Everything about Islam

Dua- An Act of worship- Part 1

Dua – An Act of worship-

(most of this chapter is NOT written by me, i just hope it helps you like it helped me.Ameen)

Time and time again, every human, believer or not, makes dua. And this dua is made with a belief, a belief that someone out there is listening and He will respond. That someone will grant you what your heart desires and what even the richest of you cannot get yourself.

Dua means to call out. The Quran uses this linguistic meaning and other related meanings as well, to request, to implore, to seek aid. Now dua is a form of worship in itself. Allah says:

“Call on Me, I will answer your prayer but those who are too arrogant to worship Me will surely find themselves in Hell – in humiliation!"

Dua is a clear sign of one’s iman (faith). When we make dua to Allah whether by whispering or making the dua in our heart, we automatically affirm that Allah can hear us. We are affirming His perfect nature. We are also affirming that He loves and cares about us. We also affirm that He has the qudrah, the power to respond to our dua.

When we call out to Allah, we automatically give him certain names and certain attributes that He is deserving of. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the All-Knowing, the Ever-Caring, the All-Powerful.

The Prophet pbuh is narrated to have said:

"Make dua to Allah while you’re in a state of yaqeen (certainty, that which is certain) and know that Allah does not respond to the dua from an inattentive heart."

You know the duas that we memorized since childhood and we continue to recite them without thinking about them, these are the type of duas that may fall under this category because they have a body but they lack a soul. Just like the salah that the Prophet pbuh said “A person may not be rewarded at all for his prayer or he may be rewarded only one tenth, one ninth and so on and so forth.” Because of the lack of khushu’ (humility,devotion,concentration) in the salah.

One of the primary factors for dua not being accepted is that one eats or drinks or earns haram. When one eats and drinks halal, this is one of the strongest ways that he could be verified and assured that his dua is accepted.

The Prophet pbuh said “Allah is At-Tayyib (Pure) and Allah only accepts that which is Tayyib (Pure). Then further down in the hadith, the Prophet pbuh mentioned a traveler on a long journey, who is disheveled and dusty, his appearance is bad. He stretches forth his hands and he says Ya rabb, ya rabb. In other words the Prophet pbuh is giving an example of a person who is all alone, he is dusty and disheveled, this would get him sympathy from Allah or get sympathy from us. On top of that he raises his hands forth and this is one of the etiquettes for making dua, then he calls Allah by his attributes, ya rabbi, which is one of the strongest ways to get your dua accepted. He prays to be saved yet the Prophet pbuh says:

This person, he has eaten from haram, he has drunk from haram, he has bought his clothes from haram, he has been nourished by haram, how does he expect to be responded by Allah.

Haram is a thing which is absolutely forbidden in Islam. Allah taala Himself forbid some things for His believing slaves.

He has no hope for a response from Allah even though he has combined many of the factors which otherwise should earn a response.

When making Dua, remember two things,

1. "And to Allah belong the most beautiful of names so call on Him by them."

2. Narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (RA) in which the Messenger of Allah pbuh is narrated to have said:

“While three persons were traveling, they were overtaken by rain and they took shelter in a cave in a mountain. A big rock fell from the mountain over the mouth of the cave and blocked it. They said to each other. ‘Think of such good deeds which, you did for Allah’s sake only, and invoke Allah by giving reference to those deeds so that Allah may relieve you from your difficulty."