Hisham Jafar Ali – Power of DUA
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses various misconceptions about Islam, including "has been" and "has been" label as "has been" label, and the importance of language in the relationship with Allah. The structure of conversations with Allah is emphasized, and the importance of speaking in Arabic to better understand the language. The importance of forgiveness is emphasized, and the need for forgiveness is emphasized. The segment also discusses the myths of peace and the importance of forgiveness in bringing people to the right conclusion.
AI: Summary ©
What is dua?
What's the template for dua?
What does Allah want out of you?
What are the reasons for dua being accepted
or rejected?
How do we converse with Allah?
What is the greatest dua that we can
make to Allah?
Must you raise your hands?
What's the link between seeking Allah's forgiveness and
your supplication being answered?
Is there a practical sunnah of dua that
tends to be neglected?
All duas are accepted so why are there
special times then?
Who knows the greatest supplication to seek Allah's
forgiveness?
Does anybody know the supplication of distress?
What is greatest dua?
Did Ibrahim make dua in Arabic?
How important is it to make dua for
others?
We think that dua is like buying something
on eBay or Amazon.
Dua is a lifestyle in which even the
most waste man dua that we make that
reaches Allah.
Would you prefer the Lamborghini or would you
prefer to be alive?
The secret of the accepted dua is that
we make dua for Allah's forgiveness and we
make dua for Allah's mercy and we make
dua for Allah's mercy and we make dua
for Allah's mercy and we make dua for
Allah's mercy and we make dua for Allah's
mercy and we make dua for Allah's mercy
and we make dua for Allah's mercy and
we make make dua for Allah's mercy and
we make dua for Allah's mercy and we
make dua for Allah's mercy and we
make dua for Allah's mercy and we make
dua for Allah's mercy and we make dua
for Allah's mercy and we make dua for
Allah's mercy and We
responded to him and bestowed upon him John,
and made his wife righteous.
Verily, they used to hasten in good works,
and they called upon Us with desire and
fear, and they were submissive to Us.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet,
our Beloved, and the pleasure of our eyes,
Muhammad and his family and companions.
Peace be upon you.
Let's start off with a question.
What do you think are the reasons for
dua being accepted or rejected?
Sincerity in dua.
What else?
Staying away from haram provisions.
Good.
Intentions.
What else?
What else?
What else leads to an accepted dua?
Come on, let's hear it.
Trust that it will happen.
Believe in Allah.
Need a bit more than that.
Go on.
Calling upon Allah alone.
Good.
What else?
Yes.
Please give me more than that.
Specific days and times of the year.
Yes.
The structure of your dua.
Can you tell us more?
What kind of structure works?
Always start off with praising Allah.
Good.
Send blessings and salutations upon the Prophet.
And then ask for your needs and wants.
Yes.
Always try and end with praying for the
Ummah.
Beautiful.
What else?
Specific days and times.
What days and times?
Boxing day?
What?
What did you say?
On Juma after Asr.
Okay.
The moment of special acceptance.
Okay.
What other days?
The last third of the night.
Okay.
What else?
Between the Adhan and Qaumah.
Good.
The day of Arafah.
Excellent.
Yes.
During sujood.
Beautiful.
After doing good deeds.
Excellent.
Before breaking your fast.
Yes.
Travelers.
Sorry?
Travelers.
Good.
Travelers making dua.
Rain.
Okay.
Let me ask you guys a hard question.
Because at this rate I'm just going to
go home after a few minutes.
Okay.
The hard question.
We're saying there are certain days and times
when it's more likely for a dua to
be accepted.
Right?
So what happens outside of those times?
What's the difference?
I made dua now.
I made dua between Adhan and Qaumah.
What's the difference?
What happens to my dua at a time
where it's more likely to be accepted?
When the angels are listening to your dua.
Okay.
And relaying it to Allah.
The angels are relaying my dua to Allah.
Okay.
This is uncle's hypothesis.
Any others?
All duas are accepted.
All duas are accepted.
So why are there special times then?
Because the Prophet said.
Sorry?
Because the Prophet said.
Because the Prophet ﷺ said.
But what is special about that time?
Like what's the difference?
I made dua now.
I made dua between Adhan and Qaumah.
Before my fast.
The same dua.
Alhamdulillah.
I just want to keep you all awake
because it's after Maghrib.
Alhamdulillah you're all awake.
It's good news.
Dua.
We're going to start with three misconceptions about
dua.
And then we're going to go and look
at what is the anatomy, what is the
makeup of a dua that's accepted.
The first misconception about dua is that all
duas are accepted without exception.
You will now come to understand why there
are special times.
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud r.a. He reports
to us.
Allah only accepts those duas that are sincere.
Allah does not accept dua from somebody who
is distracted.
Somebody who is playing around.
Somebody who is joking, messing around.
Somebody who is heedless of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ informs us.
He says there's a man who's walking in
the desert.
He's barefoot.
He's ruffled.
He stretches his hands to the sky and
he says, O Lord, O Lord, but his
food, his drink and his clothes were earned
from prohibited sources.
So why would Allah respond to him?
There are many reasons that would make our
supplication stop at the ceiling and not reach
Allah.
There are many reasons due to distraction or
insincerity are not being certain about our dua
that our dua doesn't actually reach Allah.
Except there are special times in which even
the most waste man dua that we make,
even that reaches Allah.
That's where you have the concession times.
You see, you have a football team or
you have a cricket team or a basketball
team.
There's a certain skill set you need to
make the cut into the team.
They do trials and then when they see
your skill set, they say, Habibi, maybe the
C team is for you.
That's fine.
So you accept.
You take the L, put it in your
pocket, you accept.
I'm made for the C team.
Fine.
However, a time of year comes, they say,
you know what, today anybody can play.
Anyone can play.
You say, anyone?
They say, yup, anyone can play.
Charity football match.
So you make it into the A team.
That's the significance of the times where we
are told by the Messenger ﷺ.
This is a special time because even the
C team players like you and me, even
our dua will reach Allah.
Between the Adhan and Iqamah, when the rain
is falling, when we are traveling in the
last third of the night, and the other
various times that you mentioned.
This is the first myth.
This idea that we have that all dua
is by default accepted by Allah and responded
to regardless of the way we are, the
state we are when we make it, what
we are thinking, what we are eating, how
we live our lives.
No, Allah is just going to accept all
dua.
I'm afraid it's not the case.
The second myth about dua.
The second myth about dua is that dua
is a transaction.
Many of us, we think that dua is
like buying something on Ebay or Amazon.
Click, click, click, check out.
Oh Allah, three day delivery.
I need to see it at my door.
For us, dua is just a transaction.
Imagine any other relationship that you have in
your life.
Imagine, let's give an example since we have
lots of brothers here.
Imagine that you spoke like that to your
wife.
You left the house for work.
You call your wife.
I want to see XYZ on the table
for lunch.
Sorry guys, I know you're probably not here.
I might have done that deliberately.
You say no.
You come home.
SubhanAllah, the table is empty.
What happened?
You might have offended the missus.
Why?
Is your relationship just a transaction?
She says, why didn't you call me and
say how's your day been?
Yes, no etiquette, no politeness, no demeanor, nothing.
It's just a transaction.
I want this.
I want that.
Give this to me.
Take that from me.
Go here, go there.
Is that the extent of my relationship?
Now, how is it that any other relationship
in our lives, we treat with so much
grace.
Even the cashier at the supermarket, how's your
day?
But when it comes to Allah, we just
decide to just give him a list of
shopping items and expect the delivery date to
be as soon as possible.
This is the second myth when it comes
to dua.
Dua is not a transaction.
That begs then the question, what is dua?
If it's not a transaction, then what is
it?
Dua is a conversation with Allah.
We talk to Allah because we love Allah
more than we love anything in this universe.
To understand what it means to talk to
Allah, we have to reflect on the conversation
that Zakaria has with Allah.
The first thing I'm going to ask you
all is, what language was Zakaria making dua
in?
Who says silati?
Urdu?
Arabic?
Zakaria was making dua in Arabic?
You think Arabic?
What language was Zakaria making dua in?
Aramaic, because Arabic wasn't really around at that
time.
What do we learn from that?
Make dua in your own native language.
Did Musa make dua in Arabic?
No.
Did Ibrahim make dua in Arabic?
Did Isa make dua in Arabic?
Did Maryam make dua in Arabic?
No.
So why do some of us think that
in order for us to speak to Allah,
we have to memorize a script and we
have to speak to Allah in Arabic?
Does he not understand our language?
He does.
Now you tell me, when you speak to
Allah in your own language, what's the difference?
Does it have a difference in how you
speak to Allah?
What's the difference?
It comes from the bottom of your heart.
When you express yourself in the most raw
and unfiltered manner, with no translation, no script,
it will come from a part of your
heart you didn't know exists.
There's a reason why people write love letters
in their own languages.
Or they express their care for people in
their own languages.
The prophets made dua to Allah in their
own language.
Now, how do we converse with Allah?
If dua is not a transaction, then what
is it?
Note Zakariya A.S. speaking to Allah.
اِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ نِدَاءً خَفِيَّةً He calls out
to Allah with a silent call.
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَهَنَى الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ
شَيْبًا Oh Allah, my bones are weak.
My hair is gray.
وَلَمْ أَكُنْ بِدُعَاءِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيَّةً My hair may
be gray.
My bones may be weak.
But I'm not going to give up on
speaking to you.
وَإِنِّي خِفْتُ الْمَوَالِيَ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ I'm scared there'll
be no one after me to pick up
my legacy.
وَكَانَتِ امْرَأَتِي عَاطِرَةً My wife can't even bear
children.
فَهَبَلِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ وَلِيَّةً But even though it's
impossible, I'm still going to ask you to
gift me a child.
يَرِثُنِي Someone who inherits my legacy, not just
any child.
وَيَرِثُ مِنْ آلِيَعْقُوبِ Someone who inherits from me
and the legacy of Ya'qub.
وَجَعَلْهُ رَبِّ رَضِيَّةً Make this child pleasing to
me.
What do you note when you hear the
way Zakariya expresses himself to Allah?
What do you note?
What do you observe?
Real question.
He is confessing his own weaknesses.
What else?
He is asking Allah, even though it's impossible,
he's demanding, Oh Allah, only you can do
it.
He's asking for what he thinks is impossible.
Go on.
He's in a state of vulnerability.
This is the one word we have to
remember.
When Zakariya talks to Allah, he speaks to
Allah in the raw, vulnerable, broken and unfiltered
manner.
There's no script.
He's just broken down in front of Allah.
And this is the dua.
The way you speak to Allah when you
are broken down, when you are desperate, when
you are raw and unfiltered, that dua, believe
me, breaks through the ceiling, breaks through the
ozone layer, and it reaches the Almighty.
Because of the depth of certainty and sincerity
with which you said it.
Many of us are stuck in a pattern,
a cultural pattern, that we have to memorize
a certain word for Allah to accept our
statement.
Allah understands every language, and every prophet made
dua in their language.
But when they ask Allah, it comes from
the very bottom of their heart.
The conversation is a conversation of someone who
loves his maker and who understands his ultimate
power.
This is myth number two.
Dua is not a transaction.
What was myth number one?
Not every dua is accepted.
Myth number two, dua is not a?
Transaction.
Myth number three.
Myth number three is that we can speak
to Allah.
Myth number three is that when we speak
to Allah, our dua should just be demands.
This is what many of us think.
We only speak to Allah when we have
a demand.
This comes to a point that one brother
here mentioned, the structure of the conversation.
There is a certain etiquette and a certain
structure in which we should speak to Allah.
To know how to speak to Allah, all
we need to do is look at the
template.
What's the template for dua?
There's one template that all of you know
by heart, that you recite every day, 17
times a day.
Surah Al-Fatiha.
Surah Al-Fatiha is a supplication to Allah.
How does Surah Al-Fatiha begin?
It begins according to the Shafi'is with,
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
You better know that.
And then, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.
It begins with the names of Allah.
Because how are you speaking to Allah if
you don't know who he is?
You have to start by describing your master.
Oh Allah, your mercy knows no bounds.
Your mercy touches even the birds in the
sky, and the fish in the sea, the
plants in the soil, the ants in the
desert, the lizards as they scurry around the
corners of buildings.
Oh Allah, your mercy touches the bacteria in
my stomach, you feed them when they don't
even realize.
Oh Allah, when I look at the eyes
of a child, I see your mercy.
When I look at the love of a
mother, I see your mercy.
Oh Allah, when I was down in the
dumps, you showed me your mercy.
When the earth was dry as rock, you
sent your rain, and you showered upon us
your mercy.
Oh Allah, when I was vulnerable and weak,
you gave me my parents and they showed
me mercy.
It was just an extension of yours.
Oh Allah, every moment of my life has
been nothing but an experience of your infinite
mercy.
Now I can ask you my demands.
You must start your dua with describing your
maker.
You must start your dua with describing Allah.
Not for him, but for you.
Because it gets you in the zone of
understanding who you are actually talking to.
The Prophet ﷺ, in the vast majority of
his duas, you will see the names of
Allah peppered throughout.
Ya Hayyu, Ya Qayyum, he would say every
morning and evening, Oh Allah, the ever-living,
the one upon whom everything depends, Bi rahmatika
astaghith, I seek help in your mercy.
Aslih li sha'ani kulla, fix everything in
my life.
Wala takilni ila nafsi tarfata'ayn, don't leave
me to myself even for the blink of
an eye.
Ahmad ibn Abdulsalam ibn Taymiyyah al-Harrani, famous
scholar, the famous Syrian scholar ibn Taymiyyah.
Every morning, his student narrates, ibn Qayyum narrates
that he would get up after fajr prayer,
and he would say two names of Allah
continuously.
Oh Allah, the ever-living.
Allah doesn't switch off.
He never becomes unavailable.
Ya Qayyum, the one upon whom everyone depends,
I can't even breathe if you don't allow
me to.
These two names, he would repeat again and
again.
He had a special attachment to these names
because the Prophet ﷺ said, according to one
narration, that this is the name of Allah,
and if you ask through these names, there
is a concession on the response, even if
your dua did not have any merit.
This is the first part of the structure,
describing Allah.
Second part of the structure, sending salah upon
the Prophet ﷺ, the one without whom we
would not even know who Allah is.
And the third part of the structure is
inserting your ask, but having humility in your
ask, being ambitious in your ask, and most
importantly, being certain that he will respond.
Uda'u Allah, as the Prophet ﷺ says,
Wa antum muqinoona bil-ijabah.
Call upon Allah, while you are absolutely certain
that he will respond.
Calling upon Allah, while I'm unsure 50-50,
is he really going to respond to me?
It's not a great strategy.
Call upon Allah with sincerity.
Now many of us make dua to Allah,
very cynical things, very trivial things.
Oh Allah, give me that A on my
exam grade.
Oh Allah, let me pass that interview.
But when Suleyman ﷺ makes dua to Allah,
what does he say to Allah?
Anybody know the ayah?
What is Suleyman's ﷺ greatest dua?
رَبِّهَ بَلِي مُلْكًا لَا يَنبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِي
Oh Allah, gift me a kingdom that no
one after me can even have.
إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابَ What does Wahhab mean?
The one who constantly and frequently gives you
gifts that you can't expect.
You see how Suleyman ﷺ is using the
names of Allah.
Oh Allah, give me something that I could
never expect.
So when we ask Allah, do not limit
yourself with the ceiling of your experience or
your ambitions.
As they say in Urdu, ask, open your
heart and ask whatever you want.
Because the one providing for you is the
one who himself has no limitations.
I said three myths but I'm going to
add a fourth myth.
The fourth myth of dua is that Allah
will respond to my dua by giving me
exactly what I want.
You don't ask for something, next day you
get the exact same thing in your mail.
That's not how it works.
Allah's response to your request comes in three
possible ways.
Yes?
Yes.
Yes, no, not in this world.
And no, I'll prepare something better for you.
There's one more.
Yes, I'll give you what you asked for,
but I might delay it.
It's not on your timeline, it's on my
timeline.
That's first response from Allah.
Second, I won't give you what you asked
for.
I'll give you something better.
You asked for a wife, I'll give you
two.
Ah, I knew you guys would be happy
about that joke.
I've been saving that one for a while.
May Allah protect me.
He might give you something better than you
asked for.
Number three, he doesn't give you what you
asked for, he protects you from something that's
coming, a calamity that's about to hit you.
You said, oh Allah, grant me a Lamborghini,
but you got a Toyota Yaris.
Fine.
You were supposed to get hit by a
lorry, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saved
you in the nick of an eye.
He responded, would you prefer the Lamborghini or
would you prefer to be alive?
I think I know the answer for all
of us.
So four myths of dua.
Allah does not accept every single dua, regardless
of who makes it and when and why.
Number one.
Number two, dua is not a transaction.
Number three, dua needs a structure.
The myth is we think we can just
ask Allah however we want.
No, dua, there's a competition.
Dua needs a structure for it to reach
him and for him to accept and respond
in the best of ways.
And the fourth myth, Allah will respond to
my dua the way I expect.
Nope, not the way you expect, my friend.
The way he wishes.
la yus'alu amma yaf'alu wa hum
yus'alun He is not questioned about his
action, but you will be questioned and I
will be questioned.
That's the first part.
The four myths of dua.
Let's come to the second part.
We have 20 or so minutes left.
What is the greatest dua that we can
make to Allah?
In Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ
tells us in the hadith of Ibn Abbas.
He tells us that there is a dua
called dua ul-karb.
It's a supplication we should make when we
are in the worst part of our lives.
The supplication of distress.
Does anybody know this supplication?
The dua of distress.
Any guesses?
It's not la ilaha illa anta subhanak inni
kuntu minna ta'ala.
It's not Allahumma yus'aluka al-afiya.
Allahumma yus'aluka arba'at azuhaj.
No, that's not the one.
That's not the one, brother.
Think again.
No, that's not dua ul-karb.
That's not the distress.
That's the dua in the last 10 nights.
No, that's the dua of Musa when he
reached Median.
But that's not dua ul-karb.
No, but that's true, but that's not the
dua that I'm looking for.
Sorry?
Oho, keep going.
Very good.
Hadith in Bukhari Muslim.
La ilaha illa Allahu al-Azim al-Haleem.
Pay attention to this dua.
Allah, there's none worthy, there's none of authority,
there's none in command but you.
Al-Azim al-Haleem, the greatest and the
most tolerant.
La ilaha illa Allahu Rabbul Arsh al-Azim.
Allah, there's none worthy of worship but you,
Lord of the Glorious Throne.
La ilaha illa Allah, Rabbul Samawat, Rabbul Ard,
Rabbul Arsh al-Kareem.
Allah, there's none worthy of worship but you,
Lord of the Heavens and Lord of the
Earth, and Lord of the Glorious Throne.
Now, this is a very interesting dua.
What are your observations about this?
This is the dua the Prophet says, this
is the supplication to make when you are
in the greatest of distress.
But what do you notice?
Something is missing.
What's missing?
There's no ask.
There's no request in the dua.
The Prophet shallallahu alaihi wa sallam is saying,
when you're really distressed, say this.
And there's no request in it.
What's going on here guys?
Something doesn't seem right.
What's going on?
Yes.
Okay, so Allah knows what's in your heart.
So Allah knows what you're calling upon even
if you don't say it.
You're close.
Yes.
It's a good point.
There's a secret.
There's something repeated three times in this.
What's repeated three times in this statement?
La ilaha illallah.
I'm just giving you guys hints.
La ilaha illallah.
Al-Azim al-Haleem.
La ilaha illallah.
Rabbul Arsh al-Azim.
Rabbul Samawati.
Rabbul Ardi.
What is this?
This is not a request.
What is it?
It's praise.
Why?
In the worst form of distress, the Prophet
peace be upon him is telling us not
to ask Allah our shopping list like we
normally do.
He's just telling us to praise Allah.
Why?
I will tell you guys the secret now.
The secret.
Man shagalahu dhikri am mas'alati.
A'taytuhu khayra mimma u'tis sa'idi.
Whoever is too busy praising me to ask
me for something, I will give them more
and better than I give those who are
demanding for.
Think about it.
In another hadith, the Prophet peace be upon
him, in Surah Abu Dawud, hadith of Aisha.
He says to Aisha radhiallahu anha, when you're
really stressed, say Allahu rabbi la ushriku bihi
shay'a.
Allah, you are my master, there's none equal
to you.
Is there a request here, a demand somewhere?
Am I missing something?
What are we missing?
Let me take you to the third example.
The dua of Yunus in the belly of
the whale that I recited.
Now imagine Yunus peace be upon him is
in three levels of darkness.
Darkness of the night, the darkness of the
sea, and the darkness of the whale.
And we are here in the darkness of
East London, in the darkness of the night,
under the dark sky.
And Yunus peace be upon him, in this
darkness, what does he say?
Allah, there is none worthy of worship but
you.
How amazing you are.
I was definitely in the wrong.
What's in common?
I gave you three duas the Prophet said
to make in distress.
What's in common between the three?
What's in common between these three?
It's a?
It's a form of recognition of Allah.
It is expressing, you see, when you are
in distress, when the world pushes you to
your knees, financial, family, psychological, life difficulties, when
you are in distress, what does Allah want
out of you?
He wants this word to escape your lips.
What word does he want to escape your
lips?
La ilaha illallah.
You know what?
Let me really explain to you what you
are saying when you say la ilaha illallah.
Oh Allah, my spouse may have left me.
I may be bankrupt.
I may be alone.
I may be exhausted.
I may have back pain.
I may have knee pain.
I may have nothing to look forward to
tomorrow.
My day may be bleak.
My life may be sorrow.
I may be on antidepressants.
But oh Allah, there's only one thing that
I know.
Nothing in this world is important to me
more than you.
Nothing in this world provides me except you.
Nobody in this world can take from me
but you.
Oh Allah, you stripped everything away from me
and you led me back to this conclusion
that I have nobody, I have nothing except
you.
That's what he wants you to say.
That's what la ilaha illallah means.
Dua ul-qarp.
The worst of moments.
The greatest of duas.
They're not long.
They're not elaborate.
They're very short.
But you are expressing something very deep within
your heart.
Your loyalty.
Your commitment.
Your love.
Your fear of Allah.
And that's it.
You don't need to ask.
You don't need to plead.
You don't need to demand.
Allah will grant you greater than whatever you
are thinking about.
This is the secret, ladies and gentlemen, brothers
and sisters.
The secret is to embed your duas with
these words la ilaha illallah.
In a hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, it's
narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
says that on the Day of Judgment, that
a man will come in front of Allah
on the Day of Judgment.
And that there will be a scale of
deeds.
And that on one side, all of his
sins will be piled up.
And he will have a small piece of
paper.
A small scrap of paper.
And he will put this scrap of paper
on the other scale and it will outweigh
all of his sins.
And what is there on this scrap of
paper is just the words la ilaha illallah.
It is narrated in the Muwatta of Imam
Malik that Musa, peace be upon him, asks
Allah, Oh Allah, teach me the greatest of
all supplications.
The greatest of all ways to remember you.
And Allah teaches him la ilaha illallah.
The problem is that we think we know
what this sentence means because we hear it
so often.
But the way to realize this sentence is
that as you're saying it, to actively think
in your mind two things.
When you say la ilaha, erase everything in
your mind that's bothering you.
Every person you think is in control, every
authority you think is at play, everyone you
think that can take or seize anything from
you, just erase them from your mind.
They don't exist.
And when you say illallah, imagine it is
just you and Allah on this earth, nobody
else.
That's all that matters.
He's the only one who provides.
Everything else is just an illusion.
Everything else is just an intermediary.
Everything goes back to Allah.
The secret of the accepted dua is the
depth of sincerity and tawheed and the expression
of this monotheism in your words.
It can burn away any calamity.
It can erase any distress.
Which is why the Prophet, peace be upon
him, said the dua, the supplication of my
brother Yunus, peace be upon him, anybody who
asks with this dua will get it accepted.
Now you might ask the question, I've said
this dua bare times to use London language.
They say you have to speak the language
with the people.
I've used this dua so many times, la
ilaha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minal dhalimeen.
Still, it ain't happening.
You see, pay attention.
He didn't just say the same words as
Yunus, peace be upon him.
Did you say it in the same way
that he did?
Did you say it with the depth that
he said it?
Did you say it with the conviction that
he said it?
Did you say it with the same level
of love and commitment and loyalty to Allah
as he said it?
You didn't and I didn't.
Therefore, we didn't get the same result.
So, in today's reminder, we talked about the
four myths of dua and the secret to
the accepted dua.
And I want to leave you all with
a small reminder or a small story to
end with.
When you look at the life of Musa,
peace be upon him, he goes through various
things, various distresses, various tests in his life.
But every time he goes through a test,
his first reaction is to raise his hands
and speak to Allah.
The verses I recited in the beginning, Suratul
Anbiya, the 19th surah of the Quran, Allah
tells a story of ten prophets, one after
the other.
And there's one thing in common between all
of these prophets.
What is it?
In this surah.
Before, before that, What's
the first thing that these prophets are doing?
They all are brought to their breaking point
in their lives.
Every prophet has a breaking and boiling point.
Every material has a boiling and melting point.
We learned this in GCSE physics, didn't we?
Every material at some point will melt, break
or shatter.
Every messenger had their own breaking point.
But when they were brought to their breaking
point, they would call out to Allah.
Now, what's the difference between nida and dua?
Allah is saying here, the prophets do nida.
What's nida?
It's calling someone from a distance.
Abdurrahman!
This is nida.
When the prophets were pushed to their breaking
points, they would raise their hands like this
and call out to Allah.
Don't forget to do the same when you
reach your breaking point.
Secondly, the level of depth and sincerity with
which they spoke to Allah, his response came.
But not at the timeline that they thought,
not in the way that they thought.
But what was it?
What was it that granted them that acceptance?
Innahum kanu yusari'una fil khairat They were
always racing to please me.
You see, dua is a lifestyle.
It's not a conversation.
Allah's response is based on your lifestyle.
He's saying the prophets were always, they had
a lifestyle of racing towards Allah.
Wa yad'uunana raghaban wa rahaba And they
would call me in fear and in hope.
Trembling but hopeful.
Wa kanu lana khaashi'een And they had
a sense of humility when they stood in
front of me.
The lifestyle of actions that please Allah, seeking
the pleasure of Allah.
The state of being when you speak to
Allah, to be in a state of fear
and hope and humility.
These are the two secret ingredients that granted
the prophets the responses that they were looking
for.
And with this, inshallah, we come to the
end of our talk.
I think we have about 12 minutes till
Isha.
So any questions you have, any concerns, any
critiques, if you didn't like my jokes, please
let me know.
If I make a dua, if I make
a supplication to Allah, and there's a delay
in the response, does it mean I've done
something wrong?
I've missed a trick?
Or is it a consequence of punishment?
Answer this counter-question.
How long did the prophet Zakariya wait to
get his response to have a child?
How long did he wait?
Anybody know?
How many days?
Weekend?
Drive-thru?
How long did Zakariya wait to experience his
response from Allah?
Sorry?
Three days?
I think a little bit longer than three
months.
That's the purpose.
No?
More than nine months, my friends.
Huh?
It's between 80 and 100 years.
Yeah, that's right, guys.
Did prophet Zakariya do something wrong?
Ibrahim, how long did he wait for Allah
to grant him a child?
Almost a century.
A century is something you celebrate in cricket,
but Ibrahim wasn't celebrating the delay.
Ayub, when he had his skin conditioned, how
long did he wait for Allah's response?
A very, very long time.
The prophets were tested by delayed responses.
The test is, I will answer at my
own pace and I will give it to
you when I think the time is right,
but will you give up in the meanwhile
or will you wait and will you show
me your patience?
This is one of the tests of Allah.
And this is something that almost every prophet
was tested with.
Every delay is not a denial.
Remember this sentence.
Allah's delays are not his denials.
And if he delays for you, he delayed
for Zakariya, he delayed for Yaqub, he delayed
for Maryam, he delayed for Ibrahim.
So welcome to the club of the greatest
people of all time and be patient with
his delay.
Allah knows best.
Yes, brother.
Good question.
He's asking what's the link You see, one
of the reasons why our supplications may not
make it past the ceiling is our sins.
The effect of our sins on our supplications
is evident from the hadith of the prophet,
peace be upon him, where he talked about
the man who is barefooted and disheveled in
the desert and his food, drink and clothing
is prohibited or from prohibited sources.
And he says, why would Allah respond to
him?
Our sins have an effect now.
The difference between here and the Pacific Ocean
in number.
But in order for Allah's response to get
that concession, to get Allah's response, even though
we have those sins, it's worth starting our
supplications by seeking his forgiveness.
Who knows the greatest supplication to seek Allah's
forgiveness?
Sayyidul Istighfar.
Who knows Sayyidul Istighfar?
Allahumma anta rabbi la ilaha illa anta Oh
Allah, you are my Lord.
There is none worthy of worship but you.
Note the la ilaha illa anta.
Khalaqtani wa ana abduk You created me and
I'm just your slave.
And I'm just trying my best with everything
you asked me to do.
A'udhu bika min sharri ma sanaat Protect
me from the evil that I have done.
Abu'u laka bi ni'matika alayya wa abu
'u bi dhanbi I confess to you my
many sins and I confess to you your
blessings.
Faghfir li Please forgive me.
And nobody can forgive me except you.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said If
you say this to Allah sincerely in the
evening and you die before the morning you
will be entered into paradise.
And if you say this in the morning
sincerely and you pass away before the evening
you will be entered into paradise.
One paragraph.
So the seeking of forgiveness is really an
important element to the acceptance of supplication.
Go ahead brother.
Is it okay to ask du'a for
dunya matters when there are so many missing
things in our deen?
In a hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said Indeed Allah
loves for you to ask Him your needs
in this world.
Even if your sandal strap is broken Allah
loves that you raise your hand and you
ask Him.
The answer came from the Messenger sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam.
Nothing is too little to ask Allah.
Ask Allah openly with your heart for the
afterlife and for this world.
There is a balance between both.
Allah knows best.
Yes brother.
How important is it to make du'a
for others?
You know when you sit in the airplane
what do they say?
When the mask drops you first put it
on yourself and then you put it for
others.
When it comes to supplication it's important to
prioritize making du'a first of all for
your own sins and for your own forgiveness
and for your own outcomes but not to
forget the du'a of others.
In fact the Prophet peace be upon him
said every Prophet has one guaranteed du'a
to be accepted by Allah and I have
saved mine on the day of judgment for
me to request Allah for the salvation of
mine.
So do not forget the Ummah and do
not forget the others.
Yes brother.
Is there any occasion where a non-Muslim's
du'a is accepted?
There is a discussion between the scholars on
the verse Allah responds to the distress of
the desperate when they ask.
There is a discussion between scholars that that
is does that include non-Muslims as well
as Muslims?
Are there occasions in which a non-Muslim's
du'a can get accepted?
But this is a classical dispute between scholars
on what's the correct answer and I'm certainly
not qualified to decide between them today.
Allah knows best.
Yes brother.
This is a very good question.
Physically must you raise your hands?
It puts you in a physical position that
increases your humility and increases your puts you
in the right mindset to ask as a
recommended.
But you can ask Allah while you're at
work, while you're tapping with the laptop, while
you're commuting.
You can speak to Allah.
You don't need to do anything except open
your mouth.
That's it.
Yes brother.
Is there a practical sunnah du'a is
that most or all of us we treat
du'a like a shopping list transaction.
We are not having a real, raw, unfiltered,
vulnerable conversation with Allah in our own language.
I think vast majority of people have never
experienced that.
And I think this is the greatest, most
neglected sunnah of du'a.
And Allah knows best and we can't take
any more questions.