Prophetic Prayer - Mufti Azeemuddin - Ep. 4
By Mufti Azeemuddin | 2026-06-04T08:52:38.450421+00:00 | Topic: Allah
The Blessing of Turning to Allah in All Times
Respected listeners, we thank Allah once again who has given us this opportunity to listen and to speak about His greatness and to speak about the deen of Allah and in times of ease, in times of difficulty, in times of tests, in times of prosperity and the greatest blessing Allah can give a person is the ability to make inaba and to turn towards Him. This is the sign of Allah loving an individual is when he is inspired to turn to Him and this is why we have many forms of dhikr. One of them being recitation of the Quran, one of them being hymning the greatness of Allah and any other type of dhikr. One of them is supplicating to Allah with dua various types of dua.
Prophetic Duas for Different Occasions
And in the dua itself there are certain duas of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that he would recite at given time, specific time, for example when entering the restroom, when leaving the restroom, when entering one's house, etc and there were duas that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us through his duas of tahajjud, duas of conquering of Makkah, duas from Taif, duas from the battles, etc duas from the night of 15th night of Sha'ban, duas of Laylatul Qadr and that is one of the also beautiful ways to be in the remembrance of Allah.
So today inshallah we will be speaking about a few duas as well as touch upon briefly on the night of Laylatul Isra wal Mi'raj. Saturday nights inshallah we will be covering prophetic duas. So we have a whole schedule for the entire week laid out for our community and so Saturday nights is the dua night where we cover a few duas of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
The Dua of Protection
We start off tonight with I would just want to go over a few duas of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that are very relevant for us during this time. One of them is a dua that you and I have been hearing especially during these days is a dua the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has taught us to recite every morning three times as well as every evening three times:
"In whose name there is protection against every kind of harm, nothing, no being in the heavens or the earth can harm you as long as you have taken protection with His name and He is all hearing, all knowing."
A companion came and told the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that he had been bitten by a scorpion and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had said to him at that time that had you read this dua you would have been protected. So whether it's a scorpion's bite or a snake's bite or something different including the virus, a person who recites this dua with yaqeen, a hundred percent we can have beyond any shadow of doubt, he will not be harmed in the least.
And the day that it's meant for him to pass away, then that day that person who has a habit of reciting this every day will not recite it simple as that. He will forget about it like when a person who has a habit of locking his door, but if Allah willed for someone to break into his house, for example, that day he will forget to lock the door for example. So this is how it is that as long as we're reciting this dua we should have such conviction that if you read it tonight three times yourselves, your spouses, your children etc. then you have nothing to worry about hundred percent. You can have this conviction inshallah that I'm going to be fine and nothing will affect me. And whenever Allah gives you the tawfiq to recite this, this is a good sign for you that alhamdulillah you're in good hands.
Harm and Benefit Are Only in Allah's Hands
Dear brothers and sisters, we have to seriously remind ourselves again that harm and benefit is only in the hands of Allah. Allah is the one, is the only one who can give harm. He's the only one who can give benefit.
And one of the duas of the Prophet in ruku', the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when he would stand up from ruku' in his Qawmah he would say "Praise Allah" and then he would say:
"There is no one who can hold back that blessing which You choose to give and there's no one who can give a blessing which You choose to hold back and there is no one who can cancel and change decision that You have chosen to take."
And so this is something that we have to remind ourselves in the current crisis that whatever is happening, a leaf cannot fall without Allah's permission. How can all of this happen without Allah's permission? So Allah is well aware, is watching over everything that's happening. And as long as you and I have a direct relationship with Allah and connected with Allah, we're all set.
We're all set, it's like you have an inside line if you have the inside line to the presidential palace. Then whatever verdicts the presidential palace is sending out, people may be worried but you're not going to be worried because you know, you have that connection inside. You'll be informed prior to anything that's happening that this is going to happen. Go ahead and do this, go do this. So alhamdulillah, we have this ability through dhikr and through salah to be connected with Allah.
So let's please all make a habit of reciting this dua of protection with yaqeen. With yaqeen. This is the key thing if we do not have conviction then unfortunately, we will not be able to benefit as much as we could through these duas.
The Guidance to Abdullah ibn Abbas
So let's all renew our faith in Allah as Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's very famous hadith told young Abdullah ibn Abbas, the young lad was sitting behind him on the camel and he told him that "Young boy, I'm going to teach you a few things." He's teaching as we're sitting with our kids at home. This is the thing. This is the lesson that we have to teach. This lesson can be taught through you know channels. This is lesson the mom and dad need to teach the kids.
(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2516)
Dear brothers and sisters, they will never be able to harm you - not a virus, the entire world, the entire world, jinn, ents, men, women, the superpowers of the world, the youngsters, the adults, the women, the children, the armies, the nuclear weapons. All of them put together will never be able to harm me, never be able to harm you except for that amount which Allah has already written that we are going to get harmed that amount.
And then Nabi alayhi salatu wasalam said that the pens of that right destiny have been lifted and the scrolls upon which destiny is written have dried up. So this is over, you can't change that what is meant to happen. It shall happen. What will not happen, it will never happen.
Allah's Control Over All Things
And Allah just mentions this concept as well in the Quran multiple places:
"If Allah opens up the doors of rahma for you, there's no one who'll be able to close it. If Allah chooses to close the door for you, no one will be able to open it."
He mentions multiple places this concept that whatever was coming to you, no one can stop it. Whatever missed you was never meant to get you and whatever got you was never meant to miss you. So if someone is meant to get sick in this crisis, there's nothing in the world that will save him from that and it's okay many people become sick. I mean I was just reminded by someone this afternoon that subhanAllah just because a person gets the virus does not immediately mean he's dead. Right. There's how many people get the flu? Does everyone pass away with the flu or how many people get any other sickness? I'm not comparing it with the flu, any other sickness, as soon as we get a sickness does not mean we pass away.
Sickness as Purification
So remind ourselves of that that inshallah if a person does get sick that we will say tahoor. We will say inshallah that let the sickness become the means of our sins being wiped out. One of the women during the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who fell ill, who felt sick, when Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam went to go visit her - may have been one of the ummahatul mu'mineen - she said how are you doing and she complained of the fever and body pain and she basically cursed it and said, you know, no good for this fever, no good for this sickness that has come about me that has given me this pain and this suffering and Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam instead changed her perception and her outlook on this and said no this is the means of actually purification for you.
So this is something that we need to really renew ourselves, we cannot fall into the into this whole realm of fear and this mindset of fear that the neighbors you may see or people on TV, people in the news.
The Fearless Faith of the Companions
SubhanAllah my dear brothers and sisters, we are a group of people. Khalid ibn al-Waleed radiyallahu anhu when he went over to when on the battlefield, there's the our president saying this is a battle. Okay, fine, we'll give an example of a battlefield. Khalid ibn al-Waleed goes on a battlefield with a small group of people, the leader of the enemy says, you know, who are you coming to fight against? How are you going to handle this, this small group of people? He says yes, because my people, with the group of people I have come with, they love death more than your army loves wine.
That's who the sahaba were, they were not afraid of it. They were not afraid of death because why? They had something that they had prepared with Allah. They had high expectations from Allah. They had husn adh-dhann with Allah. They expected khair and goodness from Allah. And of course they did those deeds which would make them worthy of the mercy of Allah.
So we cannot fall into the same mindset the rest the country or the rest of the world's fallen into. One brother, one physician actually a dentist, he messaged me a few days ago. He said mashallah one of his co-workers or patients accepted Islam and I said, how did that play out? He said well, she came to him and said I am so scared. I feel like the world is coming to an end. I feel like I'm gonna die. And he said well, this is the time to see are you ready to die? Are you ready if it's all in the heart? If you are ready to die, then you'll be able to say - no, I'm not ready. Why are you not ready?
The Wisdom of Iman in Times of Difficulty
Because you don't have iman... Mashallah, a few minutes he spoke about Allah and His Rasul, a few minutes spoke about iman. So this is actually an amazing time for us to give dawah to fellow Muslims so that they get closer to Allah, to non-Muslims so that they can be guided towards this beautiful deen. Because our deen teaches us hope, our deen teaches us to see the silver lining in any situation that we're in, our deen teaches us that this is a gift for a believer.
What if we will die? Whenever we were meant to die. Death will never come to a person unless and until he has used up his entire rizq.
A Story of Divine Decree
I remember there have been many incidents in Chicago that have taken place, and I've shared these stories previously as well. Some years back there was a family who had come from... whose entire family was residing in Chicago, and the father was still overseas. After decades he eventually sold the business or the lands, and he got his visa and he came to America.
The family went - first time the father's coming to join the kids and the wife and everything over here. Picked him up from the airport, brought him home, huge feast was prepared. And he came within hours, they enjoyed a beautiful meal with the whole family, first time. During the meal as he was eating, he choked on a bone that was prepared by the family for that night. And within that half hour, one hour or less, subhanAllah, he passed away.
Not even 10-12 hours passed since his arrival at home with his family - he passed away. How did that play out? Because Allah had written for him his last meal over here. So no matter whether the embassy was closed, whether the flights were flying or not, he had to make it out here. He came, he ate as many morsels of food were meant for him, as many gulps of water were meant for him. He finished that and as soon as that was finished, that was the end of that and he passed away, subhanAllah.
This is not the only story. I have many stories within Chicago itself. I've heard from reliable sources of stories like this taking place. What does that tell us? That we will not pass away until our rizq is finished. So alhamdulillah, we have enough sustenance. There's no reason for us to hoard. There's no reason for us - the nafs - just like death comes searching for us, our rizq also comes searching for us.
So this is a really important time for us to present the Islamic perspective on life and the Islamic perspective on death and share this with our fellow family members, relatives, Muslims, non-Muslims, and to tell them that subhanAllah our deen gives us solutions - how to live during times of prosperity as well as how to live during times of difficulty. Mashallah, wallahi, we have so much to be grateful for.
Prophetic Du'as for Protection
We will inshallah hopefully memorize this du'a, make a habit of reading it every night and every morning three times with our families, and teach it to others as well.
Seeking Refuge in Allah's Perfect Words
The next one that we can be covering is this du'a. This is something, subhanAllah, that is a very general hadith, a general du'a that is teaching us to ask Allah:
"I seek refuge with Allah's perfect words from the evil of that which He has created."
Allah is perfect. His words are perfect. His praises are perfect. The du'as that are taught in the Quran are perfect. The du'as He taught the Prophet are perfect. We use these powerful words to seek refuge in Allah from the evil. This is so important - from the evil that He created.
Yes, this virus came from whoever it came from - Allah is the one who has allowed it to come into existence. We may... that's it. That's the reality of it. This virus is a makhlooq of Allah and the only one who has full control over this makhlooq is the Khaliq, Allah azza wa jal. The only one who's got the cure for it is Allah. He may allow the human beings - inshallah He will allow the human beings to get to the cure.
The Prophet said in a hadith in Bukhari that every da (disease) has a cure. Every single sickness has a cure. So we hope inshallah, we're looking forward to humanity coming inshallah to the cure of this through the will of Allah.
But this du'a teaches us humility and humbleness in front of Allah. Say: "Ya Allah, all of the evil that's out there, all the evil that's there, it has come from You." And this is something which the Prophet has said.
Abu Hurairah says that a man came to the Prophet and he said: "Ya Rasulullah, I am..." - he complained to him of a scorpion biting him the night before. And then the Prophet told this individual - Abu Hurairah narrating the hadith - the Prophet told this individual that if you had only said this when you went to bed last night, you would not have been harmed by this.
So this virtue I mentioned previously is for this hadith, may have been for the previous hadith as well, but definitely for this hadith. So this is something that we need to recite every morning and every evening as well. And it's a very simple du'a, very easy du'a. And let us remember and focus on the fact that this du'a is telling us that all the evil has been created from Allah, and so we need to seek refuge in Allah from that evil.
Protection from Specific Ailments
And the third du'a that we want to cover is a du'a the Prophet used to recite morning and evening as well - not something specific to a crisis and a pandemic that we're in, but generally speaking:
"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from leprosy, from madness, from white leprosy, and from the evil diseases."
This is a general habit of Rasulullah to seek refuge from specific diseases - skin diseases, other type of diseases, and then of course mental illnesses. This is a huge thing - for us to have a healthy mind is a huge gift of Allah.
Although I must add that if we do not handle ourselves properly during moments like these, and if we do not control our stress levels and we do not have a proper outlook and approach to the situation we find ourselves in, people may go through some sort of depression or some sort of mental upheaval. And so we really need to seek protection in Allah from that and be careful. Alhamdulillah, Rasulullah is looking into providing actually in the next week a workshop or seminar specifically targeting this issue with some mental health experts, by the will of Allah. So stay tuned for that.
So the Prophet is seeking refuge in Allah azza wa jal specifically from madness, white leprosy, leprosy, and then evil diseases - the worst of diseases. And so these are the only hadith that the Prophet - it's mentioned that the Prophet used to specifically say this every morning and evening. The Prophet made it a specific point every morning and evening to share these ahadith and to say these ahadith and du'as.
And remember judham and these type of diseases are actually something that were known to be leprosy, were known to be contagious. So this is something interesting that we can learn from here - that this is seeking refuge in Allah specifically from contagious diseases. And the Prophet did not seek refuge from every single disease separately. There are many of them like headache and this and that - they're not mentioned here, but these are the ones that have been mentioned by Rasulullah. And we could probably include this type of plague that we're in - going into that we're in - the pandemic included in the sayyi' al-asqam and included in judham type of diseases.
So these are three du'as that we have covered today. Three du'as that Rasulullah would recite every single day. So let's please make a habit of memorizing these and inshallah asking our family members to recite it as well. Put it up on your fridge and whatnot. Inshallah we'll make a flyer and we'll share that as well.
Lessons from Isra and Mi'raj
Now with regards to Isra briefly - many brothers have been asking and so that's why I'm going to share a few things about that. There are various narrations about when this took place, whether it took place tonight or some 27th night of Rajab or some others. So without getting into that discussion, the purpose of us discussing Isra is not for the sake of history, trying to study history here. That's not why Allah tells the stories of the Quran for historical purposes. Instead, it's meant for taking lessons.
The Du'a of Prophet Yunus
For example, Allah speaks about what happened with Yunus alayhi salam and how he was in the belly of the hoot, the fish, and Allah then says - what did he say? He cried out to Allah in the layers of darkness and he said:
"There's none worthy of worship besides You, subhanaka - glory be to You, indeed I am from the oppressors."
And then Allah says: "Indeed we saved him from that difficulty. And similarly we will save any... will save the believers."
This is as well that the Prophet said: any makroob, anyone who's going through difficulty who says this, he will be saved from the difficulty he's going through.
Now why did I share this story? Allah's maqsad of sharing this story in the Quran is not for us to simply benefit from the historical perspective of Yunus alayhi salam, what happened with his nation, etc. No, that's not the purpose. The purpose for us is to take a lesson from it and practice on those lessons - i.e. turning to Allah in times of difficulty.
Blessings After Hardship
So Isra and Mi'raj - without getting into the historical whole story and what happened, and most of us are well aware of that - one thing I just want to simply mention, some points to take home is that this took place... the ulama say that gifts and blessings come from Allah after difficulties. This took place after three years of the Muslims, including the Prophet, suffering a horrible boycott.
We're feeling locked down. Alhamdulillah, we have immense... we have enough health, we have food, hot water, electricity, internet, medication, everything available. Plus we can - if needed we can go get stuff delivered to our home, we can drive ourselves. Alhamdulillah, blessing upon blessing upon blessing.
The boycott was for three - not weeks or three months, but three years - where the Sahaba, you could hear the children screaming and crying out of hunger throughout the valley. Their voices would be reverberating in the valley. You could hear the children's voices screaming, the women and men crying because there was no food - complete boycott. After three long years, and then after that, the Prophet loses his beloved wife Khadijah, and then he loses his uncle Abu Talib, who was such a strong supporter and unfortunately left without iman, which was the biggest...
Pain. And then Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم goes to Ta'if and Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم is dealt so harshly in Ta'if. So difficulty, musiba upon musiba upon musiba. We can't even imagine what type of level musiba. We're thinking we're going through a difficulty. We're thinking we're going through a difficulty. Look at what you say. Why are Muslims going through this? Why is this happening to me? Why is happening in the Muslim countries? Why are the masajid closed?
You know my brothers and sisters, let us study the seerah. If we study the seerah, you know many times people come up to us and say, you know, they question you, question about the existence of evil. So why are Muslims or why did I go through this? My grandmother used to pray salah. How come she passed away in a, you know, in a painful death? My mother was like this and she was really pious lady. How come she's going suffering? And these are, this is questions for people who haven't read the seerah properly.
We need to all revisit. I need to revisit. All of us during any type of life crisis we're going through, or even no crisis. We need to be reading the seerah continuously. So the seerah will tell us that there's no one who went through more difficulty than the Prophet. I was put to test for the sake of Allah that like no one else was put to test like that. And I was intimidated and bothered for the sake of Allah سبحانه وتعالى like no one else.
The Gift of Isra and Mi'raj
So after going through such difficulty, Allah سبحانه وتعالى then gifted him with Isra and Mi'raj and he was able to, he gifted him with this beautiful journey of the heavens. And where he Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم got to see such beautiful, you know, sights of Jannah and so forth. But the biggest, after being able to speak to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and being able to see things that no human or jinn or angel has ever seen, Allah سبحانه وتعالى gifted him with salah. Right.
So that's a key thing that this salah is a gift that Allah سبحانه وتعالى gave to the, gave to the Prophet. After going through such difficulty so that you and I can simply read about the Mi'raj of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, but you say no, I want to go on a journey like that. Well, yes you can. That is through salah. You perform your salah at home, two rakah, four rakah. That's your Mi'raj. That is your ability to be close to Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
The Closest to Allah in Sujood
Let us not undermine when we put our head down. The person the closest you're going to be to Allah is while you're in the state of sujood. He didn't say that while you're in the Ka'bah, while you're in the Haram, while you're in Medina or Quds. No, wherever you are, if you are in the state of sujood, you are the closest to Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
So we can make long sujood and we can make long duas. Yes, in during fard salah and nafil salah we should be only making our duas in Arabic. We can say اللهم اغفر لي وارحمني and the duas in Arabic. We can memorize the duas from the Quran, duas from the Sunnah. But besides that, you know, outside of salah we're in state of sujood and making dua to Allah سبحانه وتعالى if you feel like that will help you get closer, you know, this is something that ulama have given permission for so this is something that we should definitely realize.
Understanding Difficulty and Ease
That this difficulty that we're going through, this is maybe the time that Allah سبحانه وتعالى wants to gift us, our wives, our husbands, our sons and daughters, to get closer to Him through salah and we have alhamdulillah that Mi'raj available for us.
Additionally, we have to realize we learn from that story that Allah سبحانه وتعالى from amongst His names is An-Nafi and Ad-Dar - the one who gives benefit and the one who gives harm. The ulama say it is not of etiquette to say Ya Dar or the one who gives harm separately. Instead, you should always bring, you should always say Nafi and Dar together. Why? It's because Allah سبحانه وتعالى, there is no pure evil in this world. With every single evil, there has to be some goodness there.
This is how this dunya is. The only place where pure evil, where Allah created pure evil is hellfire. In this dunya, with every difficulty, there is ease. There's always a silver lining even though you might not see it, but it's there. So Allah سبحانه وتعالى put Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم through so much difficulty. But you know, but the Sahaba through those difficulty became stronger. They got closer to him. That's why the Sahaba became the Sahaba. The Muhajirun are level where no one else can reach them. It's because they were put through so much difficulty that difficulty, it strengthens you.
Like a football practice. Who said football practice was easy? Basketball practice is easy? It's one of the most challenging things. Summer camps and this and that. But it is through those extraneous difficult exercises that a person becomes something. Same thing. No pain, no gain when it comes to relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Some mujahada is required, some sacrifice is required.
Those who struggle and strive to reach us, they are the ones that Allah says most definitely we're going to guide them to our paths. Most definitely we're going to guide them to our paths.
So this is something we need to realize that this difficulty just like Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم went through difficulty and apparently you saw, but then after that you saw nafa. Similarly the difficulty we're going through, of whatever it may be, Allah سبحانه وتعالى is most definitely An-Nafi as well. He's going to show us that nafa with that.
And then Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the Quran: "With difficulty comes ease." Right? So there's no opportunity, no time, not even for a second we can allow despair and despondency to overtake us. If there was anyone who had, you could say, circumstances that would make them give up, it would be Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم at the time of Ta'if, at the time of the passing away of his wife and his uncle, at the time of the boycott, a three-year boycott. But instead Allah سبحانه وتعالى gave him the strength, the perseverance, and Allah then gifted him with Isra and Mi'raj.
Increasing Our Personal Mi'raj
And so we learn from Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم that this is the time for perseverance. This is the time for remaining consistent and increasing our ibadah, increasing our own personal Mi'raj in our own personal relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى through the gift of salah.
As you've heard ulama say repeatedly that every single command of Allah, Allah سبحانه وتعالى sent it via Jibreel to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Allah informed Jibreel عليه السلام, "Oh Jibreel, go tell Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم such and such." But it was only the command of salah that Allah سبحانه وتعالى did not send Jibreel for. For this command instead, He called up Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم into the heavens and He gifted him with this gift of salah. Hence, this is something we need to do.
Making Up Missed Prayers
Some of the brothers and sisters asking, you know, what should I be busying myself now with? Now we have so much time. Besides performing our fard salah, besides performing our, you know, Ishraq salah and our Awabin after Maghrib, Ishraq after sunrise, Tahajjud salah after Isha or ideally the last third portion of the night. Okay.
One very important thing that we need to do, men and women, youth as well, is to start making up our salah that we have missed in our life. Reality, my brothers and sisters, is we may have piled up many salahs that we have missed in our days of jahiliyya, days of ignorance, or whatever it may have been, you know. If I'll asleep, this, that. So we need to make a list of how many salahs we've missed. Come up with a, if we have missed only few, then specify okay that last Wednesday or that that one day. Okay, I make a niyyah of that salah.
If you have many, unfortunately, then in that case you need to make an educated guess of how many Fajars, how many Zuhrs, how many Asrs, and how many Witr. We make that list and then we start calculating like this. We say okay, I'm performing my last Isha that was qada on me and then my last Witr with that Isha. Then the next day you say my last Isha and my last Witr. So as soon as you make that intention, the last one falls off and the one previously becomes the last one and you keep on making your way backwards like that. You can say the last one or the first one. It's the same thing.
So five fard salah along with Witr salah. And if you missed it as a traveler, then you make it up as a traveler. So if you were traveling and you missed your Isha, you would make it up as two rakah. And if you missed it, if you're traveling now, I doubt it, but if you are traveling now somewhere and you are performing only two, then you would, and you're making up salah that you missed while you're a resident at home, then you will make it up as four. So even though you're traveling, but you're making up a prayer that you had missed when you were at home, then you'll make it up as four rakah of Isha, four rakah of Zuhr, four rakah of Asr.
Preparing to Meet Allah
So this would be something we need to do. Make a list. We'll protect us if Allah has written death for us. So when is it written? Yeah, yesterday there was five, six janazahs. Today there's five, six janazahs. I'm not saying because of the virus. Generally people are, people are still passing away from normal deaths. So I have to ask myself: am I ready to meet Allah سبحانه وتعالى?
These are the things: if I have qada salah, I'm not ready. If I owe money to people, I'm not ready. If I've hurt people's feelings, I'm not ready. If I have not prepared a will, I'm not ready. Right? So these are basic things that we need to all keep in mind: that make sure our relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى is repaired, our relationship with our relatives is repaired, our, there's no one has a right upon us in terms of our wealth, we paid our zakat is up to date, our salah is up to date, the huquq al-ibad are up to date, and yes, will should be prepared as well. Anything can happen anytime.
This is the part of a believer that he's always prepared to go. Of course, we beg and hope that Allah سبحانه وتعالى grants all of us complete, you know, beautiful life. And I love one of the duas of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم where he says that oh Allah, make the last day of my life the best day of my life. Make the last day of my life the best day of my life.
So this is something, you know, insha'Allah, maybe that'll be another dua that we'll cover on another day regarding that. So we will continue to pray for afiyah, will continue to pray for long life and health for ourselves, for family members, for the entire ummah. We'll continue to pray for protection for us and for the entire ummah, insha'Allah.
Dhikr Session
We'll conclude with a dhikr. Many brothers have requested to do a short dhikr session. So insha'Allah, please join me with your family members and, you know, you can, helps if you concentrate, to concentrate you can shut your lights, and if not, you know, just please close your eyes and focus. Put your focus towards Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And this is what is going to give life to our hearts. We need light in our heart. This will give life and light to our hearts through the name of Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Prophetic Prayer Session
There's nothing like that that removes the rust from the hearts, than the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the zikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so we will do لا إله إلا الله with the intention that everything besides Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala all the false idols from our heart are being removed and only the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is coming into our heart and number two.
We will do الله الله with the intention that the muhabba of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is coming to our heart number three. We will recite dhruv sharif and salawat upon the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And lastly we'll do istighfar.
When we say الله الله, let us imagine the muhabba of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala coming into heart, the fear and the love of everything else is departing and the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is coming into heart. If the love of Allah comes into my heart into your heart, then the obedience of Allah will become very easy.
Sending Salutations upon the Prophet
Now we send salutations upon the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. Remember there's an angel deputed to take and present our salutations to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. And every time we say one salawat upon the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, Allah azza wa jalla is sending upon us ten mercies and our level, Jannah is being increased by ten levels and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is giving us ten rewards and ten sins are being forgiven amongst many many other beautiful blessings that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is granting us as we send salutations upon the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam.
Istighfar - Seeking Forgiveness
And lastly we do istighfar. And as we do istighfar, each one should be thinking about his or her own mistakes and sins that we have done against Allah, against the creation, seeking forgiveness from Almighty Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And saying, Ya Allah, whatever sins the Ummah has done and I have done to bring about this difficulty upon the Ummah, Ya Allah, I seek refuge in You and seek protection and seek forgiveness from those specific sins which have brought upon us this difficulty.
Program Announcements
Before we conclude the dua, I want you to look at the screen if you haven't already done so. Alhamdulillah, these are the list of the programs that we are beginning today, Saturday, of course, so I'm doing the prophetic prayers. Tomorrow will be a Q&A session with Mufti bin Hajj. You can text message your questions to the Darussalam number anytime, including now, whether it's related to aqeedah, fiqh, seerah, tajweed, whatever other subjects, whatever's on your mind, whether it's related to the virus or anything else, please text message your questions right now to the 630-360-2373 number that's written there on the left side of your screen.
And then on Monday we'll have stories from the Quran with Mawlana Ihsan. And then InshaAllah, Tuesday will be myself doing tafsir, as continuing on with surah Muzammil, which I've been doing for the past 2-3 weeks. InshaAllah, so we probably have another 2 weeks to go on tafsir of surah Muzammil. And then on Wednesdays we'll do Mufti bin Hajj with fiqh on different topics. Right now will be the next month or so, will be on Ramadan, every Wednesday evening. And then on Thursday will be with Mawlana Yusuf. He'll be speaking about the various virtues of sending salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ with a session of salawat. We'll be covering, as we usually do every Thursday night, the book, a compilation of Shaykh Zakariya's 40 hadith on the 40 salawat. And then Friday nights will be with Mawlana Muhi, Imam Ghazali's Foundations of Faith, the Arba'een. And InshaAllah, that will come back to Saturday with prophetic prayers.
So my request to all of you is to please tune in at 8 o'clock Central Standard Time. And secondly, please try to get your families, members, relatives, neighbors to subscribe to the channel so that they do not need to wait for us to send an email or send a WhatsApp reminder. They themselves will get a bell or an alert in their own email and their own phone. This is the time for us to be connected to this type of gatherings. There's too much negativity, too much nonsense that we're surrounded by. And we need deen, we need zikr in our lives.
So I request every one of you, we're getting bombarded with forwarded messages of all sorts. Please tell those people that save, spare your time and my time. Instead of forwarding those messages, please go subscribe to this channel. Ask your other friends to subscribe to the channel and ask them to listen daily. If they don't want to listen to this channel, no problem. Listen to any reputable scholar. The purpose for us is not to just get more people to listen to the talks over here. My purpose is to get people connected to the ulama, to the discourses of deen, to the gatherings of zikr and ilm.
So I request every one of you is listening. Please make a point tonight, tomorrow, and throughout the week. Throughout the world, people are in a lockdown. Wherever they are. And their local masajid may not have content in English by different ulama, like the way we're doing. They may not have the resources, you know that. So connect them with this as one of the many places that they can inshallah gain beneficial knowledge and zikr and food for the soul and the mind and the heart.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept the efforts of our scholars, our students, our IT team, AV team, our office staff, our supporters, donors, patrons, our well-wishers, and those who continuously make du'a for us across the globe. May Allah reward you, may Allah protect you all, and may Allah keep all of you and the rest of the ummah safe in these challenging times.
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim.
Concluding Du'a
Ya Allah, the Ummah is going through a crisis a spiritual crisis, a mental crisis, a physical crisis an economic crisis of all sorts. Oh Allah, none can lift this crisis besides You. Oh Allah, none can lift this crisis besides You. Oh Allah, we ask You to lift this crisis from upon all of us Ya Allah.
Oh Allah, those sins that the Ummah has done to deserve this. Oh Allah, we ask You to forgive us for those sins we ask You to forgive us for those sins and allow the Ummah collectively to realize that whatever we're facing is because of our own actions and allow the Ummah, young and old, men and women, leaders and laymen to all to repent to You, Ya Allah, with sincerity Ya Allah.
Oh Allah, allow us to come out of this crisis stronger than before allow us to come out cleansed from our sins allow us to come out, Ya Allah, having repented from all the major and minor sins that we were involved in. Oh Allah, whether it was in terms of our akhlaq, in terms of our finances in terms of our buying and selling, or income, or our spending. Oh Allah, whatever type of sin we were involved in sins of the tongue, sins of the eyes, sins of the hands and the feet sins of the mind, sins of the heart, sins of the private part. Oh Allah, whatever sins we were involved in. Oh Allah, allow these challenging times to become a means for all of us to reflect and for us to connect ourselves with You and allow us to repent from all those sins.
Oh Allah, allow us all to prepare for the day we will be called back. Oh Allah, allow all of us to prepare allow all of us to start preparing from now for whatever that day is gonna be that You decide to call us back. Oh Allah, allow us to be prepared for that day. Oh Allah, let it not be that at that time that we are ill-prepared Oh Allah.
Oh Allah, we ask Ya Allah make the last day of our life the best day of our life make the last day of our life a day when we are looking forward to meeting You and You are looking forward to receiving us make the last day of our life the day most filled with hope and the day filled of joy for us, Ya Allah.
Oh Allah, we ask You to grant shifa to all of those who are sick for whatever sickness and who are in the hospitals and wherever they may be. Oh Allah, those who have recently passed away earlier on. Oh Allah, we ask You to make their graves a garden from the gardens of paradise fill their qabr with nur. Oh Allah, You have mercy upon them.
Oh Allah, we ask You to allow us to enjoy the company and the sohbah of our elders our elderly parents, our elderly grandparents and our elderly ulama. Oh Allah, we ask You to grant all of them aafia and long life and health, Ya Allah. Oh Allah, those who have passed away from our elders, our parents, our teachers and our grandparents. Oh Allah, we ask You to allow us to continue the good deeds that will become a means of their happiness a means of their peace in their graves.
Oh Allah, we ask You to protect all of our masajid all of our madaris, all of our dini institutions and the dini efforts. Oh Allah, allow all of them to come back online soon, Ya Allah allow them all to come back online soon, Ya Allah.
Oh Allah, reward all of those who are making khidmah of the ummah in these challenging times. Oh Allah, whoever is going through any financial difficulty. Oh Allah, grant them sabr and those who are going through emotional difficulties, grant them sabr. Oh Allah, we ask You to allow them to all to inculcate taqwa within their lives and allow them to have yaqeen that with difficulty comes ease and that the ones who hold on to taqwa with patience that You will create an avenue out of every difficulty for them.
Oh Allah, whatever permissible desires and needs the listeners have we ask Ya Allah to accept their permissible desires and needs allow us all, Ya Allah, to become amongst the maqbooleen those who are accepted Ya Allah, whose duas are accepted who've been gifted with tongues that remain moist in your remembrance who've been gifted with eyes that become moist and shed tears out of your love and out of your fear Oh Allah.
Oh Allah, whatever we should have asked but we didn't ask, grant us all of that grant us all that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the righteous people have asked and are asking.
Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Jazakumul akhira for listening. Ameen.