The Power of Du’a - Shaykh Aqeel Mahmood

The Power of Du'a

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, ask for His help, and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims. O you who have believed, fear your Lord, Who created you from a single soul, and created from it a wife, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah, with whom you ask for help, and with whom you seek mercy. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you. O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the righteous word. He will set right your deeds and forgive you your sins.

Du'a: An Act of Worship Commanded by Allah

From the greatest acts of worship which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has actually obligated upon us as Muslims is the worship of du'a. And du'a, brothers and sisters, is an act of worship which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has in fact commanded us to do in the Quran. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Your Lord says, make du'a to me and I will respond to you. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands us to supplicate to Him. And then He says, those who are arrogant — they are too arrogant with regards to my worship, meaning du'a is considered an act of worship — they will enter hellfire in disgrace.

Du'a, brothers and sisters, is an act of worship. We are asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for things that will benefit us in this life with regards to ourselves, our families, our work, our wealth, whatever the case may be. We are asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for things in the Akhirah. But even though we are asking and we are asking and we continue to ask, it's considered an act of worship.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about du'a in the Quran and He says:

When my slave asks you concerning me, then know that I am close. I respond to the supplicator when he supplicates to me.

The Prophet ﷺ would speak about du'a and he would say:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3372; Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1479)

Du'a is ibadah. Du'a is considered an act of worship. And the scholars speak about how du'a is an act of worship where we are the ones ultimately who benefit. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't need our supplications. He doesn't need our ibadah. And they say when a person makes du'a, it's a sign of his belief in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It emphasizes or strengthens his belief in the power of Allah. Because when we make du'a, when we supplicate to Allah, we supplicate quietly from the depths of our hearts. Nobody can hear our du'as. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from above the seven heavens, He hears our du'as.

And on top of this, we supplicate to Allah azza wa jal because we know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can respond to our supplications. We know Allah will respond. If we didn't think Allah would respond to our du'as, we wouldn't have been supplicating to Him in the first place. And so du'a, brothers and sisters, is from the most effective ways of worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

In fact, the scholars would say: الدُّعَاءُ سِلَاحُ الْمُؤْمِنِ — du'a is the weapon of the believer. Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah would say that du'a is a weapon. And it's not just about the weapon that you're using, but the person who's handling the weapon itself. The weapon may be an effective weapon, but the person who's holding the weapon also needs to know how to use the weapon itself.

And so all of us have access to du'a. Du'a is one of the easiest acts of worship that we could perform. It's not something that requires lots of conditions. It's not something that's hard to do. You don't have to have specific things. You don't have to be in a specific state — although wudu is encouraged when you make du'a. But the point being, du'a is an easy thing for a person to do, and it's an easy thing for a person to do consistently.

Learning from the Du'as of the Prophets

And so the believer, when he makes du'a, he has to understand how to supplicate. And one has to look at the supplications and the du'as of the prophets of the past. We look at how they made du'a, the etiquettes when they would make du'a, and the ways in which they would supplicate to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Du'a of Prophet Zakariya

Zakariya alayhis salam, in his old age, would supplicate to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala asking for a child. His wife was an old woman, and it's scientifically impossible for an old woman to have a child. Yet he's making du'a because he knows Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is able to do all things. And he would raise his hands and he would make du'a. And he would say:

O my Lord, my bones have become brittle, and my hair has become white. And he would supplicate. And he would say, even though I'm in this state, I continue to make du'a for a child. And indeed, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala responded to the du'a of Zakariya alayhis salam and blessed him with a child — in fact, not just any child, but one of the prophets of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Prophet Yahya alayhis salam.

And so when a person faces Allah, and he supplicates to Allah, and he shows Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala his desperate state — he's begging Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he's showing his weakness in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and he's recognizing the power and the might of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who he's supplicating to — it's one of the ways in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala responds to your supplications.

The Du'a of Prophet Yunus

We know of the supplication of Prophet Yunus alayhis salam. The Prophet ﷺ spoke about Yunus. He said that the du'a of Yunus alayhis salam — when he was in the belly of the whale — he would raise his hands, he would supplicate, and he would say:

There is no god except You, O Allah. Glory be to You. Verily, I was from those who were from the oppressors.

The Prophet ﷺ said: no Muslim supplicates using this du'a except that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will respond to his supplication. There is no god except You. Glory be to You. This was the du'a of Yunus alayhis salam. And of course Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saved Yunus alayhis salam.

The Du'a of Prophet Musa

And there are many many other examples. The example of Musa alayhis salam supplicating to Allah, asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to ease his affairs, to expand his chest, to loosen the knot from his tongue when he was going to Firaun to call him to the worship of Allah. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala responded to him.

The Du'a of the Prophet ﷺ Before the Battle of Badr

There are examples from the life of the Prophet ﷺ. Prior to the Battle of Badr, narrations mention that he never even slept. He continued to make du'a and pray to Allah the night before the battle. And this shows us the importance of showing obedience to Allah and showing increased acts of worship to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when you're in situations of trials and tribulations.

When you're afflicted by calamities, brothers and sisters, the believer increases in his acts of worship. He doesn't decrease in his acts of worship. He does even more. The Prophet ﷺ is about to face the Quraysh at the first battle between the Muslims and the Quraysh. And he supplicated and he made du'a and he worshipped Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the whole night. And we know the great victory of the Battle of Badr that the Muslims were blessed with and were given on that auspicious day.

So brothers and sisters, du'a is something which can never be neglected. It's something which cannot be ignored. It's something which, if a person uses it effectively, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will respond to his du'as and will respond to his supplications.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Brothers and sisters, we were speaking about the importance of du'a, the power of du'a. And no doubt every single one of us has experiences where we were in times of difficulty and times of calamity and we raised our hands, we supplicated to Allah, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala responded to our supplications. In fact, there may have been moments where we feel in our hearts about something where we never necessarily made du'a for it but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knew what was in our hearts and He gave us whatever we asked for.

Allah Knows What Is in Our Hearts

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran says to the Prophet ﷺ:

Verily We saw you looking up into the heavens, so We are going to give you the Qibla that you desire. The Prophet ﷺ in Medina would look up into the heavens hoping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would change the Qibla from Jerusalem to Mecca. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reveals this ayah, telling him: Verily I saw you — We saw you looking up into the heavens hoping that the Qibla would be changed, and so We have given you the Qibla that you desire. And so the direction of the Qibla was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca.

Making Du'a for Our Brothers and Sisters

Brothers and sisters, du'a is something which should be on our minds in these days because of what's happening to our Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world, and those in Palestine — may Allah ease their suffering. The Prophet ﷺ spoke about those who supplicate for others. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2732)

No Muslim makes du'a for another Muslim in his absence for something good except that an angel responds and says to him: and may you also have the same. And so one should remember that you shouldn't be selfish when it comes to du'a. In fact, when you supplicate and when you make du'a for others, an angel will make the same du'a for you to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so think about the suffering of those who are suffering from our Muslim brothers and sisters, and what supplications we can make for them, and how those supplications will not only benefit them but will also benefit us.

Reflecting on Our Own State

And think about our state when we make du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — when he spoke about a man, dirty, disheveled, and he raised his hands in the middle of the desert because he's desperate and he says, رَبِّ، رَبِّ — he raises his hands and he says, my Lord, my Lord.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1015)

And the Prophet ﷺ said: his clothes are haram, obtained from haram means; his food and drink are haram. He's completely enveloped in haram. Everything about his state and his life is haram. How is this person going to be responded to? How is this person and his du'a going to be responded to by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when his whole state, his whole life, he's been dependent on things which are haram?

We have to reflect and we have to look at our own lives, brothers and sisters, if we want Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to respond to our supplications. What haram acts are we involved in? What things are we doing, maybe on a regular basis — bad habits that may prevent Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from responding to our supplications? It's something that each and every one of us needs to reflect and needs to ponder. One has to think about the power of his du'a and whether du'a in his hands, or between his hands, is a weapon that he uses.

The Best Times for Du'a to Be Accepted

So brothers and sisters, du'a is something which is often neglected, and there are many etiquettes of du'a the likes of which we won't be able to go through in this khutbah. But there are times when a person's du'as are accepted more so than others. One of the most consistent times when a person's du'a is responded to — and something which every single one of us is doing on a regular basis, every single day, multiple times — is in the Sajdah.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 482)

The closest a slave is to his Lord is while he is prostrating. So make lots of du'a in your Sajdah. Make lots of du'a in those times, during those times when a person's supplication is responded to.

The Last Third of the Night

The Prophet ﷺ would say:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1145; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 758)

Our Lord descends in a manner which befits His majesty to the lowest heaven in the last part of the night — the last third of the night — and He asks: Who is there who is supplicating to me so I can respond to them? Who is asking for forgiveness so I can forgive them?

Who is it from amongst us who has that yearning to meet Allah azza wa jal with their du'as in the last part of the night? When it's cold, when you're tired, when everybody's asleep and it's silent. Who has the effort? Who has that iman? Who really is desperate for Allah azza wa jal to respond to his supplications — that he'll sacrifice that sleep, he'll get up in the middle of the night, or in the last part of the night, and he'll perform and he'll pray and he'll make du'a to Allah azza wa jal? Because if no one else is watching, Allah azza wa jal is watching. In fact, Allah azza wa jal is asking: Who is there who is supplicating? He wants us to supplicate. He wants us to make du'a to Him.

Conclusion

So brothers and sisters, let's not forget the power of du'a in our lives, in the lives of others, in our Dunya and also in our Akhira. We ask Allah azza wa jal that He gives us an increased understanding of du'a and that Allah azza wa jal gives us the ability to make du'a for ourselves and our loved ones and for those who are suffering around the world.