Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.
To proceed:
I first and foremost advise you and myself to fear Allah and obey Him in every time and place. Respond to the call of Allah and He will respond to you when you call upon Him.
Allah says:
“And your Lord says, ‘Call upon Me; I will respond to you.’” (Qur’ān 40:60)
And He says:
“And when My servants ask you, [O Muḥammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.” (Qur’ān 2:186)
But why is it that sometimes we ask of Allah for something but He doesn't grant it to us? Why doesn't He answer our du‘ā’ at times?
Realise that there are several factors which may prevent your du‘ā’ from being accepted by Allah. It may be that your du‘ā’ is not accepted by Allah due to your lack of sincerity and focus in making du‘ā’; indeed, Allah does not accept du‘ā’ from a heedless, inattentive heart. It may be that you are too hasty – too much in a hurry – to see the response to your du‘ā’; one might say, 'I have prayed and prayed, but no response has come', and as a result his du‘ā’ is rejected by Allah. It may be that your food, drink, wealth or clothing is not halal; indeed, Allah is pure [from all imperfection] and does not accept other than what is pure. It may be that your sins are blocking your du‘ā’ from being accepted by Allah. How can you expect that your du‘ā’ be responded to, when you have blocked its path with sins?
Ibrāhīm ibn Ad'ham, one of the greatest of the tābi‘īn (the generation following the ṣaḥābah), was once asked, "Why is it that we make du‘ā’, yet they are not responded to?" He replied: "Because you know Allah, yet do not obey Him. And you know the Prophet (ﷺ), but do not follow his sunnah. And you know the Qur’ān, but you do not act upon it. And you eat from the blessings of Allah, but you do not express gratitude for it. And you know Paradise, yet do not strive for it. And you know the Fire of Hell, yet do not run away from it. And you know Shayṭān, but you do not fight him, and instead obey him. And you know death, but you do not prepare yourselves for it. And you bury the dead, but do not learn a lesson from it. And you have left your own faults, and instead busy yourself with the faults of others."
But doesn't Allah say, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you”? Yes, Allah has guaranteed for you a response, though Him accepting your du‘ā’ the way you asked for it is something else. His response is in what He chooses for you, not in what you choose for yourself. His response is at the time He wills, not the time you want. You are the servant and He is the Master. He responds to you however He wills. He may respond to your du‘ā’ by accepting it the way you asked it, or He may respond by granting you something better. For He is al-Ḥakīm – the Most Wise. He knows what is better for you than you do. It may be that you're asking for a thing that is in fact bad for you, and so Allah does not grant it to you out of His Great and Perfect Wisdom.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“There is no Muslim who makes du‘ā’ with words in which there is neither sin nor severing ties of kinship, except that Allah will grant because of it one of three things: either He will grant him what he asked for, or store it up for him in the Hereafter, or avert from him an equivalent harm.” (Narrated by Aḥmad)
To end, call upon Allah with the certainty that He will definitely respond to you, either by granting you what you asked for or by granting you something greater.
To proceed:
I first and foremost advise you and myself to fear Allah and obey Him in every time and place. Respond to the call of Allah and He will respond to you when you call upon Him.
Allah says:
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدْعُونِىٓ أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
And He says:
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ
But why is it that sometimes we ask of Allah for something but He doesn't grant it to us? Why doesn't He answer our du‘ā’ at times?
Realise that there are several factors which may prevent your du‘ā’ from being accepted by Allah. It may be that your du‘ā’ is not accepted by Allah due to your lack of sincerity and focus in making du‘ā’; indeed, Allah does not accept du‘ā’ from a heedless, inattentive heart. It may be that you are too hasty – too much in a hurry – to see the response to your du‘ā’; one might say, 'I have prayed and prayed, but no response has come', and as a result his du‘ā’ is rejected by Allah. It may be that your food, drink, wealth or clothing is not halal; indeed, Allah is pure [from all imperfection] and does not accept other than what is pure. It may be that your sins are blocking your du‘ā’ from being accepted by Allah. How can you expect that your du‘ā’ be responded to, when you have blocked its path with sins?
Ibrāhīm ibn Ad'ham, one of the greatest of the tābi‘īn (the generation following the ṣaḥābah), was once asked, "Why is it that we make du‘ā’, yet they are not responded to?" He replied: "Because you know Allah, yet do not obey Him. And you know the Prophet (ﷺ), but do not follow his sunnah. And you know the Qur’ān, but you do not act upon it. And you eat from the blessings of Allah, but you do not express gratitude for it. And you know Paradise, yet do not strive for it. And you know the Fire of Hell, yet do not run away from it. And you know Shayṭān, but you do not fight him, and instead obey him. And you know death, but you do not prepare yourselves for it. And you bury the dead, but do not learn a lesson from it. And you have left your own faults, and instead busy yourself with the faults of others."
But doesn't Allah say, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you”? Yes, Allah has guaranteed for you a response, though Him accepting your du‘ā’ the way you asked for it is something else. His response is in what He chooses for you, not in what you choose for yourself. His response is at the time He wills, not the time you want. You are the servant and He is the Master. He responds to you however He wills. He may respond to your du‘ā’ by accepting it the way you asked it, or He may respond by granting you something better. For He is al-Ḥakīm – the Most Wise. He knows what is better for you than you do. It may be that you're asking for a thing that is in fact bad for you, and so Allah does not grant it to you out of His Great and Perfect Wisdom.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
مَا مِنْ مُسْلِمٍ يَدْعُو بِدَعْوَةٍ لَيْسَ فِيهَا إِثْمٌ وَلَا قَطِيعَةُ رَحِمٍ إِلَّا أَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ بِهَا إِحْدَى ثَلَاثٍ: إِمَّا أَنْ تُعَجَّلَ لَهُ دَعْوَتُهُ ، وَإِمَّا أَنْ يَدَّخِرَهَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ ، وَإِمَّا أَنْ يَصْرِفَ عَنْهُ مِنْ السُّوءِ مِثْلَهَا
To end, call upon Allah with the certainty that He will definitely respond to you, either by granting you what you asked for or by granting you something greater.
No comments:
Post a Comment