The Duas of The Prophets and The Pious

Allah SWT Says In The Quran:

“Call upon Me, I will respond to you.”

Dua is such an important part of being a believer, that our beloved Prophet PBUH equaled it to worship. That’s why, Allah SWT has given us examples of duas made by the Prophets and pious people PBUT in The Holy Quran.

The Dua of Prophet Adam A.S

This is the first dua ever said by mankind. It was the dua of Prophet Adam A.S when he had committed his first mistake and turned to Allah SWT in repentance. This is a helpful dua to say for istighfar (seeking forgiveness).

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

Rabbana thalamna anfusana wain lam taghfir lana watarhamna lanakoonanna mina alkhasireena

“Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.” - (Quran 7:23)

The Dua Of Prophet Yunus A.S

This is the dua that was said by Prophet Yunus A.S when he was stuck inside the belly of a whale. He felt hopeless and turned to Allah SWT in repentance, begging for His Mercy. Another wonderful dua to say for istighfar and at times of hardship.

لَّا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

La ilaha illa anta subhanaka innee kuntu mina alththalimeena

“No one has the right to be worshiped but You (O Allah), Glorified (and Exalted) are You. Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers.” - (Qur'an 21:87)

The Etiquette and Sunnah of Making Du’a

Safa Faruqui

The Prophet (saw) said, ‘Du’a is worship itself’. Then the Prophet (saw) recited this verse, ‘Your Lord says:

“Call upon Me and I will respond to you. Verily, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell in humiliation” [The Noble Qur’an, 40:60]’. [Tirmidhi]

As we maximise our worship this Ramadan, du’a is an essential action which we definitely can’t miss out on. This article is a comprehensive guide to making du’a, including the etiquette of preparing for du’a, what your du’a should include and what our attitude towards du’a should be.!

May Allah (swt) accept your du’as and ours, amin!

How should we prepare for du’a?

Alhamdulillah, you can call upon Allah at any time. You can make du’a as soon as you wake up or as you are falling asleep, in public or in private, as a deliberate decision or an instinctive reaction to difficulty. You can also make du’a in any language and for any want or need (as long as you are not asking for something sinful or wishing harm on others).

However, there is a beautiful etiquette (adab) to making du’a which will mentally and spiritually prepare you for this significant worship, in sha Allah.

1: Perform wudu

It is NOT compulsory to perform wudu before making du’a. However, performing wudu is a way of purifying yourself and getting into the correct mindset for speaking to Allah.

Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (ra) narrated that the Prophet (saw), after the battle of Hunain, called for water, performed wudu, then raised his hands and said: ‘O Allah! Forgive Ubaid Abi Amir!’ [Bukhari]

2: Face the Qiblah

Again, it is NOT compulsory to face the Qiblah while making du’a. However, the Prophet (saw) would sometimes do so, as described in the below narration:

Abdullah bin Zaid (ra) reported, ‘Allah’s Messenger (saw) went out to this Musalla (praying place) to offer the prayer of Istisqa (a prayer for rain). He invoked Allah for rain and then faced the Qiblah and turned his cloak inside out…’ [Bukhari]

3: Raise your hands

SubhanAllah, raising our hands in du’a is a Sunnah with such a beautiful meaning behind it! We encourage you to remember the following hadith every time you physically raise your hands:

The Prophet (saw) said, ‘Indeed your Lord - Blessed and Almighty is He - is Shy and Most Generous. He is shy when His servant raises his hands to Him (in du’a) to turn them away empty’. [Abu Dawud]

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4: Call upon Allah in a low voice

Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (ra) said, ‘We were in the company of the Prophet (saw) on a journey, and whenever we ascended a high place, we used to say Takbir (in a loud voice). The Prophet (saw) said, “O people! Be kind to yourselves, for you are not calling upon a deaf or an absent one, but you are supplicating the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing”’. [Bukhari]

The above hadith is a beautiful reminder that, when you are making a private du’a, Allah is always close to us and there is no need to be loud! As Allah says: ‘And remember your Lord by your tongue and within yourself, humbly and with fear, without loudness in words, in the morning and in the afternoon, and be not of those who are neglectful’. [The Noble Qur’an, 7: 205]

This not only applies to our private rooms, but also if we are making du’a in a masjid - it’s better not to disturb those around us. There are many times when we get emotional and start crying - and the Prophet (saw) used to cry during du’a! - but while we are speaking, we should be sure to maintain a low tone.

To summarise: the best way to prepare for du’a is to make wudu, face the Qiblah, raise your hands and call upon your Lord in a low voice.

What should we include in our du’a?

As well as preparing for du’a, there is also a correct etiquette for what we should say after raising our hands. This is NOT compulsory, but again, it is highly recommended! Naturally, we should try to call upon Allah in a manner that is pleasing to Him, as taught to us by our Prophet (saw).

1: Begin with praise

Don’t rush into your du’a without first praising Allah and then sending prayers upon our beloved Prophet (saw):

The Prophet (saw) said, ‘When any one of you have performed Salah (prayer) and wants to supplicate, let him begin with praising His Lord (swt) and glorifying Him, then send prayers upon the Prophet (saw). Then he may supplicate for whatever he wishes’. [Tirmidhi]

2: Invoke Allah by His Names

Allah says, ‘And to Allah belong the Beautiful Names, so invoke Him by them’. [The Noble Qur’an, 7:180]

There are SO many Names which you can call upon Allah by - but the above are some of the most commonly used ones. Remember to select the most relevant Name to your du’a. If you are asking for forgiveness, you could use Al-Ghafur; if you are asking for help with a problem, you could use Al-Wakil.

You can invoke Allah by His Names in a few ways, which we have illustrated below:

’Ya Allah, you are Al-‘Afuww; you love to forgive, so forgive me’.
’Ya ‘Afuww, you love to forgive, so forgive me’.
‘Ya Allah, you are the Most Forgiving of all forgivers, so forgive me’.

If you want to invoke one of these Names directly (O ’Afuww / Ya ’Afuww), then you don’t need to pronounce the two letters before the hyphen.

3: Ask for everything you need

It is extremely important to include everything you need and want while making du’a, without holding back. No desire is too much for Allah to grant it. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘When one of you calls upon Allah, let him hope for the greatest of things. Verily, nothing has any greatness over Allah’. [Ibn Hibban]

We have previously published an article about Prophet Sulaiman (as) who, when building Masjid Al-Aqsa, made three HUGE du’as which Allah answered:

SubhanAllah, we should all learn from the example of Sulaiman (as) and never put a limit on our du’as! (You can read the full story of this du’a here).

4: Make du’a for others

Don’t miss out on making du’a for other people! The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘No Muslim servant supplicates for his brother behind his back but that an angel says, “And for you the same”’. [Muslim]

It is also important to make du’a for the Ummah in general, for example by saying, ‘Our Lord, forgive all the believers’. As the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘Whoever seeks forgiveness for the believing men and women, Allah will record a good deed for him by each man and woman’. [Tabarani]

5: Conclude with ‘Amin’

When you have finished supplicating Allah, say ‘Amin’ to seal your du’a:

As Abu Zuhayr reported, ‘We went out one night with the Messenger of Allah (saw) and a man came to us who was earnestly supplicating to Allah for some matter. The Prophet stopped and listened to him, then he said, “It must be so if he seals it”. A man among the people said, “With what does he seal it?” The Prophet said, “Amin, for if he ends it with amin, it will be so…“’ [Abu Dawud]

After saying ‘Amin’, wipe your hands over your face, as it is Sunnah to do so: Umar Ibn al-Khattab (ra) said, ‘When the Prophet (saw) raised his hands in supplication, he would not put them down until he wiped his face’. [Tirmidhi]

To summarise: your du’a should include praise for Allah and prayers for the Prophet (saw), invoking Allah by His Names, asking for every matter, big and small, making du’a for others and concluding with amin.

What should our attitude towards du’a be?

Firstly, we should absolutely not be reluctant or shy to ask for anything. Allah loves for us to turn to Him and supplicate Him, and He will never tire of fulfilling our needs or granting us forgiveness.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘Ask Allah for His favour. Verily, Allah Almighty loves to be asked and among the best acts of worship is to wait in expectation of relief’. [Tirmidhi]

Secondly, it is extremely important to trust in Allah and have certainty that He will answer our du’as.

The Prophet (saw) said, ’There is no Muslim who calls upon Allah, without sin or cutting family ties, but that Allah will give him one of three answers: He will quickly fulfil his supplication, He will store it for him in the Hereafter, or He will divert an evil from him similar to it’. They said, ‘In that case we will ask for more’. The Prophet said, ′Allah has even more’. [Ahmad]

Therefore, while making du’a, we should not be hesitant or uncertain; and afterwards, we should not question whether or not Allah has answered our du’as.

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Thirdly, we should be patient while waiting for an answer from Allah.

The Prophet said, ‘The servant will continue to have his supplications answered as long as he does not ask for sin or cut family ties, and he is not impatient’. They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is its impatience?’ The Prophet said, ’He says, ”I have supplicated again and again, but I have not seen an answer”. He becomes frustrated with that and gives up supplicating”’. [Bukhari]

SubhanAllah, we must always remember that Allah is Ash-Shakur (The Appreciative One) and Ar-Rahman (The Most Gracious or Compassionate); therefore, we can never have doubt that He hears our du’as and He will answer in the best way for us.

We would like to conclude with one final point: good deeds elevate our du’as. Allah says, ‘To Him do good words go up and righteous action uplifts them’. [The Noble Qur’an, 35:10]

Just as Sulaiman (as) supplicated Allah while performing a good deed for His sake - rebuilding Masjid Al-Aqsa - we should also fill our days with good deeds while we supplicate Allah! From giving to those most in need to honouring His Blessed Masjid, there are so many ways we can show our sincerity to Allah and our desire to please Him. As we await His answer to our du’as, we should never become impatient - rather, we should increase our righteous actions for His sake!

Here is a brief summary of this article:

The best way to prepare for du’a is to make wudu, face the Qiblah, raise your hands and call upon your Lord in a low voice.
Our du’a should include praise for Allah and prayers for the Prophet (saw), invoking Allah by His Names, asking for every matter, big and small, making du’a for others and concluding with amin.
Our attitude towards du’a should be filled with sincerity, confidence, trust in Allah and patience in awaiting His answer, and good deeds elevate our du’as.

We hope this article was helpful to you. May Allah accept our du’as and make us from those who never abandon du’a, amin!

The Power of Dua from Quran and Hadith

Surah 40 Ghafir Verse 60

﴿.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

Surah 7 Al Araf Verse 180

وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ‎﴿١٨٠﴾

And to Allah U belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation

concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing

1. FROM THE QURAN

So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts. [Quran 22:46]

Hearts are the main source of reasoning. Here, rationality has been associated with it, since no organ works if the heart doesn’t.

So you see those in whose hearts is disease hastening into [association with] them, saying . . . [Quran 5:52]

Almost everywhere, feelings precede thinking. What you feel is what you say usually. It all starts from the root, out until the fruit. Is it really think before you speak, or rather feel before you do?

The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children. But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart. [Quran 26:88-89]

You have a damaged heart and it makes a lot of difference. So don’t take this half-heartedly!

Then do they not reflect upon the Quran, or are there locks upon [their] hearts? [Quran 47:24]

This implies that one can’t reflect if one’s heart is locked. Perhaps we should try to think with an open heart instead of an open mind, because if the heart is open eventually the mind will open, too, because thinking sprouts from the heart.

And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. [Quran 3:103]

Great minds think alike? How about this: Great hearts bond alike.

2. FROM HADITH

Allah said, ‘I have prepared for My righteous slaves (such excellent things) as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of. ’ [Bukhari]

The heart is also the source of imagination.

Allah has forgiven my nation for the evil suggestions of their hearts, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it, and for what they are forced to do. [Ibn Majah]

The false dichotomy of head versus heart cannot be resolved by the mind gaining dominance over the emotions, but rather by increasing the balance between the two systems.

Verily Allah does not look to your bodies nor to your faces but He looks to your hearts. [Muslim]

You can’t have a sweet fruit with a bitter root.

Narrated Abu Hurairah, I came to the Prophet (saws) and spread out my garment to him, then he took it and gathered it at my heart, so I did not forget after that [any Hadith]. [Tirmidhi]

This was really new to me because I would never have connected forgetfulness with the blood-pumping organ, but now I know why they say “know it by heart.”

3. FROM SCIENCE

The heart senses emotional information five to seven seconds before it happens, while the brain senses it three to five seconds beforehand. So not only are emotions important contributors to our output of thoughts, but they may be one of the best ways to influence and create a change in what and how we think.

HMI-Blog-Heart-Intelligence In 1974, the French researchers Gahery and Vigier, stimulated the vagus nerve (which carries signals from heart to the brain) in cats and found that the heart and nervous system were not simply following the brain’s directions.

In 1983, the heart was reclassified as an endocrine gland when a new hormone called atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), which affects blood vessels, kidneys, adrenal glands and regulatory regions in the brain, was found to be being produced by the heart.

Dr. J. Andrew Armour discovered the heart also contains a cell type known as intrinsic cardiac adrenergic (ICA), which synthesizes and releases neurotransmitters once thought to be produced only by neurons in the brain and nerve ganglia.

The heart starts beating in an unborn fetus before the brain has been formed, a process scientists call “autorhythmic.”

Dr. Armour introduced the concept of a functional “heart brain” in 1991. Considered an independent entity, the heart’s brain is composed of an elaborate network of neurons, support cells and neurotransmitters which enables it to process information, learn, remember and produce feelings of the heart and then transmit this information from one cell to another.

“We observed the heart was acting as though it had a mind of its own and was profoundly affecting perception, intelligence and awareness,” explained McCraty.

According to Goleman, it’s a person’s EQ (Emotional Quotient) that enables them to succeed in life as much or more than their IQ (Intelligence Quotient).

During the ‘60s and ’70s pioneer physiologists John and Beatrice Lacey conducted research that showed that the heart actually communicates with the brain in ways that greatly affect how we perceive and react to the world around us.

Neurologist Antonio Damasio stresses the rationality of emotion in his book Descartes’ Error, where he emphasizes the importance of emotions in decision-making. He points out that patients with brain damage in the areas of the brain that integrate the emotional and cognitive systems can no longer effectively function in the day-to-day world, even though their mental abilities are perfectly normal.

CONCLUSION

I don’t mean to say that the brain has no purpose in our lives. There are many places where Allah (swt) has mentioned using the intellect, but the main point remains— the heart is an important part of it all.

You have to water the roots first. Don’t cut off the connection with your heart merely because you want to be a logical, rational person, thus burying it under the debris of darkness.

It’s never too late. There is time until the last breath crawls out of our lungs. Heal the heart to cure the brain and mend actions. Instead of solely relying on your own self or the people around you, seek help from Allah (swt) as Prophet (saws) used to.

Shahr bin Hawshab said: “I said to Umm Salamah: ‘O Mother of the Believers! What was the supplication that the Messenger of Allah said most frequently when he was with you?” She said: ‘The supplication he said most frequently was: “O Changer of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion (Ya Muqallibal-Qulub, Thabbit Qalbi Ala Dinik).’” She said: ‘So I said: “O Messenger of Allah, why do you supplicate so frequently: ‘O Changer of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion.’ He said: ‘O Umm Salamah! Verily, there is no human being except that his heart is between Two Fingers of the Fingers of Allah, so whomsoever He wills He makes steadfast, and whomever He wills He causes to deviate.’” [Tirmidhi]

May Allah (swt) give every one of us such a sound heart.

Notes:

https://www.heartmath.org/articles-of-the-heart/the-math-of-heartmath/heart-brain-interactions/

https://www.heartmath.com/science/

https://www.thecut.com/2019/05/i-now-suspect-the-vagus-nerve-is-the-key-to-well-being.html

https://blog.daveasprey.com/vagus-nerve-vagal-response/