Call Upon Him 19/25 - Is God listening to my Supplication?
'A'udhu bil-Lahi, min al-Shaytan, al-rajim. Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim. Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi al-Alamin, wa afdhal as-salawaati wa atamu at-tasleem 'ala Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina wa habibi qulubina wa tabibi nufusina Abi 'l-Qasimi Muhammad, wa 'ala alihi at-tayyibin, at-tahirin, al-ma'sumin. Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad, wa aali Muhammad.
We can see that when we do supplicate to God the Almighty, and when we turn to Him in our different ways of supplicating, in whatever form it may be, we indeed ultimately want to build that relationship with Allah. We want to know that in our love to Him, in our feeling of attraction to Him, we want to know if there is any reception, if Allah is acknowledging my supplication, if Allah knows what it is that I am feeling, how it is that I am turning to Him, what it is that I need.
And by saying this, we need to know that if we were to understand the total existence of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala or the perfection of how He exists, then we will not question at all anything that we are doing in any act of worshipping, especially in Du'a [supplication]. And knowing that Allah is the All-knowledgeable, He is the all-Hearer, He is the all-Seer, He is the All wise, the All-Compassionate, the All-loving, all of these attributes and features that exist within the very presence of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.
The more we acknowledge this and more we have a deeper understanding of this, the more we will be able to relate to supplication and also get that deepness in our attention and attraction towards Allah. And this is why we say that in our act of desperate request, or in our act of need and poverty, we can see that the answer to our prayer will indeed come. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala has promised it to us.
The question what we need to know is or as in the Du'a Al-Iftitah, the Du'a that we recite during the Holy month of Ramadan, where it says in the Du'a it says: "Fa kam ya ilaahi min qurbatin qad farrajtaha wa humumin qad kashaftaha"- ' and by saying this, we can see that if we do have distress, or if we are in a feeling of desperateness or a feeling of disturbance, it is through Allah that we will be able to be relieved from this, that it will disappear from our very presence. Stress, tension, disturbance, need, any kind of thing that goes along these lines, without doubt they will disappear.
If indeed we know that in our quality of our Du'a, we have all of the parts put together in a way that there is no way of questioning the basis of our supplication. And so, if all of the conditions are met when it comes to supplication, then indeed the answer will come. How will the answer come? This is what we will be speaking about.
And so, with the mercy of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, when we see that we ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala for everything, it is like in the Du'a that we recite in the month of Rajab, " Ya man yu'ti man yas'alah, ya man yu'ti man lam yas'alhu wa lam ya'rifhu tahannunan minhu wa rahma" Oh, he who gives to those who ask him, oh he who gives to those who do not ask him and do not even know Him. "Rahma wasi'at kulla shay' (7:156). As the Qur'an says, the Rahma of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala wasi'at kulla shay'. Everything is encompassed by the mercy of Allah. And this rahma falls down upon the believer and the nonbeliever, it falls down upon the worshipper and the person who does not worship, it falls down upon the person who supplicates and it falls down upon the person who does not supplicate.
Of course, looking at it quality wise, there is a very big difference between the mercy and the compassion of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala and everything else falling down a nonbeliever and falling down on a believer. It being bestowed upon someone who does not supplicate and it being bestowed upon someone who does supplicate. A very big difference, whether it be a difference in this world or whether it be a difference in the hereafter.
Nonetheless, this being said, we can see that in the receiving of the Du'a, the more distressed we are, the more we acknowledge our poverty and need to Allah, the more we will receive that mercy from Allah and the stronger it will be. “Amman yujibu al-mudhtarra idha da‘ah, wa yakshifu us-su’u” (27:62). This is exactly what this ayat means. And so, the ithtirar, the distress, the disturbance, the feeling of need and poverty and Du'a, both of them attract the concern and the attention of God.
And so there are three laws of answering to our supplication. These aren't conditions. We can say that they are the kind of laws, or they are preliminary things to be done that exist within the concept of istijabat ad-Du'a, of the answering of prayer.
The first is the relation between the neediness and the poverty to the mercy of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. The more a person needs, the more mercy of Allah or the more mercy will come from Allah. The second is the poverty. As I said in our previous session, poverty, whether it is known or whether it is not known and you need to know, you need to know that you are in need. And the more you express and acknowledge that you are in need, the more mercy will come to Allah. And of course, I explained that in detail in our previous session, and so it is like just delving into that a little bit further. We can say that it is like a guilty person.
If you are a guilty person and i am taken to the court and I say in front of the judge, oh judge, yes, I confess that I am guilty, then the judge will might show a little bit more mercy because he will see that I have admitted to my mistake. And this is what we are doing to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. I am acknowledging, I am admitting, I am confessing. And by me confessing in my confession I am saying that oh Allah please show that mercy that you need. And of course Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala is ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. He is the all-Compassionate, the all-Merciful and His beneficence will of course shower over everything regardless, especially when I confess, especially when I admit, especially when I acknowledge that I am in need of the mercy of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.
And so we sin and we do wrong and we need forgiveness. We seek forgiveness. We are asking for allah Subhana wa Ta'ala's forgiveness. We are asking Him to accept our repentance. And this is what we are doing when we are confessing, when we are acknowledging in our supplication to Allah, we are allowing ourselves to show that we are in need of Him. And in us dictating to ourselves and telling ourselves that we are in need to Allah, this on its own is a key to the Rahma of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. The treasures, the khaza'in of the mercy of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala will fall upon us. And so, the more khushu', as I have mentioned previously, the more khushu' and khudu' that we have, the more reverence that we have, the more humility that we express, the more humbleness that we show, especially during our supplication, we will be able to receive more from the mercy of Allah.
And this is why it is said that one of the signs of istijabat ad-Du'a is that you show that affection from Allah and to Allah. Like in your state of crying, when crying, you know that in a state of crying, this on its own, when you are showing that you have a broken heart, when you are showing that you are in that desperate need, this on its own is a sign of istijaba. And this is why the Qur'an says that Allah, where the Qur'an says that: "tad'unahu tadharru'an wa khufiya" (7:55), you pray to Allah and you supplicate to Allah beseechingly and secretly, the key word here is beseechingly. You supplicate to him in a state of tadharru', in a state of reverence, in a state of neediness.
And this is exactly the point that we have made previously. And of course, we need to make again in our pointing out the importance of expressing and acknowledging your need to Allah. "Khawfan wa tama'an" (7:56). Another ayah in the Qur'an also says that you pray to Allah, you supplicate to Allah out of fear and out of request. 'khawfan wa tama'ah'. And so this is all to do with the quality of supplication and increasing the quality of supplication and also the quality of the answer that comes and how we will receive it.
More is to come InshaAllah on this important subject, the subject of istijabat ad-Du'a, the answering of prayer and supplication, and also the conditions that are related to the answer to supplication. Insha Allah.
Wa Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi al-Alamin. Wa as-salatu wa as-salamu 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa wa 'ala alihi at-tayyibin, at-tahirin. Wa as-salamu alaykum, wa Rahmatullahi, wa barakatu.
