Ramadan 2025 | The Power of Prophetic Prayers | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 03/08

Opening Supplications

Yesterday we were traveling, so we weren't here yesterday, alhamdulillah. But now we're back to continuing with our regular program. Thursday we covered the hadith of Ayatul Kursi and how that was a protection from shaytan, especially when recited before we go to bed, and how shaytan himself taught this — shared this du'a, or the benefits of this du'a — with Abu Hurayra radiyallahu anhu.

Now we move on, inshallah, to another du'a today. The hadith involves a very famous incident that takes place at the Battle of Badr, and how exactly Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made du'a on that night. That is one of the things we can cover, inshallah. And also, maybe a smaller one would be the du'a that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned regarding someone who cannot go to sleep. So I'll share the smaller du'a first.

The Blessing of Sleep

Zayd ibn Thabit radiyallahu anhu said — and we notice that in the lives of the Sahaba, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam not only served as a spiritual mentor and spiritual doctor, but also assisted the Sahaba when they were dealing with physical pain and medical issues as well. So naturally the deen has solutions to these things.

The Sahabi comes and says, "Ya Rasulullah, I am complaining of insomnia. I cannot fall asleep." And nowadays this is a very big issue. People are resorting to all kinds of things simply because they just cannot fall asleep at night — lots of medications and things of that sort. A lot of times this is because of a physical problem, and a lot of times because of an emotional and psychological issue. A person is going through sadness, worry, depression, anxiety, and cannot have the calmness required to be able to fall asleep.

So this is an imtihan, an ibtila, a test. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 55, Hadith 2999)

"How surprising is the affair of a believer! Indeed all his affairs are good for him, and this is not the case for anyone except a believer. If goodness comes to him, he is grateful — and there is benefit for him in that. And if difficulty comes to him, he remains patient — and there is good for him in that as well."

So no matter what the situation may be for a believer, there will always be goodness — in ease or in difficulty. A person who falls asleep, alhamdulillah, every night on time, easily — he is making shukr. How many times do you and I, those of us who have no sleeping issues, how many times do we make shukr over the fact that alhamdulillah I am able to go to sleep? It's a big problem. For those of you who have had trouble sleeping, you know how bad that is.

Let's just talk about sleep. What a blessing. Allahu Akbar. We don't even regard this as a ni'mah. It's like, yeah, I just woke up. But the fact that you are able to go to sleep for a number of hours and wake up — the relaxation, the rejuvenation that comes through sleep is unlike anything else. And this goes for every blessing, like going to the bathroom and relieving ourselves. What a blessing. A person who cannot relieve himself — ask him the pain of not being able to. Stomach bloated, not able to release gas, not able to go to the bathroom. All these things, if Allah azza wa jal were to make a little change, it becomes next to unbearable.

And similarly, not being able to fall asleep is a huge test. Unfortunately we know that sleep deprivation is used as a torture tactic against our brothers and sisters many times. Sleep-depriving people through various means for days on end — this is where a person has a mental breakdown.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions sleep and the night as a blessing:

And may Allah forgive us — we don't honestly thank Allah for this. We don't even regard it; we just take it as natural. Ask the person who has lost this. So the next part of it is to be able to sleep on time, to want to sleep and be able to fall asleep when you want to, and not have to stay awake looking at the ceiling. This is another big blessing. So no matter what the situation — if we are able to alhamdulillah get good proper sleep every day, we have to start making shukr for it. And if we are not able to fall asleep, then we have to address those issues — whatever medical issues they are, whatever emotional and psychological issues they are — in their own respective manner.

The Shar'i Treatment for Insomnia

Insomnia can be psychological or physical. The shar'i treatment is that a person uses the power of dhikr to be able to calm himself, uses the power of dhikr to be able to relieve the pain.

I'll also tell you — sometimes insomnia, not normally, but at times when someone who never has it suddenly cannot fall asleep, especially when it's coupled with pain in the back, in the lower back, or pain in the legs — what in Urdu they call paon kichna — a lot of pain, fatigue in the feet, thighs, knees, etc. Sometimes this happens as the effect of athar, of al-'ayn, the evil eye. These are spots that affect a person — in the lower back or in the legs.

So if a person is feeling this suddenly, then we should read the Mu'awwidhatain — قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ and قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ — and Ayatul Kursi. Generally speaking we should read every day: قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ. But if you're going through this suddenly, read a little bit more. Read the last ayat of Surah al-Qalam, 21 times:

Read that 21 times and blow on your hand, and wipe over your body. If the issues still persist, then you can read Manzil — 30 verses of the Quran that are very effective in protecting ourselves from the evil effects of these things: hasad, 'ayn, nazar, sihr, and so forth. If you do not have it in your home, you can search online M-A-N-Z-I-L — منزل — PDF, and you'll find one that has an English translation with it as well. Keep it with you. Make a habit of reading this every day. And also, if need be, twice a day — morning and evening. Reading these things, inshallah, will be helpful if there is some 'ayn or something of that sort that has afflicted a person. Through the barakah of this reading, inshallah, this will be removed.

Du'a for Insomnia: The Hadith of Zayd ibn Thabit

Then a specific du'a has been mentioned in this hadith. Zayd ibn Thabit radiyallahu anhu came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam complaining of insomnia. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught him the following du'a:

(al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; referenced in Ibn al-Qayyim's al-Wabil al-Sayyib)

"O Allah, the stars have set, and all the eyes around me have been stilled and relaxed — hada'a means to be relaxed — everyone has fallen asleep. And oh Allah, You are the Ever-Living (Hayy), the Self-Subsisting (Qayyum) — not only are You standing Yourself, You are self-sufficient. Everything depends upon You. And Qayyum — He makes sure everything else is also functioning. Oh Allah, no drowsiness overtakes You and no sleep — sleeping and dozing off are attributes of creation, not of the Creator. O Ever-Living, O Self-Subsisting — bring peace to my night, and allow my eyes to close in sleep."

Zayd radiyallahu anhu says: "I said that, and Allah azza wa jal took away and removed from me what I was feeling."

Notice — 60%, 70% of the du'a is a person speaking to Allah. This is a common theme that we've been addressing this Ramadan — about how the du'as are focused on a human being speaking with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for a good chunk of the time before we do the actual ask. And that's what needs to be done. We talk about our situation, we talk about the situation of the world.

Subhanallah — a person could say, when speaking to Allah: "Ya Allah, I need rizq. Ya Allah, I'm muhtaj, I'm in need. Ya Allah, but you are Razzaq. You are capable of providing sustenance to anyone and everyone. Ya Allah, your giving me sustenance does not decrease Your treasures. Ya Allah, You provide for every single-cell organism, for the whales and blue whales and sharks of the ocean. You provide food for the largest and smallest of Your creation. You provide food for the jinn — Allah knows how much they eat continuously, billions of them, trillions of them. Allah is providing."

When you speak like this, what happens? Our own yaqeen in Allah's razaqiyyah will increase. Our conviction in Allah being the ultimate greatest provider will increase. And you are helping yourself by speaking like this — what we could call self-therapy. As you speak, your love for Allah is increasing, your attachment and yaqeen with Allah is increasing, your yaqeen in Allah's power is increasing. And then you say, "Ya Allah, by You providing me this, this will not hurt You."

Another beautiful du'a in this spirit:

"O Allah, do not expose me — for indeed You already know me. Do not allow my sins to come out in front of people such that I become disgraced in front of Your creation — because You already know everything about me. By my sins being exposed, it does not bring any new knowledge to You, it does not help any cause. Because You are the one who knows everything anyway. O Allah, please do not expose me, for indeed You are aware. And O Allah, please do not put me through punishment — because indeed You are all-capable over me."

We are telling Allah: Ya Allah, You don't have to prove a point to anyone. We already acknowledge that You have full control over every cell in my body. If You choose, You can stop my breathing, stop the flow of my blood, cause a stroke instantaneously, break a bone instantaneously, make me go blind, take away my sense of smell, my sense of hearing — You can have any of my organs stop working. No one can tell You anything. Billions are spent, all the world running around 24/7 in hospital complexes — and it is by the will of Allah. Allah chose to make one small thing stop working, and look at how many specialists are focusing on one tenth of an inch of the body. Subhanallah. That is the qudra of Allah.

And another du'a:

"O Allah, grant me that which will not diminish Your treasures. And O Allah, forgive me for those sins that I have done which never harmed You in the first place."

Think about that — does shirk harm Allah? Does kufr harm Allah? Does ingratitude harm Allah? No. Nothing harms Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. What a beautiful way of speaking to Allah — that O Allah, I'm asking You to forgive me from those sins that do not harm You, and grant me those blessings that do not diminish Your treasures.

O Allah, if I say You're great, You're great. And if I didn't say You're great, You're still great. My praising You makes no difference to You — I praise You for my own benefit, for my own blessing. Even in my praising You, I am looking out for my own interest. So I thank You for giving me this opportunity to praise You, which will end up becoming a blessing for me. Just say subhanAllah — you get a tree in Jannah. Just say alhamdulillah — you get filling up the scales:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 2, Hadith 432)

Saying alhamdulillah fills up the scales. Look how generous Allah azza wa jal is — we say a few small, short dhikr, and the benefit itself comes right back to us.

So this du'a about insomnia — similarly — you see there is so much discussion about Allah's greatness. O Allah, غَارَتِ النُّجُومُ — look, it's pitch dark. The stars have disappeared and everyone is sleeping. There is no noise — the mice are sleeping, the crickets are sleeping, everyone is sleeping. But You are not sleeping, because You are above everything, fully in control of everything. But O Allah, from all Your creation on this street, I'm one of Your creation that still hasn't been able to fall asleep. Can You please let me go to sleep?

Everyone in the whole neighborhood is in pitch darkness — the lights are off in all the houses. But I cannot go to sleep. I need You. Usually when the service desk is closed, they say, "Call back at 8 AM." But Allah's service desk is always open. All the customers are sleeping, but You are never sleeping. And now I'm calling You — so please give me my request, which is that I need sleep. Subhanallah. What a beautiful way of speaking with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Du'a for Insomnia: The Hadith of Khalid ibn al-Walid

Another hadith — on the authority of Buraydah radiyallahu anhu, who said: Khalid ibn al-Walid radiyallahu anhu — the most famous general of the Muslims — complained to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and said: "Ya Rasulullah, I am not able to fall asleep at night." And when a person is not able to fall asleep, it's hard for him to have a productive day the next day, to do ibadah properly, to read Qur'an properly, to do tahajjud properly. You need rest, you need to be fresh.

So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "When you go to your bed, then say:"

(al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; also referenced by Ibn al-Qayyim)

"O Allah, Lord of the seven heavens and whatever they give shade over. Lord of the earths and whatever they carry. Lord of the shayateen and whoever they mislead. Be my protector, my savior, from the worst of Your creations — from all of them — so that no one of them is capable of harming me, of causing any affliction or pain to me, attacking me, or being oppressive towards me. Protect me from any evil that exists within the heavens, within the earth, and all the shayateen out there, from any of them coming after me.

عَزَّ جَارُكَ — O Allah, Your protection is no small protection. It is the most powerful and noble protection anyone can be given — the protection of Allah. وَجَلَّ ثَنَاؤُكَ — And O Allah, there is no praise that matches Your praise. Your praise is the greatest, most beautiful, most powerful. وَلَا إِلَهَ غَيْرُكَ وَلَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ — There is no deity besides You, there is no God besides You."

So this is a du'a given to the most powerful, most well-known general — Khalid ibn al-Walid radiyallahu anhu — and every night he is being asked to ask Allah for protection from the evil of creation out there.

Shaytan and the Battle for Our Sleep

We talked about Ayatul Kursi — that not being able to read Ayatul Kursi before going to sleep also has an action of shaytan in it. Shaytan himself said: if you read Ayatul Kursi, you'll be protected from me. We discussed that on Thursday.

So same thing over here. The fact that we're making this du'a at night, and we're asking Allah for protection from all evil — and we specifically address Allah as رَبَّ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَمَا أَضَلَّتْ, the Lord of all the shayateen and whoever they mislead — we can possibly deduce that many times the shayateen also make it difficult for us to fall asleep.

And I think for today this is very true. Because most of the time when people can't fall asleep, do they engage in dhikr and du'a? What do they do? They pick up their phone. That's it. And then they watch this and they watch that, and they do this and they do that. This is a shaytani tactic — to get a person, when they cannot sleep, to reach for their phone. There you go. Done. All the qiyamul layl, all the dhikr and du'a, all the fasting, all the blessings — out the door. We can lose it all in seven seconds.

So we really have to be wary. Make sure that if you're not able to fall asleep, play Surah al-Baqarah. Use your phone for a good thing. Play Surah al-Baqarah from a recitation app or SoundCloud — you don't need to have YouTube open. Surah Taha is very good. Surah al-Rahman, Surah al-Baqarah — keep these playing, and inshallah tabarak wa ta'ala, if you've read the du'as we just mentioned, and you're also listening to the Quran, as long as there are not some other physical issues, we hope and pray Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants shifa.

And this is recorded — for those of you who are thinking, "I didn't get that du'a," just rewind it. It's available. Go back, memorize the du'a, find it, keep it on your phone if this is an issue you are dealing with.

Shaytan Is Makhluq — Turn to the Creator

Another thing I want to point out — no matter how powerful shaytan appears in harming us, no matter how much it seems like, "Man, shaytan got me again through this" — at the end of the day he is makhluq of Allah. He is not God. He is creation. He cannot do anything without the permission of Allah. So we need not become overwhelmed, super scared, or depressed. "I can't believe shaytan keeps doing this to me." Just make sure you turn to the right being — the controller and the creator of shaytan.

The very same Allah who will make shaytan burn in Jahannam for eternity — at the lowest part of Jahannam, forever — for every single person he has misled, will hold him to account. So just ask that Allah who created shaytan, and who is allowing him to harm us:

"I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed shaytan." "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from Iblis and his armies." "O Allah, protect us from the accursed shaytan."

And many other du'as that are there. We have to simply resort to seeking assistance from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in overcoming these attacks of shaytan — be it in the form of being misled, or in the form of not falling asleep, or in the form of repeatedly slipping into sin. Keep turning to Allah and saying, "Allah, I seek Your assistance." Do not start scrolling if you can't fall asleep. This is the knee-jerk reaction the ummah is going through now — immediately pull that phone up. This is the worst thing you can do. You are really giving a victory to shaytan over yourself.

Put the phone away in a separate room so you are not tempted. Or make sure you just have some Quran playing for hours, and inshallah tabarak wa ta'ala, if you've read these du'as and listened to the Quran, as long as there are no other physical issues, we hope and pray Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants shifa.

Closing Du'a

Oh Allah, we ask You to accept this fast of ours. Oh Allah, in all the previous days that we have fasted, Oh Allah, we ask You to grant us the tawfeeq to be able to lead every single day in a manner that is most pleasing to You — in a manner that is most productive for us, and the most beneficial for us in the long run.

Oh Allah, we seek refuge in You from every instance in which we have disobeyed You, from every instance in which we have been ungrateful to You, from every instance in which we have not thought about You, from every instance of ghafla and heedlessness that we have spent in our life.

Oh Allah, we are the ones who have committed sin, but we cannot get forgiveness for this until You inspire us with the words, and with the emotions, and with the sincerity required to gain Your forgiveness. Oh Allah, I ask You to inspire us all with genuine remorse over our mistakes. Oh Allah, grant us the willpower to be able to stay away from our mistakes. Grant us the foresight and the insight to be able to figure out when and where and how we are making mistakes — be those mistakes of our character, mistakes of our hands and feet, eyes and ears, or any other limb of the body, or any other aspect of our life in which we are disobeying Your orders, or breaking the hearts of fellow human beings, or causing any type of oppression or aggression on this earth.

Oh Allah, we seek refuge in You from all the rights of Yours and the rights of the Prophet ﷺ that we have trampled upon. And we seek protection from You, Oh Allah, from trampling the rights of any of our fellow human beings. Oh Allah, we ask You to grant us the ishq and the love of the Qur'an, and allow us, Oh Allah, to spend our hours — in the weekends and also on the weeknights and weekdays — connecting ourselves with the Qur'an.

Oh Allah, forgive our parents, our siblings, our elders, our youngsters. And Oh Allah, grant everyone ikhlas.