#nighteight

I began writing this blog post yesterday on my way to my grandparents' house in Zliten for Iftaar and never got a chance to finish it. It kind of feels like the last two nights has been really a week long. I had the opportunity to have another group Iftaar tonight with some lovely ladies, who only until a few hours ago I was completely strangers to and I went home feeling like I have known them forever. Coincidentally towards the end of the evening our conversation went into the topic of duaa (supplication).

I am the type of person who does a million things at the same time and I somehow manage to be at two places at once; I am constantly asked how I manage to do it?! And it's always been the same answer: constant supplication.

One of the things I want to achieve this Ramadan is the practice of constantly making supplication so that it is my number one resort, so that it becomes what I rely and depend on. I want it to be a habit so that my Imaan (faith) is high enough and that I can unconsciously turn to God at the spur of a moment. Below is what I know and what I have learnt about supplication that I would like to share. To begin with  a few things to keep in mind when making duaa:

Sincere Intention: Like everything else in Islam, a sincere intention is required when making duaa. We must ask with the confidence that God will grant us whatever is best for us, keep in mind the following hadith:

:قال النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - : يقول الله تعالى   أنا عند ظن عبدي بي ، وأنا معه إذا ذكرني ، فإن ذكرني في نفسه ذكرته في نفسي ، وإن ذكرني في ملإ ذكرته في ملإ خير منهم ، وإن تقرب إلي بشبر تقربت إليه ذراعا ، وإن تقرب إلي ذراعا تقربت إليه باعا ، وإن أتاني يمشي أتيته هرولة

The Prophet (peace be upon him) related to us that Allah says: "I am as My servant thinks of Me. I am with him when he remembers Me. If he mentions Me within himself, I mention him within Myself. If he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in a better assembly. If he comes near to Me a handspan, I come near to him the distance of a cubit. If he comes near to Me the distance of a cubit, I come near to him the distance of two outspread arms. If he comes to Me walking, I come to him running.

Praise and glorification of God and sending blessings of the Prophet (PBUH): Begin and end your duaa by praising God and sending peace and blessings on his message. If you find this difficult  there are many verses in the Quran which you can use to help.

Seek forgiveness: Ask for forgiveness for your sins during duaa.

Acknowledge blessings: Make sure to thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon you.

Concentration: When making duaa make sure you are concentrated and that you are not asking anyone but God.

When is the best time to make duaa?

At the end of obligatory prayers

Between the Athan and Iqama

During Tahajud (late night non-obligatory prayers)

In prostration (during prayers)

When it is raining

During travel

During suhoor (pre-dawn meal), when fasting and when breaking your fast

When drinking Zamzam water

After recitation of Quran

Last hour after Asr on Fridays

To give you some motivation to put duaa on the top of your to-do list, these are a couple of verses as to why the power of duaa is incredible. Every time I come across them why I would ever waste a minute not making duaa!

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُواْ لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُواْ بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible.

The first verse I have mentioned several times in my previous blogs so I won't go into it again here. The second verse is a very strongly worded verse. When I read it I feel humility, God the Almighty asking us to just call on Him so that He may respond to us.

The verse then goes on to say those who are arrogant of worship (duaa being a form of worship) will enter hell fire. To be arrogant of the power of duaa, the power God has over everything in existence and to rely on something else seems to be very foolish. However if we focus-in on our lives we see that we spend so much time relying on other people or things.

We are dug so deep in our worries we forget that God is waiting for us to just reach out to him. Remember the above mentioned Hadith in which God says if we come to Him walking, He will come to us running. We take one step towards God and He in turn takes ten steps towards us. Even though it may be difficult at first to take that first step but take it even if it's with a duaa as simple as "God forgive me".

In my summer in the US, I had a friend who was Atheist. During Ramadan she would hear me recite Quran and would come in through our shared bathroom and sit in front of my bed and listen to me recite. Slowly and slowly she would ask me more and more about Islam and was finally able to convince her that God must surely exist. One day we were having a conversation about prayer and she asked me to teach her a prayer, so I gave her the following prayer, "God guide me to the right path". I am still astonished with how much she fell in-love with such a simple prayer and inshaAllah (by God's will) she will be guided to right path. Knowing her has made me a million times grateful for faith and for the power of duaa.

Duaa should be our first and last resort, and no matter the outcome we should always have reassurance in our hearts that whatever it is God has chosen for us is what is best for us. The power of duaa is incredible and as soon as you start it's impossible to stop because duaa becomes the answer to everything.