Supplications of Non-Muslims

Supplications of Non-Muslims

by: Dr Mohammad Akram Nadwi
Oxford

Question:
Al-Salamu Alaykum Shaykh! This is Ahmed Thayyil from, Australia. I am a 3rd year ‘Alimiyyah student at Al-Salam Institute and have been benefitting from your teachings for over a decade, Alhamdulillah. Shaykh, God describes Himself in the Qur’an as As-Samī‘ and Mujīb ad-Da‘wah. This greatly strengthens my īmān when I see my du‘as answered.
However, when Christians or Hindus call upon their deities and perceive their prayers as answered, doesn’t that also increase their belief in falsehood? Since we know it is God alone who fulfills all needs, does this apparent “answering” not lead them further into shirk or misguidance?
Could you kindly shed some light on this? Jazākumullāhu khayran.

Answer:
Wa ʿalaykum as-salām wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh, dear Ahmed. Your question refers to a critical theological issue: how should Muslims understand the phenomenon wherein non-Muslims, such as Christians or Hindus, supplicate to their respective deities, and after believing those prayers are “answered,” experience a reinforcement of their existing beliefs, even though their theological framework contradicts the fundamentals of tawḥīd? You rightly noted that God is al-Rabb (the Lord) of all creation and the only One capable of fulfilling all needs.
The Qur’ān affirms that God’s rubūbiyyah encompasses all creation, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. In Sūrah Yūnus (10:31), God says: “قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَمَّن يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَمَن يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَمَن يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ ۚ فَسَيَقُولُونَ اللَّهُ…”
“Say: Who provides for you from the sky and the earth? Or who controls hearing and sight, and who brings out the living from the dead and brings out the dead from the living, and who arranges every matter? They will say, ‘God.’”
Even the mushrikūn (polytheists) of Quraysh acknowledged God’s Lordship over creation. His roles as al-Razzāq (the Provider), al-Muḥyī (the Giver of Life), and al-Mumīt (the Giver of Death) are not contingent upon the individual’s belief. Therefore, the fact that a supplication of a non-Muslim is seemingly answered does not imply God’s approval of their theological stance.
From a Qur’ānic perspective, the outward answering of a non-believer’s prayer may, in fact, constitute a divine test or even a manifestation of istidraj—a form of gradual reprieve that leads to increased heedlessness. God says: “وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِّنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ”
“And those who deny Our signs—We shall progressively lead them [to destruction] from where they do not perceive.” (Sūrah al-Aʿrāf 7:182)
Therefore, the fulfilment of certain supplication by disbelievers may serve as further entrenching them in their error, rather than as a result of divine endorsement.
Imām Ibn Taymiyyah states in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā that duʿāʾ, in its essence, is a request for fulfilment of need. God may, in His universal justice and mercy, fulfil such needs even for those outside the fold of Islām. However, this fulfilment pertains to dunyawī (worldly) matters and should not be confused with acceptance in the spiritual or eschatological sense.
Moreover, even when disbelievers call upon their false deities, it is in fact God, by His unique Lordship, who responds. The Qur’ān affirms: “وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا هُوَ”
“If God should touch you with harm, none can remove it except Him…” (Sūrah al-Anʿām 6:17)
This makes it clear that any perceived “answering” of prayers made to that other than God is, in reality, an act of God’s will, not a validation of shirk or deviation.

While it is true that such experiences can lead non-Muslims to greater conviction in their existing beliefs, it is crucial to recognize that misinterpretation of divine action is not a fault in the divine order but a result of human ignorance and arrogance. God has instilled within every soul a fiṭrah, an innate disposition toward monotheism, and has provided them with intellect, revelation, and the capacity for reflection. “وَالَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْا زَادَهُمْ هُدًى”
“And those who are rightly guided, He increases them in guidance…” (Sūrah Muḥammad 47:17)
Thus, if individuals use God’s generosity as a means of affirming falsehood, the accountability rests upon their misuse of divine blessings and not upon God’s universal mercy.
God is al-Raḥmān, and His mercy encompasses all of creation: “وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ”
“And My mercy encompasses all things…” (Sūrah al-Aʿrāf 7:156)
However, Islamic theology distinguishes between the general mercy (raḥmah ʿāmmah) that reaches all creatures, and the specific mercy (raḥmah khāṣṣah) reserved for the believers. The latter includes the spiritual benefit of accepted duʿāʾs, guidance, forgiveness, and ultimate salvation.
In summary, God’s answering of prayers made by non-Muslims does not indicate approval of their theological beliefs but is instead an expression of His universal Lordship, mercy, or a form of divine testing. Such instances may lead to further misguidance, but only when individuals fail to reflect upon their fitrah and the evidences of true tawḥīd. The believer, meanwhile, should find in the answering of their own duʿāʾs a confirmation of God’s nearness and a strengthening of faith rooted in truth.
May God grant us clarity, sincerity, and steadfastness upon the straight path.