Cultivating Dua with Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Session 2

Session 2: Du'as for Seeking Protection — Cultivating Conversation with Allah

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. How is everyone doing? InshaAllah I hope all is well and you guys are all doing good in these blessed days of Ramadan. Maybe they are different than what we are used to, but we should be benefiting from them nonetheless at the same level if not more, alhamdulillah.

It's good to see everyone again. MashaAllah it's been a week since we met and in between that week there is a PDF that I will be sharing with you guys. Between this week that we have met, mashaAllah you've had many lessons with many instructors — six different instructors, six different classes, six different sessions.

SubhanAllah, we are so fortunate to be able to learn from people like Sheikh Suleiman Mulla, Khalid Latif, Sheikh Abdullah, Mufti Abdul Rahman, Ubaidullah Evans — and now you're stuck with me. Have you guys been enjoying these sessions? The whole idea behind the Ramadan Immersion Program is that we immerse ourselves in different sciences, and alhamdulillah that's been great.

I'm not going to pull a Sheikh Abdullah and ask you what your favorite class was. I'll leave that for him, but I'm hoping that everyone is benefiting from all the classes — taking notes and writing things down.

One of the beauties of knowledge is that it should be written. Therefore Allah explains how knowledge should be written, to an extent that one of the first creations that Allah made after creating water and the 'Arsh was the pen. Allah didn't need to write everything down — qadr and all the predestination of all of creation — but He wrote it. So writing things down is truly beneficial. I would encourage everyone to be writing their notes, going through them, teaching them to other people, and of course acting upon them as much as we can.

Recap of Last Week's Session

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. I'm not going to waste too much time because we have a lengthy class. Let me recap what we covered last week.

We started last week's session talking about, A, the importance of supplication and making du'a to Allah. We already completed that. Then we spoke about how to make du'a — the general process of making du'a — and we were able to summarize that concept: the du'a should begin with the praise of Allah, followed by the salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ, then we speak highly of Allah by thanking Him, then we ask, and it should end the same way it started. We also spoke about the seven different times where du'a is always accepted.

Then we dove into three specific du'as. The first one was the du'a of Yunus ﷺ, which is made to free us from any form of huzn and ghamm:

And Hasan al-Basri said: "I am astonished at those people who are stuck in any form of grief and yet are unaware of this beautiful bounty of a du'a — لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ." We went into the details of this du'a: where it was made, how it was made — in the depth of the ocean, in the belly of the whale — Allah sent down the angels from the highest point of the heavens, and that du'a was accepted.

"We accepted the du'a of Yunus ﷺ." So last week's du'as were Qur'anic du'as.

The second du'a was the du'a of Ayyub ﷺ, found in Surah Sad. This man had everything taken from him — being a celebrity of his time, a prophet, wealthy, blessed with children and family and followers — and then, in a snap of a finger, everything was snatched from him, and he was left living next to the dumpster of the city, with only his wife to support him, and ants and insects crawling in his body. But he said: "I cannot ask Allah to free me from this, because Allah blessed me for so many years." When 40 years finished — and the years of blessing and the years of difficulty equaled — then he said:

He didn't say that he had been overwhelmed and engulfed. He said مَسَّنِيَ — "some harm has touched me." And he said: "I know it is from my own sins, so Allah, You are the Most Merciful, please forgive me so I can be freed from this difficulty." And Allah responded:

"We accepted that du'a and We removed his hardship." When Allah speaks about the du'a of Zakariyya ﷺ, when he asked for Yahya ﷺ:

He continued to call upon Allah in secrecy — when no one was around, when he would hide and make du'a — because he only wanted to speak to Allah. That's a powerful du'a. When that du'a is being made with only you and Allah listening and only you and Allah being involved in that conversation — this is why I call this class a conversation with Allah.

The third du'a we completed last week was:

"Allah is enough for me, and He is the best guardian, He is the best caretaker." Wakeel is someone that you make responsible for a transaction or a deal in your life. Allah is the Wakeel — He is responsible for everything in our life and He is the best one. There is no one better.

"What a great helper Allah is." This is a general du'a but also can be used specifically for times of fear. Whenever we're in a state of fear, use this du'a and Allah will remove that fear from our hearts. These are the three du'as that we covered last week. I hope everyone remembered those three du'as, understood them, has started to practice them, and has started to bring them into their daily supplications.

This Week's Theme: Du'as for Seeking Protection from Specific Things

Last week's theme was the du'as from the Qur'an. This week's theme is du'as for seeking protection from specific things. These are all things that the Prophet ﷺ himself sought refuge from. He is the greatest of all individuals — if he is seeking refuge from these, then that in itself is enough to denote the importance for us to seek refuge from them as well.

Du'a #1: The Four-Fold Refuge

(Sahih Muslim, Book 48, Hadith 73; also narrated in Jami' at-Tirmidhi and Sahih al-Bukhari)

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that does not benefit, from a heart that does not humble itself, from a soul that is never satisfied, and from a du'a that is not answered."

This hadith is narrated in Jami' at-Tirmidhi, and it also comes in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. The Prophet ﷺ is seeking protection from these four things. Let's go through them one by one.

Part 1: Knowledge That Does Not Benefit (عِلْمٍ لَا يَنْفَعُ)

The first thing the Prophet ﷺ is seeking refuge from is ilm la yanfa' — knowledge which does not benefit. Isti'adha — where we say أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ — is the idea of seeking refuge and protection not only from physical harm, but also internal harm. Harm that comes from within, from our own self, from the whispers of Shaytan and the whispers of our own nafs. It's protection from things around us physically, but also protection from things that are internal.

This is why when Imam al-Alusi explains why the word a'udhu is used, he explains that a'udhu is the term used when a toddler is scared and runs to their mother. The mother holds that toddler, cradles that child, and the child falls asleep without any form of hardship, because he finds inner protection in the arms of the mother. That's what isti'adha really means.

Knowledge is amazing. Knowledge is a blessing. Knowledge is a source of honor in the eyes of Allah — وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ — those who have ilm, Allah has given them special ranks. Knowledge is a great virtue. But the Prophet ﷺ says: I seek refuge from that knowledge which does not benefit. What does that mean? It means that we study, but there is no amal, no effect of that knowledge in our lives.

Imam al-Ghazali says: knowledge without action, knowledge without a follow-up, is like a tree without fruits.

Allah, referring to the people of the Book, explains that one of the reasons why they fell and disgraced themselves is because they had knowledge but did not take benefit from it by externalizing it through actions.

"The example of those individuals who have information but no implementation is like donkeys that carry books on top of them — the donkeys cannot implement that knowledge, cannot benefit from it, because they are donkeys." Allah is saying that people who have knowledge but don't take benefit from it are like donkeys.

Imam Fudayl ibn 'Iyad says something very profound:

(Attributed to Fudayl ibn 'Iyad, cited in Hilyat al-Awliya')

"Whosoever seeks to learn knowledge for the sake of just learning knowledge, that knowledge will never benefit them. But whosoever learns with the intention of amal — لِلْعَمَلِ فَقَدْ يَنْفَعُهُ عِلْمٌ قَرِيبٌ — that knowledge will benefit them swiftly." The intention is what matters. Am I learning this knowledge to boast? To glow upon people and impress them with beautiful statements? Or am I actually learning this so I can implement it into my life?

Imam al-Qurtubi says that we are allowed to learn and benefit people through our knowledge — teach people, preach to people — even if we're not fully doing it ourselves, provided that we must desire to do it. If we don't do something but we yearn to do it, we are not sinful. A sign of hypocrisy is not simply that we preach and don't do it — rather, a sign of hypocrisy is when we preach and we ourselves don't even desire to do it.

There are many narrations about the consequences of seeking knowledge with the wrong intention. The Prophet ﷺ said that on the night he was taken for Mi'raj:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 11277; also referenced in Shu'ab al-Iman of al-Bayhaqi)

"I was taken for Mi'raj and I saw a group of people in the fire of Jahannam whose tongues and lips were being scraped with iron." He asked Jibreel ﷺ: "Who are these people?" Jibreel said — may Allah protect us all — خُطَبَاءُ أُمَّتِكَ يَقُولُونَ مَا لَا يَفْعَلُونَ وَيَقْرَأُونَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَلَا يَعْمَلُونَ بِهِ — "They are the preachers of your nation. They spoke about things they never wanted to do. They read the book of Allah but never actually wanted to implement it — they only used it for the sake of honor and fame."

The first three people thrown into the fire of Jahannam — and this is a very sobering hadith for myself before anyone else — is a person who learned ilm and studied the Qur'an. Allah will ask them: "Why did you learn this?" The person will respond: "To please You." Allah will say: كَذَبْتَ — "You have lied. You did not learn this to please Me, but so that people could speak highly of you." May Allah protect us from this. Allah will then tell the angels: "Drag this person into the fire of Jahannam." The second person is one who was extremely generous but gave only so people could call him generous. The third is a person who passed away in the path of Allah — but fought so people could call him brave. Allah will say to each of them: كَذَبْتَ.

The Prophet ﷺ also says:

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2417; classified as Hasan Sahih)

"A human being cannot move from his spot on the Day of Judgment until and unless they are asked about four things: (1) their life and how they spent it; (2) their knowledge and what they did with it; (3) their money — where they earned it and where they spent it; and (4) their body — how they used it." On the Day of Judgment, our knowledge can be a hujja — a proof for us, or a proof against us.

The Prophet ﷺ also says:

(Mu'jam al-Awsat of al-Tabarani; also referenced in Ihya 'Ulum al-Din of Imam al-Ghazali)

"The example of the person who teaches people good things but forgets himself is like the example of a lantern — he gives light to people but he burns himself." The only way a candle can give light is if it burns itself. We're burning ourselves while benefiting others.

Al-Hatim al-Asamm, a great classical scholar, says:

"There will be no one on the Day of Judgment who will have more regret and sorrow than the individual who taught people knowledge and they acted upon it, but he forgot himself." And he derives this from the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ: مَنْ عَمِلَ بِمَا عَلِمَ وَرَّثَهُ اللَّهُ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ — "Whosoever acts upon what they know, Allah will give them knowledge from that which they do not know." (Cited in Hilyat al-Awliya', Vol. 10)

The Prophet ﷺ one day said to the Sahabah that he feared a day to come when knowledge would be swept away from the earth. The Sahabah asked: "Ya Rasulullah, how can knowledge be taken away while we are reading the Qur'an and memorizing the hadith?" The Prophet ﷺ said: "What is wrong with you? Do the Jews and the Christians not read their books? They read them but they don't act upon them and they don't desire to act upon them."

So may Allah make us amongst those who desire to act upon the knowledge we are learning. Step number one is the desire to act upon it — not the desire to become famous from it, but to benefit ourselves, and by benefiting ourselves, benefit others.

Ali ibn Abi Talib ﷺ says that when knowledge is earned, it comes to the seeker and knocks on the door. The way that we open that door is فَأَجَابَهُ بِالْعَمَلِ — through action. But if the door is not opened — meaning there is no action that backs up that knowledge — فَارْتَحَلَ — that knowledge leaves that person.

Part 2: A Heart That Does Not Humble Itself (قَلْبٍ لَا يَخْشَعُ)

The second part of this du'a is: O Allah, I seek refuge from a heart that is not humble in front of Allah. Allah refers to the act of khushu':

"Has a time not come for the believers to humble their hearts in front of the greatness and majesty of Allah?" The heart is the engine. It is the foundation of our ability to do good deeds and our barrier against sins. It all starts from the heart. As the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1599)

"Verily, in the body there is a piece of flesh — if it is rectified and corrected, the entire body is corrected; and if it is contaminated and polluted, the entire body becomes polluted. Verily, it is the heart."

"O people, you are all in need of Allah." Khushu' is to be humbled, to have humility in front of Allah. It also refers to being humble because of the fear of Allah.

Umar ﷺ explains how a heart loses the ability of humility and fear in front of Allah:

"Whosoever speaks too much, their sins will be exposed. Whosoever's sins are exposed will lose the innate quality of modesty. Whosoever loses modesty will lose piety. And whosoever loses piety — their heart dies." The Prophet ﷺ says that الْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الْإِيمَانِ — "Modesty is a branch of faith." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 9)

Ibn Abbas ﷺ narrates that the heart comes to life by doing good deeds:

"By doing a good deed, Allah blesses us with a light on our face and light in the heart." And the Prophet ﷺ explains that every time we sin:

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3334; Ibn Majah, Hadith 4244)

"A black dot appears in the heart." And when we continue to sin, the entire heart becomes immersed in darkness — until doing good and not doing good no longer affects the person.

Al-Hudhaifi al-Mar'ashi, a great scholar, says:

"There is no calamity that can befall upon a person that is worse than a hard heart." A hard heart was what stopped the people of earlier nations from becoming believers despite knowing the truth. Allah says:

"We will turn the signs of My greatness away from those people who are arrogant." In the first juz' of the Qur'an, Allah explains about the hypocrites:

"Then your hearts became hardened" — and would not be softened through anything.

How to Check the Softness of Your Heart

The Prophet ﷺ says: الْقُلُوبُ بَيْنَ إِصْبَعَيْنِ مِنْ أَصَابِعِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ — "The hearts are between two fingers of the Most Merciful" — and Allah can change it however He wishes. So the Prophet ﷺ would constantly make this du'a:

The three places where we can check whether our heart is alive or dead, soft or hard:

1. فِي اسْتِمَاعِ الْقُرْآنِ — In the gatherings of listening to the Qur'an. While listening to the Qur'an, does it affect our heart? Allah says in Surah al-Anfal:

"Whenever the Qur'an is recited around them, their iman increases." Just knowing these are the words of Allah should leave a mark in the heart. This is also why Allah compares the Qur'an to water — أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً — water comes from the sky to give life to the earth; similarly, the Qur'an came from the sky to give life to the heart.

2. فِي الْخَلْوَةِ — While in isolation. Does our heart pull us towards sins, or towards the obedience of Allah?

3. فِي مَجَالِسِ الذِّكْرِ — In the gatherings of the remembrance of Allah. Am I present and engaged, or completely disconnected?

Five Cures for a Hard Heart

Yahya ibn Mu'adh — and this is something that Imam al-Ghazali mentions in Ihya 'Ulum al-Din — explains that the cure of a hard heart is five things:

1. قِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآنِ — Recitation of the Qur'an. Allocate a time in the day — even five or ten minutes — for the recitation of the Qur'an.

2. خَلَاءُ الْبَطْنِ — Keeping the stomach empty. If our stomach is always full, it will push us toward more haram. This is why in Ramadan it is easier to do good — our stomachs are empty. The Prophet ﷺ told us that we have three portions in our belly: one for water, one for food, and one for air. Eating according to those portions.

3. قِيَامُ اللَّيْلِ — Praying at night. What we already do in Ramadan in the form of Taraweeh. Praying at night connects us to Allah at a time when no one is watching us.

4. وَالتَّضَرُّعُ فِي السَّحَرِ — Making du'a in the last portion of the night. In the time of Suhoor, making du'a that softens our heart.

5. وَمُجَالَسَةُ الصَّالِحِينَ — Sitting in the company of pious people. This is the best way of softening our heart.

Ibn Sirin says:

"If Allah wants goodness for someone, He makes their heart a means of enjoining good for themselves and forbidding themselves from evil." And Ali ibn Abi Talib ﷺ says that a heart which is alive is sufficient enough as a guide. The Prophet ﷺ would tell the Sahabah — when they asked مَا الْإِثْمُ؟ "What is a sin?" — he responded:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2553)

"That which eats you up inside — you know what a sin is because it eats you up inside, and you don't want people to find out about it." May Allah give us hearts which are soft, which can cry, which can humble themselves in front of Allah.

Part 3: A Soul That Is Never Satisfied (نَفْسٍ لَا تَشْبَعُ)

The third part is: O Allah, I seek refuge from a nafs — a craving, a desire, a soul — that does not get full. This is referring to: O Allah, don't make me a person who always wants more. Make me a person who is content with the less that I have.

Imam al-Shafi'i says:

"If we are individuals who are content, we are equal to those who own the entire world." And Imam Ibn Kathir explains that the greatest way to be content is simply to look at the blessings that we have, because none of these blessings are things we worked for — they are all blessings Allah gave us without anything in lieu of it. They were given to us for free. This is why it is called ni'mah — a blessing. We never earned it; it was given to us as a gift.

The Prophet ﷺ spoke about human beings and said:

"If the son of Adam had one valley full of gold, he would wish that he had a second valley." So the Prophet ﷺ says: O Allah, don't make me that person. Make me a person that does not overfill his desires. A nafs can own us or we can own the nafs. A nafs owns us when we keep giving it what it wants.

Imam al-Zayd says: one of the best ways to make your nafs subservient to you is to prevent it from things that are even permissible at times. Things that you're allowed to do — and your nafs wants it — don't do it sometimes. Because you're teaching it that it can't always get what it wants. Like a child — if you give them something every single time they ask, and finally the one time you say no, they don't know what "no" means. The best way to control our nafs is to say no to it even when what it wants is permissible.

The Prophet ﷺ explains that one of the first fitnas — calamities — that will befall upon this Ummah is the fitn of shib' and siman — overfilling ourselves because of our desires. When a person is hungry, the only thing they think about is food. But when we fill ourselves up, we have more time, more money — "what else are we going to do? Let's go watch this. Let's go talk about that." When we're hungry, we can't even gossip or backbite. So: O Allah, protect me from a nafs that owns me, and make me a person who can control my nafs.

The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2512)

"Two qualities — whoever possesses them, Allah writes them among the most patient and grateful." First: an individual who looks at those higher than them in deen and wants to become like them. Second: those who look at others lower than them in dunya — those who have less — and are grateful to Allah for whatever they have.

The true richness — الْغِنَى غِنَى النَّفْسِ — true richness is the richness of the soul, the richness of the heart. The only thing that can fill that empty slot in the heart is not food, wealth, or friends — but rather the remembrance of Allah:

"Verily, it is in the remembrance of Allah that hearts find rest." It doesn't matter how much we do to ourselves physically — the only way our heart can be full spiritually is through the remembrance of Allah.

Part 4: A Du'a That Is Not Answered (دُعَاءٍ لَا يُسْتَجَابُ لَهُ)

The fourth part: O Allah, I seek refuge from a du'a that is not answered. O Allah, make me amongst those whose du'as, when they are made, are answered. We spoke last week about how du'as are answered in three ways: either now, or through a different form — a calamity being averted — or the du'a is given in the Akhirah. O Allah, at least give me one of these three. Don't let it be that I make a du'a and it is not answered in any of those three forms.

Some of the reasons why a du'a may not be answered: first, enmity in the heart; second, a person who is musta'jil — who always says "I made du'a, I made du'a, but it's never answered" — that person's du'a is also not answered; and third, a person who is qati' al-rahim — who breaks the ties of kinship and doesn't try to rekindle that relationship. The Prophet ﷺ says that such a person's du'as are also held back. They should take at least a step forward to reconnect with their family members, and then the du'as will also be accepted.

So this first comprehensive du'a — اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ لَا يَنْفَعُ وَمِنْ قَلْبٍ لَا يَخْشَعُ وَمِنْ نَفْسٍ لَا تَشْبَعُ وَمِنْ دُعَاءٍ لَا يُسْتَجَابُ لَهُ — contains four things. I hope you benefited from it.

Du'a #2: The Eight-Fold Refuge

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6369)

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief, from incapability and laziness, from miserliness and cowardice, and from the burden of debts and being overpowered by people."

In this du'a, the Prophet ﷺ is seeking refuge from eight things — combined in pairs, so four pairs of two.

Pair 1: Anxiety and Grief (الْهَمُّ وَالْحَزَنُ)

Hamm and hazan are interrelated but not the same. Hamm refers to grief and worry about something in the future. Hazan refers to sadness and grief about something that has already happened. The Prophet ﷺ is saying: O Allah, I seek refuge from being overly occupied with thoughts of the future — and O Allah, I seek protection from being overly grieved by things that have already happened.

Of course, being sad is natural. A person who doesn't get sad is not human. Ya'qub ﷺ said:

"I complain of my grief and sorrow only to Allah." It is natural to be sad. But we are saying: O Allah, don't let this sadness immerse me to the extent that it prevents me from doing good deeds. Ibn al-Jawzi explains that hamm and hazan is when this stops us from doing good deeds — الْمُرَادُ بِهِ مَا الْهَمُّ وَالْحُزْنُ يَشْغَلَانِ عَنِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَعَنِ الْعَمَلِ الصَّالِحِ — that hamm and hazan is when it distracts us from Allah and from righteous deeds.

Hamm and hazan can also be positive. The Prophet ﷺ was mutawassil al-ahzan — always in some form of thought and grief — but that grief was not for dunya. It was for the Akhirah — for how others can also earn Jannah.

The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4105; classified as Sahih)

"Whosoever has the Akhirah as their greatest concern — Allah will (1) enrich their heart with contentment, (2) consolidate all of their affairs together for them, and (3) the dunya will come to them even though that was not their concern." That is hamm and hazan for the Akhirah.

The background of this du'a is that the Prophet ﷺ entered the masjid and saw a Sahabi sitting there, head in his hands, looking very sad. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Why are you sad? How come I don't see you in the masjid as often as I used to?" The Sahabi said: "Ya Rasulullah, I have so many worries and things going on that are bringing me down." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Read this du'a — you will never be sad again, you will never be anxious again." We have to believe in these du'as. The Prophet ﷺ taught us and we must believe that they can actually help us.

Pair 2: Incapability and Laziness (الْعَجْزُ وَالْكَسَلُ)

Ajaz means being a person who feels incapable — losing the capability, losing the ability of doing something good. Kasal is: you're not losing it because you're incapable, but because you're lazy.

Abu al-Darda' ﷺ would say: the only difference between a lazy person and a dead person is that a dead person has no soul — a lazy person is also dead because there is no benefit coming from them. Umar ﷺ, when he would see someone walking with their shoulders slumped, would say: "This is not fear of Allah — this is laziness," and he would tap them and say: "Walk straight, don't be lazy."

Laziness was a quality associated to the munafiqoon:

"Whenever they would stand for prayer, they would stand in a manner of complete laziness." They're not present; their hearts are passive. May Allah protect us from kasal.

Pair 3: Miserliness and Cowardice (الْبُخْلُ وَالْجُبْنُ)

The Prophet ﷺ says in a powerful hadith that three people can never enter Jannah: an arrogant person, a miser, and an insincere person. He says:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 2511; Musnad Ahmad)

"Being miserly is a quality of the hypocrites." Allah says in Surah al-Layl:

And Allah says:

And Allah warns:

"Do not think that those who are stingy with what Allah gave them — that it is good for them. Rather, it is extremely bad for them. Their wealth, their gold, their silver, will be made into a necklace and will choke them on the Day of Judgment."

Stinginess is gauged by us — we know if we're stingy or not. The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1962)

"Two qualities can never be combined in a believer: being stingy and having bad character." And Imam al-Shafi'i says that one of the greatest qualities that can hide all your flaws is generosity — اسْتُرْ بِالسَّخَاءِ — hide those sins with spending in the path of Allah in generosity.

Jubn means being a coward — bukhl is being a coward with your money, and jubn is being a coward in putting yourself in front of Allah — insincerity, doing things for the sake of showing off to other people.

Pair 4: The Burden of Debts and Being Overpowered by People (ضَلَعُ الدَّيْنِ وَغَلَبَةُ الرِّجَالِ)

Dala' al-dayn: O Allah, I seek refuge from the burden of debts that overpower and overwhelm me. May Allah protect us from debts, because a debt can take a person towards haram — looking for a way out, doing something haram, and then from there doing something else that is haram. Wa ghalabat al-rijal: and I seek refuge from being overpowered by people — by a tyrant ruler or a tyrant individual. O Allah, protect us from tyrant people, because when tyrant people rule over us it becomes a hindrance for us to do good deeds.

So the second du'a is there to seek protection from any form of barriers in doing good deeds — whether it is grief, laziness, miserliness, being overpowered by debts, or being overwhelmed by people. O Allah, I seek refuge from all of those things because I want to do good deeds.

Du'a #3: Protection from the Removal of Blessings

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2739)

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the removal of Your blessings, from the change of Your protection, from the sudden onset of Your punishment, and from all of Your displeasure."

I will touch upon this du'a more next week, as I have a different theme prepared for next week's du'as.

Du'a #4: Protection from Trials and Enemies

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6347; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2707)

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the severity of trials, from being overtaken by misery, from an evil fate, and from the rejoicing of enemies."

Du'a #5: Protection When Entering a Place

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2708)

"I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created."

This is a du'a that we should be reading three times whenever we arrive somewhere. The Prophet ﷺ explained that whenever we go somewhere and read this du'a, Allah will protect us from any harm in that place — whether a store, a mall, a house — wherever we go. If we are afraid of the evil eye (nazr or 'ain), read this du'a.

These are five to six du'as that I've shared for seeking protection. I was able to go into detail about two of them, touch base on a few of the others, and I will touch base on du'a number six next week and continue with my third theme, inshaAllah.

Questions & Answers

Does worldly knowledge raise you in ranks before Allah?

Any knowledge which brings us closer to Allah is beneficial knowledge — it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's not haram. So if going into medicine brings me closer to Allah, it's beneficial and I should continue doing it. If any form of knowledge takes me away from Allah and brings me towards arrogance, that knowledge is something I should avoid.

How do you balance the desire to excel in your career without being greedy?

Wanting to do good is a prophetic teaching. The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman, Hadith 5312; also Sahih al-Jami' 1880)

"Allah loves it that when you do something, you do it to the best of your ability." Being a master at your craft is something the Prophet ﷺ taught us. He didn't teach us to do things half-heartedly. The Prophet ﷺ says: إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْإِحْسَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ — "Allah has made ihsan — excellence — incumbent upon everything we do." We should always want to be the best at what we do, but not for the sake of pride and arrogance — rather so that we can help and affect people. Nothing wrong with doing things well; doing them half-heartedly is frowned upon in our Shari'ah. As long as it does not affect your ability to pray Salat and worship Allah, Allah does not frown upon seeking wealth or seeking good things in this world. Allah frowns upon takathur — competing in more and more and by doing so, forgetting about the Akhirah:

What are some ways to be humble in front of Allah?

The five cures for a hard heart that I mentioned are the key ways. I'll add one more: know your beginnings. Allah says:

"Destroyed is the human being — how ungrateful he is! From what thing did He create him? From a small drop He created him." To be humble is to remember our beginnings. Remember where you came from in order to be humble — and the same applies to being humble in front of Allah.

How do you balance contentment with working hard for your family?

You work as hard as you can — we're seeking protection from kasal (laziness) and we want to work hard. But when, despite working hard, we don't get what we wanted, that should not fill us with anxiety and sadness. Rather we should remain content knowing that we did what we could. The du'a اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ is a du'a you can read in times of anxiety.

If a wife asks her husband to join the family for jama'at and it annoys him, should she continue asking?

I would say: don't tell the husband to come and pray. Just let him know that you are praying. Say "I'm going to pray" and then go ahead and pray. If he joins, perfectly fine. If he doesn't join, that is his responsibility before Allah. We shouldn't say "come pray with me" — because if they say no, that is a very serious matter. Rather, let them know you are praying and leave the door open.

Summary: Du'as Covered This Week

We covered du'as for seeking protection. There are six of them in total — I covered three in detail and touched base on the others. InshaAllah I will cover the remaining ones next week as well.

To summarize the three gifts that come from making hamm for the Akhirah: (1) Allah makes you content — the biggest gift; (2) Allah consolidates your affairs, so rather than things being scattered all over the place, Allah brings them together for you; and (3) Allah gives you dunya even though that was not your concern. It comes to you even though you didn't ask for it.

JazakAllah khair everyone. May Allah bless you all. The notes will be sent to you, and the PDF document will also be on our website. I look forward to seeing you all next week on Friday, and please continue to join the other sessions of the Ramadan Immersion Program as well — all of the instructors are doing a tremendous job.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.