The Art of Asking God: How Does One Ask?
This is the third in a series of articles on how make dua or supplication from the seminar The Art of Asking from God by shaykh Faraz Rabbani, shaykh Abdullah Misra and shaykh Ahmed El-Azhary.
There is a right way of asking. the heart of this way is one reality: The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Call upon Allah with certitude in His answer.”
You know who Allah is. You know His promise is true. Allah says:
ٱدۡعُونِیۤ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ
“‘Call on Me and I will answer you” [Quran, 40:60; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]
You know your reality of being in utter need of Allah. That is your honor. You know the promise of your Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
Supplication Is Worship
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “[Let no servant ever say that] I called upon Allah and He did not answer me,” because Allah will give you. And he (Allah bless him and give him peace) described four ways that Allah will give. Allah will give you either what you asked for, or the like of what you asked for. Or He’ll prevent from you harm to the extent of what you asked for. Or He will store it up as reward in the hereafter.
It has come that the servant will see all kinds of mountains of reward for things they never did, they’ll ask, “O Lord, why am I being rewarded for all this when I never did it?” He said, “This is the answer to the duas that were not answered in this life.”
The duas were still answered, eternally in the hereafter. The real answer for supplication is not what you get in this life. Supplication is an act of worship. When are you rewarded for worship? In the next life. The reward of our actions is not in this life. The feast of the believer is not in this life, it is in the next. Have complete certitude in Allah, His attributes, and his promise.
What Do I Ask Allah?
The best things you can ask Allah for are contained in the supplications of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and in the Quran. Allah teaches us how to make supplication, He tells us the supplications of the Prophets (upon them be peace).
It is an innovation to only make supplications from the Quran and the Sunna because we are to unconditionally supplicate. The scholars pretty much agree that you do both, you make the transmitted supplications, you make them from your heart, but you also make supplication for your needs.
What do you need from Allah? That question should be active in your mind, as well as, “What is the best thing that I can ask Allah?”
The Prophet’s supplications encompass that (Allah bless him and give him peace). One of the great scholars of Islam, Ibn Ataillah al-Sakandari said, “The best of what you can ask from Allah is what He asks of you.” A lot of times we just ask for small things, we just ask for fleeting things, none of which will accompany us in the grave.
Rights of Lordship
What does Allah seek from you? You are to fulfill the rights of his Lordship and the duties of your slavehood. You are to love Him, be grateful to him, have hope, have trust in Him, and have patience. There are many to ask about that matter. You also ask all the little things because you will get all of it. The worldly things you ask for are like trinkets.
You are not insignificant, you are an honored servant of Allah. Appreciate the gift of supplication. Hold fast to that gift. The reality of supplication is a meaning in your heart of neediness to Allah.
Even when you recite the transmitted supplications, pause for a second. The scholars tell us that even if you are going to recite the supplication from the Quran, it can help (so that you mean it) to say it in a language you are familiar with first. So an English speaker may say it in English first and then repeat it in Arabic. That meaning is in the heart and your neediness to Allah can be expressed with certitude.
