off at the speed of light. Well, you might be chuckling (do people really even chuckle?) and then you might be saying “oh wait, that’s how I do it too 😦 ”. Well, that is not the proper way to do it, nor the way our beloved Prophet (PBUH) did it. After Salah is actually one of the best times of making Du’a and having the chance of it being accepted. However, most of us do not realize that.

And how many times has this happened to you: you want something really, really bad, and pray for it like crazy. You pray for it as much as you can, and then what happens? Your Du’a doesn’t get accepted. Why? It may be due to 3 big things:
1.) Our sins our blocking your Du’as (after all, in a hadith related by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a man asked the Prophet(PBUH) “I’d like my prayers to be responded.” And he (PBUH) responded “If you avoid forbidden actions, your prayers will be responded.”_

2.) We ask for something Haram

3.) We don’t follow the etiquette and Sunnahs of asking Allah.

Just as there are the etiquettes at the dinner table, there are etiquettes for making Du’a. Let’s look at some of these Sunnahs and etiquette to making Du’a properly (and also how not to make them), when are the best times to make them, how does Allah(S.W.T.) responds to our Du’as, and an action item to implement this plan.

How do we make Du’a?
Anything and everything we do should start with the name of Allah. And as mentioned before, after Salah most of us just raise our hands and ask away with our list of demands and then get up and sprint away. However, the proper way to make Du’a is to:

1) Start with praising Allah. Before anything else, say:
A.) Surah Fatiha (it’s a Du’a in itself. If you don’t know the meaning, memorize it so you can say it in English too). After that, recite Surah Ikhlas, and then recite Ayatul Kursi. These are some of the BEST forms of praising Allah. After this, its better to say some sort of dhikr (I usually say “subhanAllahi wa biHamdihi, subhanAllahi al-Azeem <– one of the best forms of dhikr).

2) Then send peace and salaam to our beloved Prophet(PBUH) by reciting Thashaud .

3) After this, humble yourself by pointing out your mistakes, your bad deeds (“Ya Allah, today I did… I am a sinner, forgive me”).

4) Following this, some scholars say to start with making Du’a and asking for what you want for yourself, and then move out and ask and make Du’a for your family, and then move out further and ask for the whole Muslim Ummah. I actually perfer to do it the opposite way: I start with the Ummah, then with other specific people, and then I move closer and make Du’a for my family, and THEN I make Du’a for myself. I do this because it is easy to just make Du’a for myself and then just get lazy and forget about others. If I start with others, I know that I will have to make Du’a for the Ummah and others before I get to myself. It just works for me.

There are many ways to make Du’a, but one of the best ways is to ask Allah(S.W.T.) by His names and Attributes. This is so important, but unfortunately most of us do not realize this. Allah(S.W.T.) has so many beautiful names and attributes that He WANTS to be called by, and so when we call Him by those names, He really loves it. So, for example, when we ask for strength, we should ask Him who is Al-Qawiy, the Most Strong. We should say “Ya hawal Qawiy, grant me strength.” For patience, we should ask Him who is the Most Patient, As-Saboor. Etc, etc.

Allah (S.W.T.) is, after all, Al-Wahhab (The Bestower) and Ar-Razzaq (The Provider). But sometimes we forget to ask Him, or don’t ask enough. After realizing the importance of making Du’a and asking from (only) Allah (S.W.T.), I made a habit to, after each Salah, making Du’a for at least 10 minutes (Most people don’t give the Du’a importance and just run off and away after Salah, like we mentioned). I won’t move from my spot until the 10 minutes have passed and I had asked for as much as I could. In the beginning it was hard and I asked myself “what more can I ask for?”, but eventually what I’ve learned is that 10 minutes really isn’t enough time (!) There’s so much to ask and to be thankful for. We should be thankful for just having the ability to say “thank you” to Him. Doing this, we will realize how much we need Him.

Some of the best timings to make Du’a in which it is most likely to be answered are at the end of an obligatory Salah, after breaking one’s fast, in the last one third of the night, between adhan and iqamah, during an hour on Friday, between Asr and Maghrib on Friday, when it is raining, in sujood, during laylat al Qadr, when supplicating for one’s child, when traveling, when the Du’a is for another brother or sister who is not present, Du’a for the sick and more. Are you still whining about when your Du’a will be answered?  Insha’Allah let us all be thankful for everything and continually make Du’a, if not increase our Du’a and live righteously in order for our Du’a to be answered.

Action Item
This little 10 minute Du’a project has worked for many people, and you should also try it. After Salah, stay where you are (hey, the angels pray for you as long as you are sitting in the place where you prayed until you either move or break your wudu!) and Ask for EVERYTHING! What do you have to lose!? If He grants it to you, then great, if not, then that’s still great because He will replace that wish with something better (either in this life or in the next).

Know that you never lose by making Du’a. Because here’s how Allah(S.W.T.) answers each Du’a that we make. Allah always has three replies to our Du’a.
1) ‘Yes’
2) ‘Yes, but not now’
3) ‘I have a better plan for you’ (Either in this life or the Hereafter)

There’s never a ‘NO’, so we should just have faith and keep praying. Always remember that the person who makes Du’a is never in a state of loss.

May Allah (S.W.T.) guide us.

~ by Yousaf on October 30, 2009.