DUA

The following are some of the prophet’s sayings about making Dua to Allah.

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The dua’ 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.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5865; Muslim, 2735, from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah).

In the hadeeth which was narrated by al-Tirmidhi from Abu Hurayrah, who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘There is no man who prays to Allah and makes dua’ to Him, and does not receive a response. Either it will be hastened for him in this world, or it will be stored up for him in the Hereafter, so long as he does not pray for something sinful, or to cut the ties of kinship, or seek a speedy response.’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what does seeking a speedy response mean?’ He said, ‘Saying, “I prayed to my Lord and He did not answer me.”’” (Al-Tirmidhi, 3859; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 852).

Some people follow practices that are not sanctioned by the Quran or Hadith such as repeating some of Allah’s names a few times. A number of scholars have said that “The words mentioned in the question are phrases that are narrated in the Qur’aan and Sunnah, but saying that they must be repeated [so many] number of times is an innovated matter which should not be followed. Rather we should mention them during our dua’s and address Allah by all His beautiful names, without singling out some names or stating that they should be recited a certain number of times or at certain times, making that up ourselves. We should adhere to what was narrated in sharee’ah concerning certain times, places or situations connected to a particular dua’; if no such details were narrated in sharee’ah then we should not make them up ourselves because that is encroaching upon the rights of Prophethood.

In the hadeeth it says: “One of you may be answered so long as he is not hasty and says, ‘I said dua’ but I got no response.’” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6340; Muslim, 2735.

In Saheeh Muslim (2736) it says: “A man’s (dua’s) may be answered so long as it does not involve sin or severing the ties of kinship or hastening.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, what does hastening mean?” He said: “When he says, ‘I made dua’ and I made dua’ but I did not see any response,’ so he gets discouraged and stops making dua’.”

The dua’ should not involve sin or severing of the ties of kinship, as stated in the hadeeth quoted above: “A man’s (dua’s) may be answered so long as he does not involve sin or severing the ties of kinship …”

According to the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah: “Make dua’ to Allah when you are certain of a response.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 245.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Know that Allah does not answer a dua from a distracted heart.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3479; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 245.

In the hadeeth it says: [The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)] mentioned the man who undertakes a lengthy journey and is disheveled and covered with dust, and he stretches his hands towards heaven saying, ‘O Lord, O Lord,’ when his food is haraam, his drink is haraam, his clothes are haraam. He is nourished with haraam, so how can he be granted a response?