4 Islamic articles on: prayer (supplication) in Islam

IslamQA: When our wish comes true, how can we be sure that God answered our prayer?

want to ask: Is an invite for umrah an indication that Allah wants to grant your dua? Or is it mere optimist thought? For many yrs i wanted to go there but somehow couldn't or dint. Now 'm going umrah tomorrow n wonder about this. Can i request your thoughts / view on this?

Think of every moment as a prayer answered by God. This universe would be like ball of solid steel, with nothing moving in it, if God did not move it moment by moment. When you want to blink, your soul sends a prayer to God, who answers it by changing the universe so that the blink can happen. When you breathe, it cannot happen without God moving all the right atoms and muscles and making the right chemical reactions to happen. Anything good that happens in your life is a prayer answered, even if it is just tasting an apple.

The specific prayers that God answers (such as wanting to go on umrah) are no different. Of course it is God answering your prayer. He may have a thousand reasons for letting the umrah happen, but He also has your prayers in mind (how couldn’t He?) and does it all for you as if you were the only human in the universe. The idea that God could make something good that you asked for happen without it being an answer to your prayer or wish does not make sense. God is merciful and kind, He loves answering prayers, and He does not get distracted. He always has all of your prayers in mind and answers them them constantly, watching you to see if you are a thankful and grateful servant. Do you think He will let your prayer come true and think “I’m not actually doing it for him?” Will your father buy you the greatest gift you have wished for and give it to you saying “I actually bought this randomly, it is not because you asked”, and take no pleasure in making you happy? If your father loves you and cares about you he will never have such an attitude. The same applies to God.

IslamQA: Can we ask God for small things as well as great?

Alslam alikum Sometimes I want to ask ALLAH for something to help me with my studying life or love life but then I remember the people who has more serious issues than mine ,like those who have cancer or those who have lost a child and I feel bad about myself so I don’t ask or Dua’a I would like to hear your opinion in this case

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

Asking God for things is a form of worship, so you should do it as often as you can for whatever reason. If you are cooking something, ask God to make it turn out well. If you can’t find your keys, ask God to help you find it. Whatever difficulty, small or great, that you face throughout the day should be an occasion for asking God for His help. It doesn’t cost Him anything and it increases His love for you. Ideally we should spend our days asking of Him, praising Him or thanking Him whatever the reason or occasion.

IslamQA: What should one ask God for?

What should one ask God for?

These are the things I ask God for daily:

  • Guidance
  • Forgiveness
  • His easing and facilitating my doing of good and beneficial things.
  • His putting His blessings (baraka) in my time and in my works.
  • Freedom from need (poverty).
  • His increasing my knowledge.
  • His giving me and my family good in this life, in the next life, and His protection from the Hellfire.

IslamQA: How can we know if our dua is delayed or rejected?

How can we know if our dua is delayed or rejected?

Every prayer you make is an act of worship, and in response to it God arranges things more favorably for you. There are no wasted prayers. But God’s response to our prayers is a matter of the Unseen world that is hidden away from us. When it comes to what He does in response to our prayers, most of the time we cannot be sure. God tells us in the Quran not to put our hopes in the worldly life and to not be attached to it, for this reason the proper attitude of a Muslim should be to pray for general things rather than specific things. You might pray to be the top student of your class, but another person might be praying just as hard for it, or God may have a plan for them that requires them to be the top student, so praying for something too specific often sets you up for disappointment.

A pious Muslim can pray for things they desire, but they should always acknowledge that God may have a different plan for them. We may desire to marry a specific person and pray for that, but God does not promise us that He will answer such prayers. He may if He wants, and He may not if He does not want. True submission to God means to submit to His decrees about us rather than making demands and telling Him how He should be managing our affairs for us. God knows us better than we know ourselves and knows what we best need, therefore we should not pray like masters making decrees to a servant to do things for us, we should instead pray with full knowledge that God always knows better. Ibn al-Jawzi writes:

The true servant of God is the one who accepts whatever the Creator decrees. If he asks of Him and He answers, he considers that a privilege granted by Him, and if he is denied, he considers that an act of the Master doing what He wills toward His subjects, so that there is no complaint in his heart toward his condition.