What is required for du'aa?

What is required for us that our du’aa will be answered?

Last time we talked about that du’aa is an act of worship, and with du’aa as with other acts of worship, there are some things that has to be met if the act of worship, if the ‘ibadah, will be accepted.

Ibnul Qayyim said: ”Du’aa and the seeking of protection from Allah are like weapons, but the sharpness of a weapon is not sufficient for it to cause effect, for the person that handles it also plays a role. So whenever the weapon is a perfect one, having no flaw in it, and the forearm is strong, and there are no preventing factors, then it will cause and effect on the enemy. But if any of these three factors are missing, then the effect will also be lessened. So if the du’aa in and of itself is not correct, or the person making the du’aa has not combined between his heart and tongue in the du’aa, or there is a preventing factor, then the desired effect will not occur”

It is though possible that a persons du’aa can be accepted even if these conditions are not met because the response of a du’aa depends on the will of Allaah and He responds to whom He pleases. That’s why it is possible that the du’aa of a disbeliever will be accepted even if that person doesn’t fulfil all of these conditions. And it is also possible that a believer, that fulfils all of these condition will not have his or hers du’aa responded to. But, there is absolutely no doubt that a person who strives to fulfil all these conditions and strive to put all this into practice, will have a much greater chance of having his or hers du’aa answered. And as a nice little side effect it will make the person draw closer to Allaah and make the iman getting stronger.

1. To realise that only Allaah responds to du’aa. We talked about this last time. We must fully believe that Allaah and Allaah only is capable of hearing our prayers and only Allaah has the power and ability to answer them. The Quraan mentions this in many ayat, like in soorah al-Naml, ayah 62


أَمَّن يُجِيبُ ٱلۡمُضۡطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكۡشِفُ ٱلسُّوٓءَ وَيَجۡعَلُڪُمۡ خُلَفَآءَ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ‌ۗ أَءِلَـٰهٌ۬ مَّعَ ٱللَّهِ‌ۚ قَلِيلاً۬ مَّا تَذَڪَّرُونَ
Is not He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls on Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations? Is there any ilâh (god) with Allâh? Little is that you remember! (27:62)

And this is why du’aa is the greatest form of worship, and also why du’aa directed to someone else than Allaah is the worst form of shirk too.

2. Sincerity in du’aa to Allaah alone. When we realise that only Allaah can answer our du’aa, we must logically understand that we should also pray to Allaah alone. And this is of course found in many ayaat in the Quraan. For example in soorah al-Jinn, ayah 18:


وَأَنَّ ٱلۡمَسَـٰجِدَ لِلَّهِ فَلَا تَدۡعُواْ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ أَحَدً۬ا
And the mosques are for Allâh (Alone), so invoke not anyone along with Allâh (72:18)


Or in soorah Al-An’aam, ayah 40

قُلۡ أَرَءَيۡتَكُمۡ إِنۡ أَتَٮٰكُمۡ عَذَابُ ٱللَّهِ أَوۡ أَتَتۡكُمُ ٱلسَّاعَةُ أَغَيۡرَ ٱللَّهِ تَدۡعُونَ إِن كُنتُمۡ صَـٰدِقِينَ
Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Tell me if Allâh's Torment comes upon you, or the Hour comes upon you, would you then call upon any one other than Allâh? (Reply) if you are truthful!" (6:40)

Or soorah Al-A’raaf, ayah 194

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ تَدۡعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ عِبَادٌ أَمۡثَالُڪُمۡ‌ۖ فَٱدۡعُوهُمۡ فَلۡيَسۡتَجِيبُواْ لَڪُمۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ صَـٰدِقِينَ
Verily, those whom you call upon besides Allâh are slaves like you. So call upon them and let them answer you if you are truthful (7:194)


And ayah 197:

وَٱلَّذِينَ تَدۡعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ لَا يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ نَصۡرَڪُمۡ وَلَآ أَنفُسَہُمۡ يَنصُرُونَ
"And those whom you call upon besides Him (Allâh) cannot help you nor can they help themselves." (7:197)

The phrase “besides Allaah” or “besides Him” includes all and everything that is worshipped besides Allaah, everything! From lifeless objects or, pious men, prophets, angels, the sun, trees, whatever.

3. To make tawassul perfectly. Tawassul means to seek a way to draw closer to Allaah and seek His help and response through ones actions. Which means we can do tawassul to increase our du’aa to be accepted. And tawassul is done by mentioning Allaah’s names and attributes, or by mentioning a good deed we have done, or by asking a living, now living – not a dead person! – to make du’aa on our behalf.


4. We should be patient. Meaning we should be patient with having our du’aa answered. The Prophet, aleyhi salaato wasalaam, said: “The du’aa of any worshipper will continue to be responded to as long as he not ask for a sin or breaking ties of kinship and as long as he is not hasty.” It was asked: ‘O Messenger of Allaah? What does it mean to be hasty?” and he, aleyhi salaato wasalaam, responded: “A worshipper says: ‘I have prayed and prayed, and I don’t see that it will be accepted’ so he gives up hope of being answered, and leaves du’aa.’” And this is also proven in the ayah in soorah al-Anbiya, ayah 19

وَلَهُ ۥ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ‌ۚ وَمَنۡ عِندَهُ ۥ لَا يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِهِۦ وَلَا يَسۡتَحۡسِرُونَ
To Him belongs whosoever is in the heavens and on earth. And those who are near Him are not too proud to worship Him, nor are they weary (of His worship). (21:19)

So du’aa should be something we do continuous, and we should never give up making du’aa because we think it will not be responded to. And there is also another hadeeth that mentions this, the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, said: “You will be responded to as long as you are not hasty, meaning that (a person) says ‘I have prayed and prayed and my prayer has not been answered!’” and this is also proven in Soorah al-Israa, ayah 11:

وَيَدۡعُ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنُ بِٱلشَّرِّ دُعَآءَهُ ۥ بِٱلۡخَيۡرِ‌ۖ وَكَانَ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنُ عَجُولاً۬
And man invokes (Allâh) for evil as he invokes (Allâh) for good and man is ever hasty [i.e., if he is angry with somebody, he invokes (saying): "O Allâh! Curse him" and that one should not do, but one should be patient] (17:11)

Ibn ul-Qayyim says something that I think describes this very well: “And of the diseases that afflict du’aa and prevent its response is that a person is hasty in expecting a response and the response is delayed, so he gives up all hop and leaves du’aa. His example is like that of a person who planted a seed, or a seedling, the guarded it, and took care of it, and watered it, but when it delayed (in giving its fruit) and reaching perfection, he left it and did not take care of it anymore”

We are of course allowed to ask and to pray that our du’aa will be answered quickly, for example the prophet, aleyhi salato wasalam, prayed for rain and said “… quickly, and not delayed…”

So that we should not be hast means that we should not give up on or leave the du’aa when we think it will not be responded to.

Subhanaka allahomma wa bihamdik

ashhado anla ilaha illa ant

wastaghfirooka waatoobo ilayk