Allah's Closeness And Direct Response To Our Du'a

The Power of Du'a: Asking Allah What He Asks of You

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you. My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, indeed Allah, our Creator, our Maker — He loves us more than anyone else. More than our parents, more than our children, more than our spouses, more than our mothers, whose love is the most pure love in this world. The love the mother has for her child. But Allah's love is far more beyond that.

And one of the manifestations of the love of Allah is how He is looking forward for us to make du'a to Him, to beg from Him, to ask from Him, so He can grant us — either by fulfilling the need immediately in this dunya, or by storing the reward in the akhira for the unanswered du'a that was not granted in the worldly life, or by removing a calamity that was destined to fall upon the individual by virtue of his du'a. As the three forms of the acceptance of du'a have been described by Rasulullah ﷺ.

And there are many ayat of the Quran, many hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ pertaining to du'a. Amongst which I recited in the beginning of the khutbah — that Allah says to Rasulullah ﷺ: "And when My servants ask you regarding Me…"

A Unique Departure in Quranic Style

This is a form of the ayah — a form of the words that are used by Allah on numerous occasions in the Quran. Allah refers to the questions that the Sahaba رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين asked Nabi ﷺ, and then Allah gives the response and reply to Rasulullah ﷺ — how he should respond to them. This is a repeated, common phenomenon in the Quran on multiple occasions.

But over here there is a slight change in the wording — in the style adopted by Allah. Typically how the ayat go, we see this pattern:

They ask you regarding the hilal — respond to them, that this is a means of determining the time and determining the Hajj. Or:

They ask you regarding the four sacred months — Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab — fighting therein. قُلْ — respond to them. Or:

They ask you about wine and gambling — قُلْ — tell them that there is a lot of sin in that, though there may be some benefits. Or:

They ask you regarding the menstruating woman — قُلْ — respond to them: having full relations is haram during that time, etc.

But when it comes to this particular scenario:

When My servants ask you regarding Me — then Allah did not instruct the Nabi ﷺ to say قُلْ — "You respond to them and tell them that I am very near." Rather, Allah directly spoke to you and I — to each one of us. And even, with all مَعَ كَمَالِ الْاحْتِرَام of our beloved master Rasulullah ﷺ, He took him out of the picture as well and directly addresses us. He doesn't say, "Okay, you tell them on My behalf." Rather, Allah directly addresses. In fact, it's such a departure from the normal flow of the verse that even in the translation you see the shift right away.

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ — When they ask you, O Muhammad ﷺ — عِبَادِي — my servants ask you — عَنِّي — about Me. Then the logical flow is: "Then you should tell them." But instead Allah just says: فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ — "I am very, very near." He is addressing all of us directly. فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ. Then He says: أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ — I am ready to respond to the one who calls out to Me when he makes du'a to Me. فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ — So they should make du'a to Me, they should believe in Me, so then they can be rightly guided.

SubhanAllah. This is how Allah is looking forward to our du'as.

Du'a is the Essence of All Ibadah

And we see that Allah in another ayah mentions:

There is another change in the language that happens here. This is what we study in balagha, it's called iltifat — where there is a particular flow and then there is a departure. That happens in this second context as well.

Over here what we see is Allah says وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ — your Lord, your Rabb, Allah said — ادْعُونِي — make du'a to Me — أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ — and I will respond to your du'a.

Now, if the punishment has to be mentioned for those who do not follow this command, the logical extension of the ayah moving forward should address those who do not make du'a — that they are the arrogant ones or the deprived ones, etc. Because the command is to make du'a. It's not about ibadah per se, it's about du'a. But over here what we see is Allah says: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ — "Make du'a to Me, I will respond to your du'a, and those who are too arrogant to do My ibadah — they will enter Jahannam." So the scholars say: subhanAllah, Allah changed the wording. He was talking about du'a and then He flipped it and referred to ibadah. Why did He change the wording from du'a to ibadah? Because this is to indicate the fact that the essence of all of our ibadah is du'a.

In the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, it is made abundantly clear:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1479; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2969 — declared Sahih by al-Tirmidhi)

Du'a is the essence of all ibadah — or as another narration has it, الدُّعَاءُ مُخُّ الْعِبَادَةِ, du'a is the marrow of all ibadah. There are various wordings and narrations. So the one who is not making du'a to Allah is never going to be a true abid of Allah. He has lost the plot. He is not going to ever be considered a true worshipper of Allah. So du'a is so beloved to Allah — it is the actual objective of all of our ibadah.

SubhanAllah. There is a very famous classical poem about this concept — about how Allah likes that we make du'a to Him:

Allah gets angry — He gets upset — if you stop asking from Him. If you stop begging from Him. So the one who is not making du'a — إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي — those who make takabbur, that they don't do ibadah, i.e., they are not making du'a — Allah is angry with them. Why aren't you asking?

اللهُ يَغْضَبُ إِنْ تَرَكْتَ سُؤَالَهُ — Allah is angry with the one who does not ask from Him. And then the poet does a comparison — a contrast study — and shows: وَبُنَيَّ آدَمَ — the small son of Adam. He could have said إِنْسَان, or "human being," or "son of Adam." But he didn't even say ابْنُ آدَم. He said بُنَيَّ آدَم. And the word بُنَيَّ is a diminutive form — ism musaghar — meaning very small, very insignificant. It means: a very small, lowly son of Adam who does not have much power, authority, or jurisdiction. A small, insignificant son of Adam — not a king, not a ruler, not a famous personality.

His condition of arrogance is such that if you continue to ask from him, he will get upset. Maybe you ask for help once — he may help you. A second time — he may be slightly annoyed. A third time — he will say: "You think that's all I am here for, to be in your service? Figure it out on your own. I am not always going to be there to bail you out."

Whereas Allah, who is مَالِكُ الْمُلْك — He is the Owner of all the kingdoms, the King of all kings. He grants the kingdom to whom He wishes. He snatches the kingdom from whom He wishes. He grants honor to whom He wishes. He brings disgrace upon whom He wishes. And in His hand is all goodness. He has authority and power to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, to whomsoever He wants. No one can question Him. Everyone else will be questioned by Allah. And His condition is such that He is upset if you stop asking Him. SubhanAllah.

What is the Best Thing to Ask from Allah?

Now, we need to ask Him. We know, we have learned, we have reminded ourselves — of course we knew this, but it is a fresh reminder for all of us. The reminder is beneficial for the believers. We should ask from Allah. But the question is: what is the best thing we should ask from Allah?

There are many answers many individuals have given. One of the best answers I came across is what Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari rahmatullah alayhi said — because he said it in the best manner. At least that is the best answer I came across. And there is just the apparent translation of what he is saying where we get the answer, but then there is a deeper significance — as in most of his statements, there is a deeper feeling, a connotation behind just the words that you can glean and feel the flavor of what he is trying to say.

So he said: the best thing that you can ask from Allah:

(Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari, Al-Hikam al-Ata'iyyah)

The best thing that you can ask from Allah is that which He is asking from you. SubhanAllah — he just turned it around 180 degrees.

Somebody will say: the best thing you can ask from Allah is Jannah, or maghfirah, or hidayah, or:

Umbrella coverage — whatever I missed out in my previous du'a. That's fine. I'm not saying it in a demeaning manner, because this comes in the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, that Nabi ﷺ:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1482; Mustadrak al-Hakim, Hadith 1905)

Nabi ﷺ preferred comprehensive du'as. Because if you're going to just ask specific things, then we may end up missing things. So we should ask our specific needs from Allah, but then we should always have some comprehensive du'as to make sure we don't miss out something very important that we may have forgotten.

And this du'a is taught by Allah Himself in Surah al-Baqarah — it is a Quranic du'a. There are two du'as back to back. One Allah is praising, one Allah is saying is a wrong type of du'a.

There are those who are focused on the worldly life — رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا — that's it. Maybe we never came across that one. It's actually in Surah al-Baqarah too, but it is not an approved du'a — it is highlighted as a wrong type of du'a to make. وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ — And for them there is absolutely no share left in the Hereafter. This dunya is their limit:

This is the extent of their knowledge. وَهُمْ عَنِ الْآخِرَةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ — Regarding the Hereafter, they are unaware. Their mantra, their ideology:

"This is our worldly life — we live, we die, and we shall never be resurrected." This is their mantra, this is their ideology. They don't even believe in the Hereafter, so they don't ask for the Hereafter. They only ask for the dunya. And there are others who say:

They will get the full share of what they are asking for, what they are begging for, what they are earning. And Allah is quick to bring the judgment inshaaAllah. وَاللَّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ.

Anyway, subhanAllah, these are beautiful du'as. But what is being taught here in this statement is:

(Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari, Al-Hikam al-Ata'iyyah)

The best thing that you can ask from Allah is that which He is asking from you. It means that Allah is our Creator, He is our Maker, He is our Owner, He is our Malik. And we are His mamluk — we belong to Him. We literally are His property, we are owned by Allah. And everything we have is owned by Allah. That's why when we lose something we say:

Not only this car, or this wife, this child, this home, this job — but rather all of us, myself starting with myself: إِنَّا لِلَّهِ — we all belong to Allah. وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — and we will all return to Allah. Some things went earlier, some things are going later, but it was never mine to begin with. It was an amanah Allah had given me.

So since we all belong to Allah, when we are asking from Allah, the best thing to ask from Allah is that which He is asking from us — meaning, He is ordering us. What is He ordering us? To worship Him, to obey Him, to abstain from His disobedience, to fulfill His commands. Whatever He is asking from us — we ask from Allah that You make it easy for us to fulfill Your desire.

And in doing so, it is not even a selfless ask. It's a very selfish ask at the end of the day. Why? Because what's in it for me is this: if we do what we have been ordered to do, then in that alone is our own salvation.

The Du'as of the Prophets

If you look at it from this lens, subhanAllah — take Khalilullah Ibrahim ﷺ and look at all the du'as of the Anbiya — it's the same thing we will find. Allah gave him test upon test:

He passed all the tests.

Allah said: He was My loyal slave. إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا — I made him the Imam of all people till the end of times. And Allah continues to give him titles upon titles:

He was a true Muslim. He submitted to Me.

When Allah asked him to submit, he said: "I submit to the Lord of the worlds." So he was already submitting. Allah said he's a Muslim. But when he makes du'a, he says:

O Allah, make me and my son Ismail true Muslims. And from our progeny, an Ummah which will be a Muslim Ummah. He is asking from Allah what Allah asked from him.

O Allah, I ask from You that You give me the tawfiq to do shukr for the blessings that You have given me and my parents, and give me the tawfiq to do those righteous deeds — تَرْضَاهُ — the ones You are pleased with.

So whenever we are asking from Allah — Dawud ﷺ, Sulaiman ﷺ, father and son, Rasulullah ﷺ, all the du'as — the same pattern.

The Du'a of Mu'adh ibn Jabal

He called Mu'adh ibn Jabal — he is the sahabi who has a fadila juz'iyyah, a unique attribute, not fadila kulliyyah. Overall the best one of the Sahaba is Abu Bakr al-Siddiq: أَفْضَلُهُمْ بِالتَّحْقِيق. But there are different unique virtues other Sahaba have. Amongst them, Mu'adh ibn Jabal has a unique virtue — that he is the only sahabi from the entire galaxy of Sahaba that the Prophet ﷺ took a halaf billah — an oath by Allah — when he expressed his love directly to him:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1522; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22119 — declared Sahih)

O Mu'adh, I swear by Allah, I love you. So this beloved young Ansari sahabi, faqih — he told him: should I teach you a du'a that you should make after every salah?

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1522; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22119)

O Allah, I seek from You Your help — عَلَىٰ ذِكْرِكَ وَشُكْرِكَ وَحُسْنِ عِبَادَتِكَ — to be able to do Your dhikr and Your shukr and to do Your beautiful ibadah. Seeking help from Allah in fulfilling the order of Allah.

(Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari, Al-Hikam al-Ata'iyyah)

The best thing that you can seek from Allah is that which He has sought from you. The best thing you can ask from Allah is that which He has already asked from you.

The Deeper Meaning: Total Surrender

This is the translation, and the time is now up — but as I said, there are things beyond the translation. Beyond the translation, the feeling we get from this statement is: at the end of the day, when the question is asked — "Okay, My slave, what do you want?" — Allah is asking you, and what you ask will be granted.

So this abd is so much in love with Allah. When He is giving the blank check — "Okay, write whatever you want" — what does he say? "I don't have any desire. If You ask me what I want — my only desire is that I am able to fulfill what You desire from me." So what happens? You have squashed your own nafs and your desires. My objective of life is to fulfill Your order, to make You happy. I have no other purpose of existence.

Some of these languages — these types of statements — people use in their worldly love with one another, with their beloved. "I don't have any desire. Whatever — it could be something as mundane as when the waiter comes with a menu: 'What do you want to order?' 'Whatever you prefer, I will enjoy that, because I have no desire except for making sure that you enjoy the meal.'" That's where it starts, at a worldly level. But taking that ishq majazi to the ishq haqiqi — to the love of Allah — is خَيْرُ مَا تَطْلُبُهُ مِنْهُ مَا هُوَ طَالِبُهُ مِنْكَ. Whenever you have the opportunity to ask from Allah, you say: my only desire is that I am able to fulfill what You want from me. Nothing beyond that.

Sare taslim-o-khamoshi jo mizaj-e-yaar mein aaye — that I put my head down in submission — whatever you, my beloved Allah, want from me.

May Allah give us that reality of love with Him and love of Him — the hubb of Allah. As the du'a of Rasulullah ﷺ:

May Allah make us among those of whom He says:

May Allah fill our hearts with His love. وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

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Khwaja Anisuddin passed away in Hyderabad, India — may Allah grant him maghfirah. Please make du'as as well for Palestine, Lebanon, and all the Muslim Ummah, as we will continue in the khutbah and salah — and continue to make du'a, inshaaAllah, that Allah relieves them of their suffering. Ameen.