Supplication to Make Things Easy

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the prophet may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him said:

اللهم لا سهل إلا ما جعلته سهلا فأنت تجعل الحزن إذا شئت سهلا
allahumma la sahla illa maja'altahu sahla fa anta taj'alul hazna idha shi'ta sahla
O Allah nothing is easy except what you have made easy, for it is You who makes difficult things easy if you wish

Dear reader please recite this prayer before starting any thing, so that it may become easy for you by the will of Allah. Try saying it before studying, before you start your exam, before your training on any thing be it driving, learning a new skill even before starting your work in the kitchen, just any thing. May Allah make our life easy.

Also for things to be easy it is advisable to pray the prayer of al-hajah (when needing something from Allah or from any one). All you do is pray two rak'ah and then read the following dua as mentioned in the following hadith:
Al-Tirmidhi and ibn Majah narrated that Abdullah ibn abi Awfa said that the prophet may Allah's peace and blessings said: Whoever needs anything from Allah or from any one, should make ablution, wudu', and he should perfect it. Then he should pray two rak'a. After that he should praise and glorify Allah and send salutations to the prophet PBUH, then he should say:

لا إله إلا الله الحليم الكريم
la ilaha illallahu alhaleemul kareem
There is no God except Allah the Gentle and the Generous

سبحان الله رب العرش العظيم
Subhanallahi rabbil 'arshil 'adheem
Faultless is Allah the Lord of the Great Throne

الحمد لله رب العالمين
Al-hamdulillahi rabbil 'aalameen
All praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds

اسألك موجبات رحمتك
As'aluka mujibati rahmatika
I ask you all what brings us your mercy
وعزائم مغفرتك
wa 'azaima maghfiratika
And all what grants us your forgiveness
والغنيمة من بر والسلامة من كل إثم
wal ghaneemata min kulli birr, wassalamata min kulli ithm
And make us gain from all that is good, and save us from all that is bad
اللهم لاتدع لى ذنبا إلا غفرته
Allahumma la tada' li thanban illa ghafartah
O Allah, do not leave any of my sins without forgiveness
ولا هما إلا فرجته
wa la hamman illa farrajtah
and do not leave any of my grieves or sorrows without removing
ولا حاجة هى لك رضا إلا قضيتها
wa la hajatan hiya laka ridan illa rdaytaha
And leave nothing that I need and which it pleases You without being granted
يا أرحم الراحمين
yaa arhamarrahimeen
O You the most Merciful of all who have mercy

when you finish this supplication at the end of the two rak'a prayer, name what you want from Allah or what you want from others. then praise Allah and finish by sending salutations to the Prophet may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him (Allahumma ssally 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aali Muhammad: May Allah's oeace and blessings be upon Mohammad PBUH and his family). All this canbbefore you say salaam and finish the prayer. But remember that we should not ask Allah something that is forbidden or something that would displease Him the Almighty.

Night Prayers

Prophet Muhammad taught us

• Duaa' as the sun sets and the night starts:

"اللهم هذا إقبال ليلك وإدبار نهارك وأصوات دعاتك فاغفر لى"
"Allahumma hadha iqbalu lailika, wa idbaru naharika, wa aswatu du'atika, faghfir li"
"O Allah, this is the start of the night, the end of the day, and the sound of those who pray to you, so forgive me"

• Duaa' after the sunset and performing maghrib prayer

The Prophet may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him said that whoever recites the following supplication after maghrib prayer, Allah sends guards to protect him/her from Satan until the morning. And when he/she repeats this prayer 10 times, he/she gains 10 rewards and 10 of his/her sins will be cancelled:

"لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له له الملك وله الحمد يحيى ويميت وهو على كل شئ قدير"
"la ilaha illa Allahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahu almulku, wa lahu alhamdu, yuhyi wa yumiitu wa hua ala kulli shay'in qadir"
"There is no god but Allah, the only One, He has no partners. all Sovereignty is His. He gives life and He takes it. He is able to do everything"

• Duaa' before you go to sleep:

There are several forms of prayers to read at that time just before you sleep. I selected one of them;

باسمك اللهم وضعت جنبى وبك أرفعه

Bismika allahumma wa da'tu janbi, wa bi ka arfa'uhu

إن أمسكت نفسى فارحمها

In amsakta nafsi farhamha

وإن ارسلتها فاحفظها بما تحفظ به عبادك الصالحين

wa in arsaltaha fahfazha bima tahfazbihi ibadika assalihiin

"O Allah, with your name I laid my side, and with your name I raise it.
O Allah, if you withhold my soul, make it die, grant it your mercy,
But, if you release it, leave it to live, protect it as you protect your righteous servants.

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

The Power of Prayer Duaa' (1)

When we are faced with hardship of any kind, we tend to turn to Allah asking His help and support. However, some of us might not be sure how prayer, duaa', can be effective?

Just listen to the following true story that occurred at the time of the Prophet may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him.

'Aof ibn Malik was one of the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) from the tribe of Ashja'. He had many children and was very poor. It appears that he had a son on whom the family relied for support. One day, this son was taken captive by the enemy. This was very hard for the family; in addition to losing their son, they were in great need for financial support.
So, Aof went to the Prophet (PBUH) complaining about their situation, asking for help. Instead of giving him money or food, the Prophet (PBUH) assured him saying that Allah will relieve their hardship. Then, he told Aof that he and his wife should be patient, mindful of Allah and increase in remembering Allah by saying' la hawla wa la quwata illa billah', which means 'neither strength nor power can be gained except from Allah'.
'Aof informed his wife of what the prophet told them to do. They both realised that they had to accept their difficulty with more patience. They kept on repeating this form of dhikr most of the time. During that time, while they were praying to Allah, repeating ' la hawla wa la quwata ila billah', Allah made it easy for their son to escape from his captivity, while the enemy were not taking notice.

As the parents were engaged in repeating the remembrance of Allah, the family was surprised to see their son could escape from the enemy and came back leading about forty of the enemy's sheep!

Because Aof was keen to follow the orders of the Prophet of having 'taqwa', which means to be mindful of Allah in everything we do, Aof was not sure if these sheep were lawful for the family to take and eat from.
It is amazing how God-mindful Aof was! Despite his poverty and the great need his family was suffering, he did not take his children's hunger as an excuse to eat or take what might be unlawful. So, instead of taking the sheep his son brought, he went to Prophet Muhammad to check. For his joy, the Prophet declared that it was lawful for them to make use of the sheep.

To summarise, three factors here were in action to hasten Allah's blessings;

• please Allah by being mindful of Him in all what one does,
  
• remember Allah most of the time, here the special form of dhikr was la hawla wa la quwata illa billah, لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله
  
• and be patient with the difficulty you are facing. of course depending on the difficulty, you will need to act in accordance. This is where being mindful of Allah comes in action; your actions must be in accordance to what Allah has ordained, this is called 'taqwa'.

My very dear reader, try to implement this triad; of being steadfast, mindful of Allah in all what you do, and remember Him most of the time. To draw yourself nearer to Allah and have your prayers answered, you need not just to learn what to do, but to act upon that, to live by what you have learnt. The life of our Prophet Muhammad is not a story to enjoy and tell others about it, rather it is a way of life we need to follow and live by to gain success and happiness this life and in the hereafter.
Try this form of dhikr and remember the innocents in Gaza and the oppressed all over the world. You never know the power of this prayer;

لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله

'la hawla wa la quwata illa billah'

Here are some useful information about this special prayer and form of remembrance we learnt this article:

Abu Dharr the companion of the Prophet narrated, that one day he went to sit with Prophet Muhammad in the mosque. The Prophet ordered him to pray first, then to seek refuge from the devils of humans and Jinn. Then Prophet Muhammad told Abu Dharr: Would you like me to teach you one of the treasures of Jannah, Paradise? Abu Dharr, said: "Yes." Muhammad (PBUH) said to him; "Say la hawla wa la quwata illa billah,

لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله

In another narration, Abu Dharr said:

أوصانى خليلى صلى الله عليه وسلم بسبع: " أمرنى بحب المساكين والدنو منهم, وأمرنى أن أنظر إلى من هو دونى, وأن لا أسأل أحد شيئا, وأن أصل الرحم وإن أدبرت, وأن أقول الحق ولو كان مرا, وألا أخاف فى الله لومة لائم, وأن أكثر من قول لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله: فإنهن

من كنز من تحت العرش

My beloved companion, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, advised me of seven things:
He ordered me to love the people in need and to draw my self closer to them,
To compare myself to those who are less fortunate than me. By doing so, one would be able to appreciate the numerous blessings he already has.
Not to ask anything from anyone,
To keep contact with my relatives even if they averted from me,
To say the truth, even if it was bitter,
Not to fear criticism while doing what pleases Allah,
And to increase remembering Allah by articulating this form of dhikr, la hawla wa la quwata illa billah, These words are among a treasure placed just below the Throne of Allah.