Duʿāʾ

An Illustration
There is a famous tale from Alf Laylah wa-Laylah (The Arabian Nights): “ʿAlī Bābā and the Forty Thieves.” We have all read or heard it many times. The main character is ʿAlī Bābā. One day, while returning home after cutting wood in the forest, he saw forty thieves approaching. Leaving his bundle of wood behind, he climbed a tree. From there he saw the thieves stop before a great rock. Their leader stood and cried aloud: “Open, Sesame!” As soon as he said this, the rock moved aside and revealed a cave. The thieves entered and stored their loot inside, and when they came out, their leader said, “Close, Sesame!” and the rock closed again.
ʿAlī Bābā learned these words; he would say them, enter the cave, take gold, and say them again to close the door.

The World of Causes
This world, which God, exalted be He, has created, operates through causes (asbāb). We eat and drink to survive, earn wealth for sustenance, take medicine in sickness, and travel to reach our destinations. These causes are created by God, and employing them is an obligation upon us.

The Place of Duʿāʾ
Among all causes, the most powerful and certain is duʿāʾ. Worship itself is included within duʿāʾ. The reason for its strength and certainty is that it is directly connected to the Musabbib al-asbāb—the Originator of all causes. Between duʿāʾ and God there is no visible or material intermediary.
The things we obtain through causes have no intrinsic connection with those causes—except by the decree of God. Everything in this world occurs only by His command. He alone brings causes into being and He alone creates their outcomes. Without His will, even the presence of all means will produce no result.
The means to receive His decree is worship and duʿāʾ. The intelligent servants of God understand this secret. Therefore, they place no trust in the causes themselves; their trust is only in His decree. Before taking up any means, they first ask of God, and through that asking, their purpose is fulfilled. They adopt causes because their Master has concealed their needs behind the veil of causes. Otherwise, these means themselves create nothing.
Duʿāʾ is the surest cause, and the Qurʾān repeats this truth:
“Ujību daʿwata al-dāʿi idhā daʿān” — “I respond to the call of the caller when he calls upon Me.”
“Udʿūnī astajib lakum” — “Call upon Me; I will respond to you.”
“Amman yujību al-muḍṭarra idhā daʿāhu wa-yakshifu al-sūʾ” — “Who is it that responds to the distressed one when he calls upon Him and removes the harm?”
and many such verses.

A Painful Reality
Duʿāʾ is such a potent weapon, yet people constantly complain of their needs and rely more on worldly means than on duʿāʾ. The reason is that most people neither understand what duʿāʾ truly is, nor know how to make it properly.
It is deeply painful to see that even many scholars fail to grasp the meaning of duʿāʾ or to perform it correctly. Most people treat duʿāʾ as if it were a magical code, like “Open, Sesame” or “Close, Sesame”—if the code is correct, the door opens; if forgotten, it remains shut—without caring to know its meaning.
Because people treat duʿāʾ like a coded phrase, they memorise its words. Some copy the prayers of others. In this age of social media, the business of copying and pasting duʿās has spread widely and is imagined to be a virtuous act. Many post a duʿāʾ in their WhatsApp groups each morning. But merely forwarding these words achieves nothing; nor does uttering them publicly fulfil any need. The words of created beings do not bring realities into existence—only the words of God do. He alone possesses the power of “kun fayakūn”—“Be, and it is.”

Let us therefore understand, in brief, the essence and correct method of duʿāʾ, and avoid the mistaken ways, so that we may benefit from this most effective and beneficial means.

The Reality of Duʿāʾ
Everything in this universe belongs to God. He alone grants benefit and causes harm. Yet He is most merciful to His servants, more caring for them than a mother for her child. He is fully capable of meeting all their needs. If you were to ask me for a penny, no matter how miserly I might be, giving that penny would be easy. What you ask of God is infinitely easier for Him to grant.
We are poor and in need, powerless, and unaware of what benefits or harms us. We neither know the means nor control them, nor can we link cause to effect. There is only one path for us: to ask everything of our Lord. He listens, fulfils, delights in our asking, and rewards us for it as an act of worship.

The Method of Duʿāʾ
To understand the proper method of duʿāʾ, observe these three steps carefully:

1. Awareness of need: Bring your need vividly before your mind. Reflect that only God can fulfil it. If He wills, He will create the means for it; if He wills, He will grant it without means; and if He does not will, then even with all means present, it will not occur.

2. Awakening of longing: Stir in your heart a deep yearning for what you seek, and with that burning desire turn to your Master, weep, and entreat Him.

3. Verbal expression: Clothe your need in words and present it before God. Try to ensure that no one other than God hears your prayer. Remember, words are meaningful only when accompanied by the action of the mind and the heart. Thus, speak only what truly expresses your inner feeling; words uttered without understanding are not duʿāʾ.

Once you have prayed in this manner, that is enough. The Prophets each made their supplication once. God hears the first time; He does not need to be reminded repeatedly.

Perhaps an objection arises: in authentic ḥadīths we are encouraged to repeat certain duʿās. The answer, which I shall detail elsewhere, is that such duʿās are either in the category of dhikr (remembrance), in which repetition is desirable, or they are meant to teach some specific lesson.

Errors in Duʿāʾ
We commit many errors which prevent our duʿās from being effective:

1. Lack of conviction: We have no true faith that God will grant our request. Someone asked Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq why prayers are not answered. He replied: “Because you do not even know whom you are asking.”

2. Absence of presence: We make no effort to engage our mind and heart. Without this presence, no duʿāʾ is a duʿāʾ. ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz once saw a man playing with pebbles while asking God for ḥūr ʿīn. He said, “What a poor suitor you are!”—for such a way of courting is unworthy.

3. Treating duʿāʾ as a spell or code: We imagine the words themselves to be magical. Hence we borrow the duʿās of others. Yet in the Qurʾān you will not find a prophet or righteous person repeating another’s words; each prayed in his own expression. One might ask: why then are certain duʿās taught in revelation? The short answer is that they concern the Hereafter or contain specific lessons to be learned—details of which may be explained later.

4. Public display: Instead of praying in solitude, we make duʿāʾ in public gatherings, crying and lamenting before people. This is most improper. The correct way to weep before God is in private. Imām Sufyān al-Thawrī said, “Any of our deeds that becomes known to others we no longer consider a good deed.”

Summary
The essence of duʿāʾ lies not in its words. Even if one errs in wording, the duʿāʾ may still be accepted. What matters is the presence of mind and heart. Pray only to God, not before others. When you observe these principles, you will see how swiftly God fulfils your needs. When all doors close, He opens a new one; and He always gives more than you ask.
Someone once asked a saint to direct him to a man whose prayers are always answered. The saint replied, “I know of no man whose prayers are always answered—but I know the One who always answers.”

When you witness how swiftly your duʿās are answered, you will fall in love with duʿāʾ itself, and everything obtained without it will seem worthless. The greatest benefit of duʿāʾ is that it earns the reward of worship—and that reward is greater than all that we ask for. How merciful is our Lord! When we ask Him for our needs, He fulfils them generously and, in addition, grants us everlasting reward. So praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds.

Disclaimer: This article was translated by AI. Original post: https://t.me/DrAkramNadwi/7066