The Du'a of Ibrahim (AS) - Mufti Minhajuddin

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, respected elders and young friends, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

Indeed Allah has revealed the Qur'an as a source of guidance for all mankind. In every story in the Qur'an there are many lessons for us to learn and benefit from. Allah says,

In the stories mentioned in the Qur'an there are lessons for those of intelligence.

And we find in Surah Al-Baqarah and Surah Ibrahim. In two places Allah mentions the duas of Sayyidina Khalilullah Ibrahim (peace be upon him). And these duas are mentioned for us to take heed and take benefit from. What are the duas that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) made for his progeny, for his children? We all love our children.

This is a natural instinct Allah has placed in the hearts of human beings to love their children. But how do we express that love? How do we manifest that love? What are those things that we should make dua for our children? We can learn from the duas of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) in respect for his children. The passage in Surah Al-Baqarah, the first passage begins with Allah recounting the trials and tests that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) underwent.

And remember when Allah, He made Ibrahim (peace be upon him) undergo several trials and tests. And then he successfully completed all those trials. Over here Allah from amongst his 99 names that we know and infinite names that we do not know, chose the word رَبُّهُ (Rabbuhu), chose the name رَبُّهُ (Rabbuhu).

To show that these tests and trials were not as a means of torment or torture for Ibrahim (peace be upon him) but rather as a completion of his تَرْبِيَة (tarbiyah) and part of his nurturing. That Allah wanted to nurture him and train him. And that is why Allah made him undergo these trials.

And this is the system of Allah. It is within the قُدْرَة (Qudratullah), within the ability of Allah to grant prophethood and grant وِلَايَة (Wilaya) and closeness to him without any test and trial. That is the قُدْرَة (Qudratullah).

But there is a سُنَّة (Sunnatullah), there is a way of Allah that he deals with his creation.

And you will find that Allah does not detract from his way. So while admitting that it is the قُدْرَة (Qudratullah), he can grant a person the highest level of وِلَايَة (Wilaya) without any pain or sacrifice.

But the Sunnah of Allah is that he makes his beloved slaves undergo trials and tests in this life.

The severest trials are upon the prophets of Allah and then those next in rank and then those next in rank. The closer a person is to Allah, the greater and more severe the trials will be.

If Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her) is granted the title of Sayyidatun Nisa (Queen of the Women of Jannah). She is the queen of all the women in Jannah. It is not because she was the daughter of Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him) that she bore that through her lineage, she gained that.

Rather it was because of the greatest trials that she faced.

She said that so many difficulties and calamities have befallen upon me. These are the words of poetry that she uttered spontaneously upon receiving the news of her most beloved father, the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)'s passing away.

When Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away. She said,

That so many calamities and tests and trials have befallen me that if they would fall upon the day, then the day out of grief would turn into the night. So because she was patient in those trials, she became the queen of the women of Jannah.

Likewise,

And Allah has made him His friend. He didn't become a friend because he had a special relationship or some special connection. There can be no relationship, physical relationship with Allah. Any connection with Allah.

Neither is He regarded by any parents nor does He have any children and offspring. None of the creation is like unto Him.

Allah has no special relation with any creation based on lineage. But rather because He underwent those trials.

And the purpose of today's discussion is not to go over the trials.

And they are each one is their own story. But just to highlight them. Allah wanted to test him.

That do you love your home more or do you love Allah more?

He made hijrah and he left his homeland for the sake of Allah, his وَطَن (vatan). Do you love your father more or do you love Allah more? His father was doing شِرْك (shirk) and a maker of idols. He invited his father towards تَوْحِيد (Tawheed).

Oh my dear father, why do you worship gods that do not see, cannot hear?

Oh my dear father, don't worship shaitan.

Oh my dear father, Allah has blessed me with such knowledge that He has granted me a special favor to follow what I am saying. Worship one Allah.

And when his father got upset with him and said

And you are turning away from my idols? How dare you speak ill of my idols? Oh Ibrahim, if you don't stop and desist from this, I will pelt you to death.

He said, سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكَ (salamun alaikum). This أَسْلَامُ عَلَيْكَ (alaikum) is not the one to begin the conversation, but rather the farewell salam.

I am leaving and I will ask Allah to forgive you. He left his father. Do you love your wife more? Do you love Allah more? What does he say?

He left his wife in the land, in the valley without a blade of grass for the sake of Allah. Do you love your son more? Do you love Allah more? He put the knife to the throat of his son.

O my dear son, I see in a dream I am slaughtering you. What do you think about it? The son replied, O my dear father, comply with the order you have been given by Allah. Insha'Allah you will find me among the patient ones. And do you love your own self? Which is a very strong emotion of self-preservation we all have. Or do you love Allah more? He threw himself when he was hurled into the fire of Nimrod.

He did not even take the help of the angels when they came to assist him. And he said,

Allah is sufficient for me. He was ready to sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah.

So he passed all of these tests. Allah says,

So then Allah said, Masha'Allah, you successfully completed the tests. So at the end you get the graduation, the certification. Allah says,

I will make you the Imam of all the people till the Day of Judgment. So the first du'a here, he says,

O Allah, if you are conferring these Imams to me, can you pass this down in my children as well? Or my progeny? They all become the Imams of the people till the Day of Judgment. So over here Allah put a break.

Corrected him. He said, No. That's not how it works.

He said, He will not reach the age of the wrongdoers. My promise will not extend to those who are the transgressors. Meaning, I have granted you the Imams of the people because you made all these sacrifices.

And you successfully completed all the tests and trials. But just by being your son, or being your grandson, will be of no avail to anyone. Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him), he said,

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2699)

Whosoever's own actions are holding him back, then the lofty lineage will not take that person forward. It will not help. As they say in Farsi,

قَدَرْمِ سُلْطَانِ بُوتِ

My father was a great king. So that is fine. He was a great king. Your grandfather was a great king. You come from some royal heritage. But maybe some colonizers came and took away the land of your forefathers. Now what are you? What do you have to show for yourself? In the dunya perspective, in the deen as well. What do you have to present?

No one has to be credited except for their own efforts.

So we have to make our own efforts. Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed his paternal aunt, Puppi, his father's sister, Safiya bint Abdul Muttalib, and his own daughter, Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her), both of them, and he addressed both of them and he said, that save yourselves.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3235)

O Fatima, save yourself from the fire of Jahannam with your own actions. I will not be able to help you on the Day of Judgment. The direct daughter of Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him).

O my Allah! Confer this Imamah to my progeny.

Allah said, Then moving forward, we have skipped a few ayats. Allah says, that

Then remember, when Ibrahim (peace be upon him) made another dua, he said, fine, the first one Allah said, no, I cannot give imamah to all your children, just because you are great doesn't mean they will automatically get the credit for that. They said, fine, he made another dua.

He said,

Oh Allah, can you make this city a safe city. This city, which city? The city he's founding, he's leaving his wife and his baby infant there, Hajar and Ismail (peace be upon them).

Oh Allah, make this city a safe city.

آمِن (amin) means safe and secure.

And provide the residents who live here fruits to eat. But because he already got the lesson from Allah when he made dua for his children, no,

The transgressors will not get it.

So when he made the second dua, he qualified it. Oh Allah,

Oh Allah, make this city safe for my children and provide them provision of fruits. Whosoever amongst them believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment, whoever are good, righteous ones amongst my progeny, Oh Allah, grant them safety, grant them fruits.

So now he's making dua for their worldly success. And actually, if you think about it deeply, these are two conditions which are necessary for success in the afterlife as well. If a person wants to have a productive life in this dunya and also work on bettering his afterlife, his hereafter, he has to have security and safety, and he also has to have provision and risk.

If a person is not secure, not safe, is overcome with anxiety, and does not know if his family is safe, then that person cannot earn for his livelihood, nor can that person perform ibadah pleasing to Allah in a manner befitting Allah. That person cannot wake up for tahajjud, that person cannot fast, that person cannot do righteous acts and give charity. Why? Because he's so afraid if he will be able to survive it or not.

Because there is a civil war taking place, there are attacks, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, there are bombs going off in the middle of a civil war. A person's life is in shambles. Number two is if they do not have risk, if they do not have provision, you don't know where your next meal is going to come from.

You're hungry, you're starving. If you are starving and you are in extreme hunger, you're not going to be thinking about, let me open a chapter of fiqh and learn the masayih of zakat. It's not applicable for you. You're worried about how you're going to survive. So you need to have security, the society should be safe, the place should be safe, where you're living and you also have to have your food source should be secure, so that you know where your meals are coming from and you should have financial stability. These are two concerns that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) had for his children and he made the dua.

But he made the dua, مَن آمَنَ مِنْهُم بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ. Those that are good ones, those who are believers. Because he learned the lesson from the first rejection.

But Allah said, Oh Ibrahim (peace be upon him) don't worry. You're asking about dunya?

Those that believe, I will give them. Those amongst your children who don't believe, I will also give them. Because this is dunya. The dunya and the material things of this world, I will give it to the disbelievers as well.

فَأُمَتِّعُهُ قَلِيلًا. I will give them as well.

But then afterwards, the hereafter, they will go towards the a'zab of Jahannam. So this dua of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was accepted. Allah gave security and stability to Makkah and the surroundings of Makkah, even in the era of Jahiliyyah.

When people would be killing each other, and highway robbery and hijacking was the norm, no one's life was safe, the area of the haram was considered sacred. And if a person met the killer of his own father, he would not achieve his sword, would not do anything to him, because this is the haram. And likewise, subhanAllah, He made dua,

Provide them fruits. The scholars say that one is a staple diet, and one is something which are dessert items. For fruits, no one lives just eating on fruits. No one lives on fruits only.

People have grains, carbohydrates, proteins, and then they have fruits as enjoyment, or for added benefits of the antioxidants, vitamins, whatever. But that's not your staple diet. When He made dua for fruits, that means that He made dua that they should have the main course as well, and on top of the main course, not only the main course, if they had bread and meat and vegetables, that would be enough, but on top of that for enjoyment, Allah provide them fruits.

Allah subhanAllah accepted the dua. And Allah ta'ala reminds the Quraysh of Makkah, of the same city.

Why don't you worship the Lord of this house, who has given you food to eat, so you're not hungry, and has given you safety, so you're not anxious about your safety.

آمَنَهُم مِّن خَوْفٍ

So both of the duas of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) were accepted. Those who have gone for hajj or umrah in the past, those who just came now, can attest to this, that if you go into the marketplace there, how many different fruits are there, subhanAllah. All the fruits from around the world, you'll find the Florida navel oranges, you'll find the California oranges, the Michigan apples, the fruits from the northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, all the fruits of the world are present in the markets of Makkah.

And what is growing in Makkah, nothing is growing in Makkah. SubhanAllah. This is another additional benefit.

Benefit in the sense that who has toiled the land, bear the burden of planting the seeds, and irrigating the crops, and harvesting, and all the back-breaking labor, done by other people. Then the end, the finished product, is brought to Makkah, just for enjoyment's sake. Nothing grows there.

The valley without a blade of grass. Nothing grows there, everything comes from outside. And subhanAllah, something that's even more unique and beautiful, and something for us to consider, and ponder over, and reflect, is that Allah ta'ala says,

Which is a very unique choice of words.

Allah ta'ala says, all the fruits of everything are brought towards Makkah. Normally, from our limited understanding, we would have thought that it would be a more appropriate choice of words to say,

تُجْبَىٰ إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَجَرٍ

All the fruits of the trees are brought towards Makkah. But Allah ta'ala didn't say the fruits of the trees. He didn't say ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَجَرٍ. The fruits of all the trees. He said ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ. The fruits of all the things. شَيْء (shay) is a thing.

That sounds strange. Fruits are grown on trees. So why doesn't Allah say, the fruits of the trees are brought to Makkah? Why doesn't Allah ta'ala say, the fruits of the things are brought to Makkah? Because the word ثَمَرَ has two meanings.

One is the مَعْنَىً الْحَقِيقِي وَمَعْنَىً الْمَجَازِي. One is the literal meaning of the word. One is the allegorical figurative meaning of the word. The literal meaning of the ثَمَرَ is fruit. The fruit that grows on a tree. But, and we can appreciate this even from the English language. Fruits, when you say the word fruits, it's not limited only to the physical fruit on the tree.

It is also the end result of one's efforts. You could say the fruits of one's labor. Today is Friday, it's payday. The person, the one who worked the entire week is enjoying the fruits of his labor.

The culture that we live in, they take you to the bar and they spend half the fechek on wine and alcohol and get drunk. That's not how a Muslim behaves, inshallah. We hope so. So, you say he's on payday, he's enjoying, what is he enjoying? The fruits of his labor. Or a parent was very diligent with upbringing the children. Mashallah, they worked so hard in therapy of the children. Now they're in old age. And what do these children do? They do not throw them into the nursing home.

This old parent is now in extreme need and is physically incapable. And these loyal, obedient children are taking care of their parents. So what is he doing? He's enjoying the fruits of his efforts. In the past, he did the proper tarbiyah and proper upbringing. Now he's enjoying the fruits of that. So the fruits means the end result.

Subhanallah. So the scholars of tafsir say,

The fruits of everything are brought to Makkah. Meaning the fruits of the trees are brought to Makkah. But the fruits of the factories are also brought to Makkah. The fruits of all the factories throughout the world, all the different products, electronic products, all the different gadgets, all the latest products are brought to Makkah. In the maws of Makkah, they are found. From the lower range, what is affordable for the poor, lower economic level people, there are cheaper products and there are luxury premium products. All types of products. All the Swiss watches made in Switzerland are available in Makkah.

All the Japanese electronic products are available in Makkah. I'm not trying to talk about dunya. It sounds so strange to talk about these things. I'm trying to explain this ayah.

The fruits of all the things. Meaning all the end products of all the factories are poured into Makkah. What is exported from Makkah is the zamzam. But what is brought into Makkah is everything from outside. Subhanallah. This is the result of the dua of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). So, the lesson we learn is that it is permissible to make dua for the economic prosperity of one's children. But he did not stop there. He made more duas.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions his further duas in the Quran.

And when Ibrahim and Ismail were raising and erecting the walls of the Ka'bah, they made the dua,

O our Lord, do accept from us. Now we can easily just translate this and if you open the translation of the Quran, the word تَقَبَّلْ will be translated as accept. But there is a deeper nuance here from the Arabic language. In the Arabic language, to accept, there is a verb قَبِيلَ يَقْبَلُ. It means to accept. But over here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not use the verb قَبِيلَ يَقْبَلُ to accept.

He used the verb تَقَبَّلْ And تَقَبَّلْ comes from the بَاب تَفَاعُل. It's a different scale. It has an additional meaning.

It means that وَالتَّكَلُّفِ وَالتَّكَلُّفِ means something is not coming naturally for you. It's not coming easy for you. You're forcing yourself, you're compelling yourself despite not wanting to. You go ahead and do something. That is a particular meaning that comes from the verb تَقَبَّلْ.

So رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ means that, O Allah, when you look at my actions, even though they are not worthy of acceptance, they do not deserve to be accepted. It is not what is due. Acceptance is not what is the right. But rather, overlooking all the deficiencies in my عَمَلَ (amal), out of your sheer grace and فَضْل (fadl), go ahead and ignore the false and accept. This is تَقَبَّلْ. Just to give an example, when I mention this, I explain how.

For example, we have a Nikah. We have a Nikah today after Asr. We have all the time Nikahs that are being performed. So when the Qadi, he asks the groom, that do you accept the hand of sister so and so, daughter so and so, with the mahr so and so, in the presence of the witnesses so and so. So what will he say? You should say قَبِلْتُهَا قَبِلْتُهَا means I have accepted her. If he tries to be a little bit too smart, and he says that, Oh, I know رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ تَقَبَّلْ means to accept.

If he says تَقَبَّلْتُهَا that means that, out of my sheer grace, overlooking all of her deficiencies, and all of her faults, I'll be so kind and gracious enough to go ahead and turn a blind eye to her faults and accept her. This is not nice. That's not a good start for the life's journey together.

So we do not want to say تَقَبَّلْتُهَا. We will say قَبِلْتُهَا. So this is the humility, humbleness of Ibrahim (peace be upon him).

You hear our words, you know our condition. Oh Allah.

Next dua, he says, Oh Allah, make me and my son Ismail true Muslims. Allah Akbar. He says, make us a Muslim. When is the last time we made dua, Oh Allah, make us a Muslim.

We will say this is تَحْصِيلُ الْحَاصِل. This is something that is already acquired. Why do you want to acquire something which is acquired? Why do you want to ask for something that is already achieved? You will not make dua that, Oh Allah, make me a human being. I am already a human being.

If you are a male, you will not make dua, Oh Allah, make me a male. This is called love. This is something which is nonsensical. Oh Allah, make me a male, make me a female. You are already a male, you are already a female. And changing the gender by the way is also haram. So this dua is out of question. So that's why we never made dua, Oh Allah, make me a Muslim. Because we already believe we are Muslim. 100% confirmed. But here Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is making dua,

Oh Allah, make me and my son true Muslims. Even though Allah already said,

When Allah told him to submit and be a true Muslim, he said, I submit and I become a true Muslim to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

He was not a Jew or a Christian, he was a true Muslim. Allah said he was a Muslim. He's making dua, make me a Muslim.

And he said,

And from my progeny, An Ummah which will be a true Muslim Ummah submitting unto you. Allah accepted his dua, made him a true Muslim, and from his progeny, erected this Ummah. We are the Ummah that he was referring to. Allah himself tells us,

You are called a Muslim Ummah because of the dua of your forefather Ibrahim. He made the dua for you. SubhanAllah.

So this is the dua of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). Make me a true Muslim. And from my progeny,

And

O Allah, give us the knowledge of how to worship you in the correct manner. Manasik is many times specifically understood in context of how to perform hajj, but it's not limited to that. How to worship Allah. O Allah, grant us the ilm. He's asking for ilm.

This is something we need to ask from Allah. O Allah, grant us the knowledge of how to worship you. Acceptable worship is not based on how I feel or you feel. It's based on how Allah feels and how Allah wants. And how it should be done in the correct manner. So this is something we have to ask from Allah.

Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is asking Allah, O Allah, teach me how to worship you in the correct manner. We need to ask Allah as well.

Turn towards us in repentance.

And last du'a here in this passage of Surah Al-Baqarah is

And he makes a du'a, O Allah, for my children I'm leaving behind, inshallah, that will become a whole ummah in the city of Makkah. Send a messenger who will teach them. Send a messenger amongst my progeny. Send a rasul to them. Send a teacher to them. Because he knew the system of Allah is that for us to remain on the straight path, we need to have teachers.

We cannot gain hidayah from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala without the medium of teachers. So he made du'a for a teacher for his progeny. And that du'a was accepted in the form of Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him). And when Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4281)

He said, I am the acceptance of the du'a of my forefather Ibrahim. Allah accepted Ibrahim (peace be upon him)'s du'a in my person. I am the acceptance of the du'a. So we also had to make du'a for our children that Allah provides for them teachers who have correct knowledge of deen. So that they can learn the deen from such teachers who are linked back to teachers, who are linked back to mashayikh, linked back to Rasulullah (peace and blessings be upon him).

May Allah allow us to gain the tawfiq to benefit from these du'as of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). And perhaps another time we will talk about the du'as in the second chapter of Surah Ibrahim as well. May Allah give us tawfiq. Wa akhiru da'awana.

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.