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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, we are greatly pleased to receive your question which shows the confidence you place in us. May Allah reward you abundantly for your interest in knowing the teachings of Islam!
Supplications while performing salah (prayer), especially at times of crisis, is both commanded and recommended to bring people closer to Allah.
When affliction increases, surely a Muslim increases his invocations and supplications. Due to this, we see that the American taking of Baghdad and Iraq makes supplication a more recommended act that a Muslim should stick to so that Allah removes the affliction from Muslims and grants them victory over their enemies.
So, it is obligatory on all Muslims, whether individually or in groups, to keep on praying to Allah and supplicating Him within the ritual prayers at mosques. When Muslims do so, they are truly sticking to the Prophetic Sunnah, and they are surely undertaking a minor but essential duty that is necessary in view of the current crisis.
Allah Almighty urges Muslims to stick to supplicating Him: “And your Lord hath said: Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer. Lo! those who scorn My service, they will enter hell, disgraced.” (Ghafir: 60)
Thus, Allah loves those who earnestly implore Him and He Almighty hates those who desert supplicating Him.
Sufyan Ath-Thawri said, "O Allah! those who implore You are the most beloved to You, and those who decline from imploring You are the most hated to You. O Allah! Surely, none is like You."
Ibn Abu Hatim narrated on the authority of Qatadah that Ka`b al-Ahbar said, "The Muslim Ummah has been granted three distinctive characteristics that were never bestowed to anyone except a prophet. When Allah sent a prophet He used to say, ‘You are a witness on your nation,’ and the people of this Ummah have been appointed as witnesses on mankind. And this prophet was addressed, ‘No hardship is laid upon you in religion.’ Verily, the whole Muslim Ummah is addressed, ‘He hath not laid upon you in religion any hardship.’ Moreover, the prophet is addressed, ‘Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer.’ And verily this Ummah is addressed, ‘Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer.’”
Abu Ya`la narrated on the authority of Anas Ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah (Exalted be He) revealed to me, ‘There are four qualities, one of which is Mine, the second one is yours, the third is between Me and you, and the fourth is between you and My slaves. As for the first one, it is to worship Me ascribing no partners to Me; the second one is to be rewarded by that which you have done of good deeds; the third quality between Me and you is to supplicate to Me and I shall answer your supplication; and the fourth one between you and My slaves is to seek for them what you seek for yourself.”
Imam Ahmad reported that Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) quoted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying, “Whoever abstains from supplicating Allah, surely the Wrath of Allah will descend upon him.”
Furthermore, Allah warns those who desert supplicating Him. Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said while explaining the Qur’anic verse in which Allah Almighty says, “Lo! those who scorn My service, they will enter hell, disgraced.”. He said the word “service” in the verse refers to prayers (supplications) and monotheism. The phrase “they will enter hell, disgraced” denotes a warning and degradation to those who decline from supplicating Allah.
In fact, Allah promises Muslims that He Almighty will answer their invocations unconditionally. Ibn Kathir said: Khalid Ar-Rib`i used to say, “The Muslim Ummah are very much privileged. Allah addressed them saying, ‘Pray unto Me and I will answer your prayer (supplication).’ Thus, Allah ordained them to invoke Him, and He Almighty promised them to answer their invocations unconditionally.”
Here, we would like to stress that it is incumbent upon Muslims never to lose hope in Allah. The mere feeling of despondency is forbidden for a Muslim. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reported to have said, “(Allah Almighty says) I am at the thought of My slave, and I am with him as long as he supplicates to Me.”
In his commentary on the Qur’anic verse, “I am with you twain, Hearing and Seeing.”, Imam Ibn Kathir said, “What is really meant in this verse is that Allah never let down His slave’s invocation nor did He disregard his demand, for Allah is the Hearer of all invocations. This verse makes supplication desirable, as no supplication is ignored by Allah.”
If this is the case with regard to individual supplications, what would be the case if the matter is related to the entire Ummah and to Islam itself?
The Glorious Qur’an taught us the pure human nature always resort to Allah at times of afflictions. Allah Almighty says, “And when harm toucheth you upon the sea, all unto whom ye cry (for succour) fail save Him (alone).” (Al-Israa’: 67)
He Almighty also said, “Is not He (best) Who answereth the wronged one when he crieth unto Him and removeth the evil, and hath made you viceroys of the earth?” (An-Naml: 62)
Commenting on the previous verse, Al-Imam Al-Qurtuby stated that Allah answers the prayer of the wronged even if he is a disbeliever. Ibn Abbas said that “Al-Mudtar” or the wronged referred to in the above verse “is the person in a dire need and very difficult situation.”
As-Sady said, “He is the powerless person.” Dhul Nun said, “He is the one who resorts to none but Allah.” However, Abu Ja`far and Abu `Uthman An-Naisabury said, “He is the penniless.” Sahl bin `Abdullah said, “He is the one who raises his hands supplicating Allah without performing good deeds.”
Abu Dawud reported that Abu Bakarah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in regard to the supplication of the one who is wronged, “O Allah! Your Mercy is what I aspire for, I implore You not to make me depend on myself even for a twinkling of an eye, and be gracious unto me in all my matters, there is no god but You.”
Allah Almighty guarantees to answer the prayer of the one who is wronged if he prays to Him. Devotion, according to Allah, has a precious value, whether it is done by a believer or a disbeliever, an obedient one or a disobedient one. Allah Almighty says: “He it is Who maketh you to go on the land and the sea till, when ye are in the ships and they sail with them with a fair breeze and they are glad therein, a storm wind reacheth them and the wave cometh unto them from every side and they deem that they are overwhelmed therein; (then) they cry unto Allah, making their faith pure for Him only; If Thou deliver us from this, we truly will be of the thankful.” (Yunus: 22)
He Almighty also says, “But when He bringeth them safe to land, behold! they ascribe partners (unto Him).” (Al-Ankabut: 65)
So, Allah answered the supplications of the wronged in the moment of their devotion, despite the fact that He knew quite well that they would revert to disbelief again.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “Three supplications are surely answered: the supplication of the wronged, the traveler’s supplication, and the prayer of the parent against his or her child.” (Reported by Sahib Ash-Shihab)
Imam Muslim reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Mu`adh when he sent him to Yemen, “Be on your guard against the supplication of the wronged as there is no barrier between it and Allah.”
Al-Ajiry reported that Abu Dhar narrated that the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said that “Allah never let down the supplication of the wronged even if he is a disbeliever.”
Thus, Allah responds to the supplication of the wronged one by virtue of his devotion even if he is a disbeliever or disobedient. Disbelief and disobedience have nothing to do with Allah’s answer to the supplication.
Moreover, Allah, guarantees the rapid answer by saying, “raising over the clouds,” which means that Allah makes His angels responsible for the wronged one’s prayer as being raised over the clouds so as to be raised towards Heaven. And as we all know, Heaven is the destination of prayers, so that all angels are acquainted with the prayer, in order to support the wronged and intercede for him as a kind of mercy.
The traveler is like the wronged one, as he is distant from his family and country, he is alone with no friend or closer one. So, when he seeks Allah’s support devotedly and supplicates to Him earnestly, Allah will surely answer his supplication in the same way as He Almighty does with the wronged one.
Finally, the parent’s supplication against his or her child is surely answered by Allah, especially when one or both parents lose hope that the child will turn into a dutiful one.
Wahb Ibn Munabbih said, “I read in the Old Testament that Allah Almighty said, ‘By My Majesty! Whoever holds fast to Me, if a conspiracy is laid against him in the Heaven or in the Earth, surely I will appoint a way for him, and whoever did not hold fast to Me, then surely I will cause the Earth to swallow him and I will lead him astray depending (not on Me but) on himself.”
You can also read:
Du`a’: Worship and Resort of the Helpless
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to write back!
May Allah guide you to the straight path, and guide you to that which pleases Him, Amen.
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