Surah Al-Anbiya: Prophetic Supplications | Divine Reminders with Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Surah Al-Anbiya: Prophetic Supplications

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillah wa nusalli ala rasoolil kareem, amma ba'd.

First of all, JazakAllah khair for joining once again. May Allah bless everyone that comes every day at 2pm to hear the recitation of the Qur'an. InshaAllah we will complete the recitation of the Qur'an together by the end of the month of Ramadan.

Today we complete the recitation of two surahs that were both half a juz. One is Surah al-Anbiya and one is Surah al-Hajj. They both have different themes that are being discussed, but the one similarity that we will find in both surahs is that Allah is discussing the stories of His prophets. In Surah al-Anbiya, the surah itself means "Prophets." And in Surah al-Hajj, it means the surah of Hajj, in which Allah primarily discusses only Ibrahim (alayhi salam)'s story. He touches upon Ibrahim (alayhi salam)'s story in Surah al-Anbiya, but goes into detail about Ibrahim (alayhi salam) in Surah al-Hajj. So both of these surahs have this theme about our prophets.

I will discuss one passage from Surah al-Anbiya, and inshaAllah I think that would suffice for my session today.

The Power of Conversing with Allah

Today in life, one of the most important things that we miss out on is learning how to converse with Allah. We know how to pray salat, we know how to give our zakat, and these things sometimes become routine for us — they become standard for us. But the one thing that allows the other aspects of our religion to get empowered and to have strength is us conversing with Allah.

The power of du'a, where the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Supplication is worship." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2969; Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1479)

That supplication is an ibadah in itself.

The idea behind du'a is it allows us to speak to Allah. We sit down and we talk — it's munajat billah. We're able to sit in a corner with no one watching and only speak to Allah. It's a very powerful process. It's a very powerful key and tool to have, because once we know we have this and we can make du'a, we know we have Allah on our side as well.

There are three Prophets in this one passage that were really struggling with different things, but they made du'a to Allah, and Allah accepted their du'a.

Hasan al-Basri (rahimahullah) says that he is astonished about four people who can be negligent of four things. He is perplexed about four people who can be negligent of four things. And three of those du'as come in this passage.

The First Du'a: The Du'a of Ayyub (alayhi salam) — In Times of Hardship

Hasan al-Basri says: I am perplexed about that person who is struck with a hardship, who is struck with a calamity, but yet he forgets to make this specific du'a — the du'a of Ayyub (alayhi salam) — who was struck with the most difficult hardship that one could imagine. His family had left him, his people had left him, his wealth went away. He was camping as a homeless person next to a dumpster, and the only person that was left with him was his wife — and this is after being very wealthy, having a lot of children. When after 40 years passed by, he makes this du'a:

"And [mention] Ayyub, when he called to his Lord, 'Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.'"

Notice — it's not "Oh Allah, I have been overwhelmed." It says: a calamity has touched me. Massa means to touch. It just touched me. And there is no asking in this du'a — no "Oh Allah, please give me a cure." Rather: a calamity has touched me, Allah, You know about it, and You are the Most Merciful. Perhaps this calamity came to me because of my own sins. You are the Most Merciful — Allah, You take care of me.

"We accepted his supplication and We removed the affliction that was upon him."

Allah says: We accepted his supplication, and We cleared him, We cleansed him from the difficulty that he was going through. Hasan al-Basri says: How can a person be going through a difficulty and not remember to make this du'a? Any of us going through any form of difficulty — let's recite this du'a. "Oh Allah, a calamity has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful." And inshaAllah, with the right framework and the right mindset, our du'as will also be accepted and our difficulty will go away.

The Second Du'a: The Du'a of Yunus (alayhi salam) — In Times of Grief and Sorrow

Hasan al-Basri says: I am astonished and perplexed about a person who can be challenged with a sadness, or a moment of grief, a moment of sorrow, a moment of sadness in their life — someone got sick, someone passed away, someone is going through a sad moment in their lives — how can they be unaware of this du'a?

When Yunus (alayhi salam) was inside the mouth of the whale and he was stuck, and he had absolutely nowhere to go — and this is why Ibn Abbas would say that when we make du'a, our du'a should be like a drowning person:

Like a drowning person — like that individual who is drowning and knows that there is no one to answer his du'a except for Allah. Like how a child cries to the mother: just by the different forms of the cries, the mother knows what the child wants. Does he want milk? Does he want to sleep? Does he have to use the restroom? The child is not even speaking, but the cries in themselves are an indication of what the child is in need of.

Sometimes we don't have to say much. Just raising our hands — Allah knows what is hidden within the hearts. Allah knows what we have inside. Just sitting there and thinking about it and formulating a thought: "Oh Allah, I really need this. Oh Allah, please protect me from this."

So Yunus (alayhi salam), inside the mouth of the whale — you can't be more stuck than that — he says:

"There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."

"Oh Allah, there is no one to be worshipped but You, and You are beyond any purification, You are beyond all the things of this world, You are purified beyond everything else, You are all-pure, and Your glory is beyond everyone else. I was the one who oppressed myself." Again, in this du'a there is no "Oh Allah, please free me from this." You know what You can do, and I know what You can do, and I don't need to ask You — I don't need to tell You, "Please help me." You see me, and I'm asking You. There is no one else but You that can help me.

Imam Mujahid said: If this du'a was not recited, Yunus (alayhi salam) would have remained in the mouth of the whale. But Allah inspired him to recite this du'a, and the angels from the seven heavens came down, and in three darknesses they were able to hear this du'a — the darkness of the night, the darkness of the ocean, the darkness of the mouth of the whale.

It doesn't matter how low we are. It doesn't matter how low we've dropped. It doesn't matter how many sins we've done. It doesn't matter where in life we are, which dark place we're in, which ignorance has covered us. If we are able to identify: there is no god but You — oh Allah, it's just You who can help me now, I am the oppressor — our du'as will also be heard by the angels in the heavens, and they will come to help us.

The lower we go in sajdah, the faster the help of Allah comes from above. The lower we are in our life in our return to Allah, Allah's help does fall upon us. But we have to make sure that our du'as are sincere. We have to make sure that our du'as are purely from the heart. We have to make sure that we never become despondent, we never despair from our du'as if we don't see the fruits coming into our life. Rather we continue making that du'a.

The Prophet ﷺ said that the du'a of the musta'ajil is not accepted. Someone asked: "Who is the musta'ajil, O Messenger of Allah?" A person who makes a du'a and says, "My du'a was never accepted."

We are not those individuals. We continue making the du'a, and inshaAllah Allah will accept it.

"So We answered his prayer and saved him from the anguish. And thus do We save the believers."

Allah says: We answered his prayer and freed him from the sadness, from the grief that he was struggling with.

Dear brothers and sisters, it will be unnatural for us — inhumane for us — if we were people that did not go through moments of sadness, moments of grief, moments of weakness, moments of struggle. This is natural. It's not about the thoughts, it's not about the moments — it's about how we react to those moments. It's not about the idea of becoming angry; everyone becomes angry. How do we react to our being angry? It's not about being sad; how do we react to us being sad? Do we start speaking ill against Allah?

When the Prophet ﷺ's son Ibrahim passed away, and he started to cry, and Abdurrahman ibn Awf asked the Prophet ﷺ about it, the Prophet ﷺ said: "This is mercy from Allah." Then he said: "The eyes do weep and the heart does yearn, but we will not say except for that which brings the pleasure of Allah."

The Third Du'a: The Du'a of Zakariya (alayhi salam) — For the Blessing of Children

The third du'a in this passage is also a very important du'a, where many of us struggle. We know many people who are praying for children, who are praying for the greatest blessing in life — the blessing of children. And people are struggling for this.

Zakariya (alayhi salam) was also struggling for this. At the age of 89 years old, when he saw Maryam (alayhi salam) blessed with fruits from the opposite seasons, he said to Allah:

"And [mention] Zakariya, when he called to his Lord, 'My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no heir], while You are the best of inheritors.'"

"Oh Allah, don't leave me alone, and You are the best of those that give inheritance. I don't want to be alone when I die. I don't want to be alone in my life. I want to have my son, my daughter. I want to have a family. Don't leave me alone."

For all those that are struggling with this — one commonality between all three of these du'as is that each of them contains a praise of Allah. The praise of Allah is the most essential ingredient of a du'a being accepted. We must include the praise of Allah in our du'as, and through that inshaAllah our du'a will be accepted.

Allah says: We accepted his du'a and We blessed him with a beautiful child — Yahya (alayhi salam) — who was a blessed prophet of Allah.

The Lesson: Making Du'a in Ease and in Difficulty

Allah says: All these prophets were people who were rushing towards goodness, and they would make du'a to Us in a time of ease and in a time of fear. So it wasn't just in difficulty — it was also in ease.

Remember Allah in times of ease, and Allah will remember you in times of difficulty. InshaAllah.

So these are the three du'as, and the fourth — when we're going through fear — those du'as are recited as well. May Allah bless all of you. JazakAllah khair for joining. InshaAllah you benefited.

We have a PDF with du'as available on our website where you can click and the du'a actually plays. Please benefit from it, and inshaAllah we're going to update it with more du'as as well before the end of Ramadan.

If you haven't seen our webinar yet, it's taking place tomorrow. It's only two hours, and I really think we need a strong stretch run for the last 15 nights. We have some beautiful scholars joining us — join inshaAllah, you'll benefit. Share it with people who are unable to join these daily sessions, because that one dosage of encouragement will be beneficial to them as well.

JazakAllah khair everyone for joining. May Allah bless you all. Assalamu alaikum.