The Power of Prayer 'Duaa' (2)

Remembrence of Allah is generally called dhikr in Arabic. It can be:

• reciting Allah's own words,which is the Qur'an,
• reciting any form of praise, or glorifying Allah.
  
• praying to God asking for anything, which is called duaa'.
  

Duaa', which is prayer or supplication, acquires a high status in Islam. It is known to be at the heart of worship as the Prophet, salla Allahu alihi wasallam,(SAW), taught us:

"الدعاء مخ العبادة"

By analysing the act of duaa' , prayer/supplication , we find that it implies:

• acknowledging the presence of Allah,
• acknowledging that He is the God with ultimate power,
• acknowledging that He hears what we say- in secret or in public, and
  
• acknowledging that He is fully able to grant us what we request. Thus, making prayer or supplication to God is definitely a practical way of expressing our tawhid, which is affirming that Allah is the Only God and Creator.

Duaa', prayer/supplication, is a key that leads to our happiness in this life and in the hearafter. Once we engage in prayer and remembrance of Allah, straightaway we become in His presence. Allah said in the Qudsi Hadith:

"أنا جليس من ذكرنى"

"I am with whoever remembers me"

We are never alone once we start making prayer. So, in times when you feel lonely, in need of help, depressed or afraid, turn to Allah at once; pray and speak to Him. At the very moment you start praying, Allah will be with you. Never be shy to ask Him as much or as frequently as you can. Allah loves you to do so.

In the Qur'an Allah encourages His servants to turn to Him and ask what they want.
In chapter,40 (ghafir): 60, He says:

"وقال ربكم ادعونى استجب لكم إن الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتى سيدخلون جهنم داخرين"
"Your Lord says: 'Call on Me and I will answer you; those who are too proud to worship me will enter Hell humiliated"

In this verse, Allah promises to answer prayers of those who turn to Him and ask. It is important to note that in this verse, duaa' is also described as worship.

Then, in the same chapter, 40, in verse 65, Allah tells us one of the conditions that are necessary for our prayer to be answered:

" هو الحى لا إله إلا هو فادعوه مخلصين له الدين الحمد لله رب العالمين"
"He is the Ever Living, there is no god but Him, so call on Him with sincerity and devotion of your religion entirely to Him, Praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds"

As seen, purifying our tawhid and devotion to Allah, is necessary for answering our prayers.

Also, in chapter 2 in the Qur'an, Allah informs us more about answering our prayers;
chapter 2, al-Baqarah: 186, Allah says, speaking to Muhammad SAW:

"وإذا سألك عبادى عنى فإنى قريب أجيب دعوة الداعى إذا دعانى فليستجيبوا بى وليؤمنوا بى لعلهم يرشدون"
"If my servants ask you about Me, [tell them that] I am near; I respond to those who call Me, so they have to respond to Me and believe in Me that they may be rightly guided"

We see from this verse, how Allah is very close to us. actually He is closer to us than our own jugular veins (the veins in our necks). All we need to do is just turn our hearts to Him and call Him. He always responds.
But, we need to respond to His guidance and believe in Him and obey Him so that our prayer would be answered. Thus, believing in Allah, responding to His guidance by obeying Him is another condition we need to fulfill for our salvation and for our prayers to be answered.


Once, the companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waaqqas asked Prophet Muhammad SAW and said:

"يا رسول الله ادعو لى أن اكون مستجاب الدعوة"

"O Prophet of Allah, ask Allah to grant me a status that all my prayers would be answered"

The Prophet then replied:

"يا سعد أطب مطعمك تكن مستجاب الدعوة فوالذى نفس محمد بيده فإن العبد ليقذف اللقمة الحرام فى جوفه ما يتقبل الله منه عمل اربعين ليلة

"O Sa'd, make sure that what you eat is lawful and wholesome, then, you will be in such a high status where your prayers will be answered. Then, the Prophet continued: 'By Him whom my soul is in His hands, the deeds of any person who swallows an unlawful morsel of food will not be accepted by Allah for forty days."

To summarise, in order for our prayers to be answered we need to:

• Be devote and sincere in our worship, deeds and our relation with Allah.
• be obedient to Allah, by following His book and the Prophet's teachings
  
• make sure that what we eat, including the food itself and the means by which we get it or buy it should be lawful, halal. In other words, we should obey Allah and eat in accordance to His guidance. If we do that, our bodies will be built from wholesome lawful stuff, the energy we consume in every movement will be from lawful sources, then Allah will accept our deeds and our prayers will be answered by Him. We can add to this list what we have learnt from the previous article of 'the power of prayer':
• being patient
• being God mindful
• remembrance of Allah.
  

(This subject will be continued in another article another week, in sha'Allah)

the photo at the top right is taken from www.ummah.com