The Power of Du’a - Shaykh Hafeezullah Khan

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Blessing of Du'a

My dear brothers, we have so many blessings and favours of Allah in our lives that we can't even count them. And one of them — the most important blessing — is that Allah has opened for us the doors of du'a, so that whenever we face any kind of hardship, any kind of problem, we can turn to Allah by making du'a and seeking His help, inshAllah.

But we often think that we can solve our problems with the available worldly sources. Yes, there is nothing wrong in using the worldly sources, but relying on them alone without seeking the help of Allah is wrong — because only Allah can solve our problems, not any other sources.

But unfortunately, most of us do not give importance to making du'a, whereas doing du'a to Allah opens the doors of His mercy upon us — and it is also a form of a great worship of Allah. As Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says in a sahih hadith:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Book 34, Hadith 3828)

"Du'a is worship." If you make du'a, you will get the reward — you will get the reward if you make du'a, inshAllah.

And Allah likes when His servants — those who are needy, who are in need of anything — call upon Him in times of their need.

Remember, we have to remember: he is the most unfortunate person — he is the most unfortunate person — who is not blessed enough to make du'a to Allah, to raise his hands in front of Allah, asking for His help. Whereas Allah is ready to give to us, but we are not ready to ask.

Making Du'a with Concentration and Conviction

Yes, alhamdulillah, there are some Muslim brothers and sisters who, mashAllah, strengthen their link with Allah by making du'a, by asking Him. Otherwise, most of us make du'a but as a ritual — we just raise our hands and after a few seconds we wipe our hands over our faces and we don't know what we have asked for, or whether we have asked anything at all.

Dear brothers, such du'as are meaningless. It is not a true du'a. The du'a that is beneficial is the one which is made in full concentration and with the belief that the One I am asking from is listening to me — He is listening to me — and He is all-powerful, the great Provider, and most generous. He can give whatever He wants and to whoever He wishes.

And Allah says:

"Call on Me — I will answer your prayer." The doors of Allah's mercy are not limited to some people; the doors of Allah's mercy are open for everyone.

Asking Others to Make Du'a for You

Some Muslim brothers and sisters do not make du'a for themselves, but instead ask others to make du'a for them. Yes, there is nothing wrong in asking others. We can ask our Muslim brothers and sisters to make du'a for us, especially from the pious people. As the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to his companions about Uways al-Qarni:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 44, Hadith 2542)

He said to his companions: "He will come to you from Yemen, so you should ask him to ask Allah's forgiveness for you" — because he was very obedient towards his mother.

It is also fine to ask others to make du'a for us, as long as we also make du'a for ourselves and maintain our bond with Allah. Because the other thing to notice is that when we ask others to make du'a and then think, "MashAllah, it will be enough for me," — maybe he did not even make du'a for you, and this often happens. So therefore, the main point is that we should make ourselves deserving enough for people to make du'a for us without even asking them.

Making Yourself Deserving of Others' Du'as

And how can we make ourselves deserving of others' du'as? By doing good with them — in our dealings with them, with our character, with our actions, with our behaviour. So it is very possible that while you are in a deep sleep in the night, there could be someone in the darkness of the night asking Allah for your well-being, for your health, for your goodness.

And the first among such people who make du'a for you are your parents. No matter how the children are, their parents always make du'a for their children. Yes — but if the children are pious, if they are obedient, if they behave nicely with their parents, then those parents always, always make du'a for them from the depth of their hearts, asking Allah for their well-being, for their health, for their protection from every hardship, from any kind of trouble.

So brothers, we have to remember: the presence of the parents is the door to the mercy of Allah. That means if your parents are alive, then the doors of Allah are still open for you. So safeguard this door by making yourself deserving of their du'a — because once they leave this world, then that door will close on us.

Helping Others — Earning the Du'as of the Needy

Likewise, when we help others — when we help the poor and needy, relatives especially, and other brothers and sisters throughout the whole world — without hurting their honour and dignity; for example, when we feed the hungry, sponsor the orphans, help the widows, provide them shelter, provide winter packages to children and to elderly people in need — especially in this severe cold weather — then definitely they make du'a for us from the depth of their hearts. And their du'as will take away many forthcoming problems from us, and we don't even know about those forthcoming problems.

Earning the Du'as of the Angels

In getting the du'as of others by doing good deeds, there are also some good deeds by which we don't only deserve the du'as of people — of parents, of brothers and sisters — but we will also get the du'as of the angels as well. And we know who the angels are: the most pious and most close to Allah, whose du'as are not rejected by Allah.

1. Spending in the Way of Allah

For example, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says in a hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 24, Hadith 1442)

Every day, two angels come down from the heavens. One of them says: "O Allah, compensate more to the person who gives in charity — give more to the person who gives in charity." While the other angel says: "O Allah, destroy the one who withholds charity and does not spend in the way of Allah."

This means that the angels make du'a for two types of people: one who spends in the way of Allah — and the angels ask Allah to increase his wealth, his health, and his prosperity; and the other one who does not want to spend in the way of Allah — they ask Allah to bring destruction to him.

2. Making Du'a for Fellow Muslims in Their Absence

The Muslim who makes du'a for his fellow Muslim in his absence — not in his presence, but in his absence, when that person doesn't even know that you are making du'a for him — the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 48, Hadith 2733)

"The supplication of a Muslim for his Muslim brother in his absence will certainly be answered." Whenever we make du'a for our brothers, for our sisters — for their health, for their prosperity, for other needs — Allah will certainly accept our du'as.

And then the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: every time he makes supplication for the good of his brother, the angel appointed for this particular task says to that person: "And for you the same — and for you the same." This means that you make du'a for someone else and ask for their health, for their wealth — and the appointed angel will ask Allah the same for you, inshAllah. When you ask for any problem to be solved, the angel will ask that your problem be solved too.

It is said that the Salaf al-Saliheen — when they wanted to make du'a for themselves — would supplicate for their Muslim brothers first, so that the angels would supplicate for them, and this would be accepted quicker.

I say this and I ask Allah to forgive all the Muslims from all their sins — so forgive them; He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Earning the Du'as of All of Allah's Creation

Dear brothers, alhamdulillah. There are some other actions — when we do them, we don't only become deserving of the du'as of angels, but we also get du'as from all other creations of Allah as well.

1. Calling the Adhan

For example, a person who calls the adhan — the mu'adhin. We think it is just a simple task. No — we have to look at what the Prophet, peace be upon him, says about the person who calls the adhan in a sahih hadith:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 515; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

Allah forgives the mu'adhin to the extent as far as where his voice reaches, and every creation that hears him prays for his forgiveness — not only the human beings, not only the angels, but every creation prays for his forgiveness.

2. Spreading Goodness Among People

And number two: spreading goodness among people — good words, good actions. You convey a hadith, you convey an ayah of the Quran, you call someone to prayer, you stop someone from any kind of evil, you stop someone from any kind of shirk or bid'ah. The Prophet, peace be upon him, says about such people:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Book 39, Hadith 2685)

"No doubt Allah and His angels and all the creations of heaven and the earth — even the ant in its hole and the fish in the water — they all pray for the mercy and blessing of such a person."

And you can easily earn their du'as by using social media in a positive manner. For example, if we convey one hadith — if we forward one hadith, one sahih hadith, one ayah, one good quotation — rather than sharing different kinds of jokes, rather than sharing different kinds of useless material — then inshAllah we will earn those du'as, and we don't even know we are receiving du'as on a daily basis from all the creations of Allah.