By Musa Sugapong
All Muslims acknowledge the integral and prominent nature of du’a in Islam. Allah the Exalted explicitly commands all Muslims in His Noble Book to call upon Him, pairing this command, through His sheer mercy, with His promise of granting: “Yet the Lord of all of you has said: Call upon Me in prayer. I shall answer you.” (Al-Ghafir 40:60)
Additionally, our beloved Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) referred to du’ā as being the essence of worship: “Du’ā is the essence of worship.” (Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi)
However, it is essential to couple that du’ā with an accurate perception of what to expect as a result of it. Allah has already issued a promise for the acceptance of one’s du’a. However, the manifestation of that promise is subject to the will of Allah. Regarding this matter, I have selected an excerpt from Sharh Hikam al-Imam Ibn ‘Ata’illah al-Sakandari (The Explanation of the Wisdoms of Imām Ibn ‘Atā’illah Al-Sakandarī) by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Majīd al-Shurnūbī. This book is a compilation of two hundred and sixty-four wisdoms by Imam Ibn ‘Atā’illah, expounded upon by Shaykh Shurnūbī. I have chosen the sixth wisdom and translated it into English.
Wisdom 6:
“Do not allow the delay in the granting of your request, despite your relentless pleas, to be an agency for your despair. For indeed He has guaranteed you that He will answer your prayer in the fashion that He chooses for you, not in the fashion that you choose for yourself, and at the time that He intends, not at the time that you intend.”
Explanation:
Do not allow the delay in the granting of your desired request, despite your relentless (i.e. persistent and constant) pleas, to be an agency and cause for your losing hope in the answer to your prayer. For indeed He the Exalted has guaranteed that He will answer your prayer in the Qur’an with His statement: “Call upon me in prayer. I shall answer you.” (Ghafir 40:60)
However, this answering will be in the fashion that He chooses for you, not in the fashion that you choose for yourself. Indeed, He is more aware of what is suitable for you than yourself. Perhaps you may desire something, the absence of which is more appropriate for you. Therefore, His act of denying you is in fact His giving you. This is in accordance with what the author will later state:
“Perhaps He deprived you and therefore gave you. And perhaps He gave you and therefore deprived you.” This reality has been witnessed by those who have reached the station of the following verse:
“Yet it may be that you hate a thing, while it is good for you. And it may be that you love a thing, while it is evil for you.” (Baqarah 2:216)
In this regard, a pious sage once mentioned: “Your state of being deprived, in actuality, is my endowment.”
Similarly, He has guaranteed you that He shall answer your prayer at the time that He intends, not at the time that you intend. Therefore, have the patience of Musa (upon him peace). Indeed, patience and absence of haste is behooving of servants. Is it not known to you that Musa, a prophet, used to make the following du’ā against the Pharaoh and his army whilst Hārūn, also a prophet, would say Āmīn: “Our Lord! Blot out their wealth and harden their hearts” (Yunus 10:88) Not until forty years had passed was their request granted and Allah said: “He said: O Mūsa and Hārūn: Your prayer has been answered. So keep steadfastly straight upon the path of your Lord, and do not follow the way of those who do not know the truth.” [Yunus (10):89]It has been mentioned in a hadīth: “Indeed, Allah loves those who are persistent in their du’ā.” It has also been mentioned that a righteous slave, when he supplicates to Allah the Exalted, Jibril says: “O my Lord! Your slave, so and so, fulfill his need!” Allah the Exalted then replies: “Leave my slave! Indeed, I love to hear the sound of his voice.”
Therefore rise up, O seeker! Fulfill that which Allah has commanded you to perform from the act of du’ā and leave the results to Him. Perhaps He shall answer your prayer and reserve for you, in exchange of your desire, that thing through which you shall attain eternal bliss and more!
[Shurnubi, Wisdom no. 6]
Furthermore, the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) has stated in another hadith related on the authority of Ibn Masūd: “Ask Allah for his bounties. Indeed, Allah loves to be asked.” (Tirmidhi)
Our relationship with Allah is nothing like our relationship with the creation because, indeed, Allah is nothing like the creation. The more we call upon Allah and beg of His treasures, the more He becomes pleased. On the other hand, the more we ask from the creation the more they become aggravated.
Du’a is counted as an act filled with virtue and, as previously mentioned, the essence of worship. This is so because one truly calls on Allah upon realization that there is no one else to turn to. This act of turning to and calling on Allah when all hope is lost is in fact the summation of tawhīd (the oneness of Allah) and ikhlās (sincerity), and there is no form of worship above these two acts.
Further elucidating upon the statement of the Prophet that “Du’ā is the essence of worship”, the great scholar Ibn al-‘Arabī has mentioned:
“Du’ā is the essence of worship: through du’ā, the acts of worship of those who worship gain strength – it is the soul of worship.”
May Allah the Exalted grant us all the facilitation to inculcate the noble act of du’ā into our life. May He allow us to turn to Him alone for the fulfillment of our needs and guard us from being deprived of this noble act. Āmīn.
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