Why doesn't Allah answer
our prayers?
By Abdulfatah Oladeinde
Friday, April 18, 2008
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| •The
former Naibul Amir (Information and Publication Affairs)
The Muslim Congress, Uztadh Ismail Ibrahim (middle)
chatting with the Chief Imam of Ikorodu Division, Sheikh
Seifudeen Ademunitan Oloworibi (left) and Uztadh Ismail
Adekunle Busari, during the annual seminar by the Ikorodu
branch of TMC at Ikorodu Town hall recently.
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Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Du’a
and ta’awwudhaat [prayers seeking refuge with Allah]
are like a weapon, and a weapon is only as good as the person
who is using it; it is not merely the matter of how sharp
it is.
If the weapon is perfect and free of faults, and the arm of
the person using it is strong, and there is nothing stopping
him, then he can lay waste the enemy. But if any of these
three features is lacking, then the effect will be lacking
accordingly.” (al-Daa’ wa’l-Dawaa’,
p. 35).
From this it will be clear that there is an etiquette and
rulings which must be fulfilled, in the du’a and in
the person making the du’a. There are also things that
may prevent the du’a reaching Allah or being answered
– these things must be removed from the person making
the du’a and from the du’a. When all of these
conditions are fulfilled, then the du’a may be answered.
1. Sincerity in making du’a. This is the most important
condition. Allah has commanded us to be sincere when making
du’a, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“So, call you (O Muhammad and the believers) upon (or
invoke) Allah making (your) worship pure for Him (Alone) (by
worshipping none but Him and by doing religious deeds sincerely
for Allah’s sake only and not to show off and not to
set up rivals with Him in worship)” [Ghaafir 40:14].
Sincerity in du’a means having the firm belief that
the One upon Whom you are calling – Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted – is alone Able to meet your need,
and it also means avoiding any kind of showing off in your
du’a.
2. Repentance and turning back to Allah. Sin is one of the
main reasons why du’a are not answered, so the person
who is making du’a should hasten to repent and seek
forgiveness before he makes du’a. Allah tells us that
Nooh (peace be upon him) said:
“I said (to them): ‘Ask forgiveness from your
Lord, verily, He is Oft-Forgiving; He will send rain to you
in abundance, And give you increase in wealth and children,
and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.’
” [Nooh 71:10-12]
3. Beseeching, humbling oneself, hoping for Allah’s
reward and fearing His punishment. This is the spirit, essence
and purpose of du’a. Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes
not the aggressors” [al-A’raaf 7:55].
4. Urgently beseeching and repeating the du’a, without
getting exasperated or bored; this is achieved by repeating
the du’a two or three times. Restricting it to three
times is preferable, in accordance with the Sunnah of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Ibn Mas’ood
(may Allah be pleased with him narrated that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) liked to say a du’a
three times and ask for forgiveness three times. This was
narrated by Abu Dawood and al-Nasaa’i.
5. Making du’aa’ at times of ease, and saying
more du’a at times of plenty. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Remember Allah during times of ease and He will remember
you during times of hardship.” Narrated by Ahmad.
6. Seeking to draw closer to Allah by calling upon Him by
His Most Beautiful Names and Sublime Attributes at the beginning
of the du’a or at the end. Allah says (interpretation
of the meaning):
“And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah,
so call on Him by them” [al-A’raaf 7:180].
7. Choosing the clearest and most concise words and the best
of du’a. The best of du’a are the du’a of
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), but
it is permissible to say other words according to the specific
needs of a person.
Other aspects of the etiquette of making du’a, although
they are not waajib (obligatory) , are: to face the Qiblah;
to make du’a in a state of tahaarah (purity); to start
the du’a with praise of Allah and blessings upon the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It is
also prescribed to raise the hands when making du’a.
One of the things that helps to bring a response to du’a
is to seek the best times and places.
Among the best times is the time just before Fajr (dawn),
the last third of the night, the last hour of Jumu’ah
(Friday), when rain is falling, and between the Adhaan and
iqaamah.
Among the best places are mosques in general, and al-Masjid
al-Haraam [in Makkah] in particular.
Among the situations in which du’a is more likely to
be answered are: when one is mistreated or oppressed, when
one is travelling, when one is fasting, when one is in desperate
need, and when a Muslim makes du’a for his brother in
his absence.
Things which may prevent du’aa’ from being answered
include:
1. When the du’a is weak in itself, because it involves
something inappropriate, or involves bad manners towards Allah,
may He be exalted, or it is inappropriate, which means asking
Allah for something which it is not permitted to ask, e.g.
when a man asks to live forever in this world, or he asks
for a sin or something haraam, or he prays that he will die,
and so on.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“A person's du’a will continue to be answered
so long as he does not pray for something sinful or for the
breaking of family ties.” Narrated by Muslim.
2. When the person who is making du’aa’ is weak
in himself, because he is faint-hearted in his turning towards
Allah. This may be either because of bad manners towards Allah,
may He be exalted – such as raising his voice in du’a
or making du’a in the manner of one who thinks he has
no need of Allah; or because he pays too much attention to
the wording and tries to come up with unnecessarily ornate
phrases, without paying attention to the meaning; or because
he tries too hard to weep or shout without really feeling
it, or he goes to extremes in that.
3. The reason why his du’a is not answered may be because
he has done something that Allah has forbidden, such as having
haraam wealth – whether it be food or drink or clothing
or accommodation or transportation, or he has taken a haraam
job, or the stain of sin is still in his heart, or he is following
bid’ah (innovation) in religion, or his heart has been
overtaken by negligence.
4. Consuming haraam wealth. This is one of the major reasons
why du’a are not answered. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “O people, Allah
is Good and only accepts that which is good. Allah commanded
the pious to follow the same commandments as He gave to the
Messengers. He says (interpretation of the meaning):
‘O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibaat [all kinds
of Halaal (lawful) foods which Allah has made lawful (meat
of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables,
fruits)] and do righteous deeds. Verily, I am Well-Acquainted
with what you do’ [al-Mu’minoon 23:51]
‘O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allaah —
Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have
provided you with’ [al-Baqarah 2:172]
Then he mentioned a man who has travelled on a long journey
and is dishevelled and covered with dust; he stretches forth
his hands to the heaven, (saying) “O Lord, O Lord”,
but his food is haraam, his drink is haraam, all his nourishment
is haraam, so how can he du’a be accepted?” Narrated
by Muslim.
The man described by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) had some of the characteristics which help du’aa’s
to be answered – he was travelling and he was in need
of Allaah, may He be exalted and glorified – but the
fact that he consumed haraam wealth prevented his du’aa’
from being answered. We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound.
5. Trying to hasten the response. Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah
be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“The du’a of any one of you will be answered so
long as he is not impatient and says, ‘I made du’a
but it was not answered.’” Narrated by al-Bukhaari
and Muslim.
6. Making the du’a conditional, such as saying, “O
Allaah, forgive me if You will” or “O Allah, have
mercy upon me if You will.” The person who makes du’aa’
has to be resolute in his supplication, striving hard and
earnestly repeating his du’a. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Let not any one of you say, ‘O Allah, forgive
me if You will, O Allah, have mercy on me if You will.’
Let him be resolute in the matter, whilst knowing that no
one can compel Allah to do anything.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari
and Muslim.
In order for du’a to be answered, it is not essential
to adhere to all of these points and be free of all that could
prevent one’s du’a from being answered. That is
something which happens very rarely. But one has to try hard
and strive towards achieving this.
Another important point is to realize that the response to
the du’a may take different forms: either Allah will
respond and fulfil the desire of the person who made the du’a,
or He will ward off some evil from him because of the du’a,
or He will make something good easy for him to attain because
of it, or He will save it with Him for him on the Day of Resurrection
when he will be most in need of it. And Allah knows best.
•Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Source: islamqa.com
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