Etiquettes of Dua - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Etiquettes of Du'a

My dear respected brothers in Islam, the Prophet ﷺ says, Du'a is the worship — and when it comes to any act of worship, we all know that it must be performed according to the teaching and the practices of Rasulullah ﷺ. For the du'a, the Prophet ﷺ has taught us certain manners and etiquettes. While making du'a, if you observe these etiquettes, then there is a high chance for your du'a to be accepted and answered by Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram.

In today's khutbah, inshallah I'm going to go through some of the important etiquettes and manners of making du'a.

The First Etiquette: Praising Allah

The first and the most important one is that when you intend to make du'a and you raise your hand for du'a, first and foremost, praise Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram. Praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, glorify Him Dhul Jalal Ikram.

This is something that the Prophet ﷺ himself taught his companions, Ridwanullah Alayhim Ajma'een. Once the Prophet ﷺ saw a man — he prayed, he performed his Salah, and at the end of his Salah he started making du'a for himself directly without praising Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram. He ﷺ said: "O worshipper, you have hastened and you have rushed. This is not the way of making du'a. Rather, you should praise Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram first and foremost, and then send salutation upon the Prophet ﷺ, and then make du'a to Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram."

So from this very hadith, we learn that praising Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram at the beginning of the du'a is one of the most important etiquettes of making du'a to Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram.

This is something that we are also reminded of every single day, at least 17 times, when we stand in our Salah and we begin with Surah al-Fatiha. If we ponder and reflect on the ayat of Surah al-Fatiha, we come to know that it begins with praising Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram — الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ — the first three verses praise Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram, and then comes the du'a: اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ. This is the way of making du'a.

The Prophet ﷺ once saw a man who was making du'a and saying:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 985; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3475)

"O Allah, I ask You, I beg You, by the fact that I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except You alone" — and then he said other words of praise of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 985; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3475)

"By the One in Whose hands is my soul, he has asked Allah and he has called upon Allah by His greatest names — al-Ism al-A'dham — whenever you call upon Allah by those names, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala answers your du'a, and whatever you ask, Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram grants you."

There are a number of ahadith that mention various names of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram as al-Ism al-A'dham — there is no single name; there are multiple names of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram classified as such, and this is one of them. You can find this du'a in Fortress of the Muslim (Hisn al-Muslim), or if you do not know it by heart, you can simply recite Surah al-Ikhlas, because Surah al-Ikhlas is nothing other than praising Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram and the tawheed of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Likewise, Ayat al-Kursi — from the beginning till the end — the whole ayah, about which the Prophet ﷺ said أَعْظَمُ آيَةٍ فِي الْقُرْآنِ — the greatest ayah in the Quran is Ayat al-Kursi — because it contains nothing other than the tawheed of Allah and the praise of Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram.

So whenever you make du'a, make sure you praise Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram first and foremost. And bear in mind — if you do not know the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Arabic, and you do not know the words of praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Arabic, then you can praise Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram in your own words, but spend some time in praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for all the blessings that He Dhul Jalal Ikram has bestowed on you, and then move on to the second point.

The Second Etiquette: Sending Salutations upon the Prophet

After you have praised Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram, send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ. When it comes to sending salutations upon Rasulullah ﷺ, we should know that this is something that is compulsory and wajib upon every single Muslim anyway — but when making du'a, if you send salutations upon Rasulullah ﷺ, it increases the chances for your du'a to be accepted and answered by Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram.

Sayyiduna Ubayy ibn Ka'ab radiya Allahu ta'ala anhu — one of the famous reciters amongst the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ — said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I try my best to send salutations upon you, I try my best to spend as much time as I can sending salah upon you, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ — but I would like to know, how much time should I spend on sending salah upon you, O Rasulullah ﷺ?"

He ﷺ first replied: "Ubayy, do as much as you can." He said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, what about one-fourth of my du'a — the amount of time I'm going to spend in my du'a, one-fourth of that time I dedicate for sending salutations upon you. Is this sufficient?" He ﷺ said: "Yes, it is fine, but if you can increase it, it is better." He said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then what about half of the time?" He ﷺ said: "Yes, why not, but if you can increase it, it is even better." He said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then what about two-thirds of my time in du'a?" He ﷺ said: "This is better, but if you can increase more, it is even better."

Then eventually he said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I promise that whenever I intend to make du'a to Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram, I'm not going to ask Allah anything directly for myself. Rather I will spend all of the time sending salutations upon you." He ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2457)

"O Ubayy, if this is your promise, then I guarantee that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will suffice you for all your problems, hardships, difficulties, calamities, and issues in this dunya as well as in the hereafter." And this is the virtue of sending salah upon the Prophet ﷺ.

So when you make du'a, try to send salutations and salah upon the Prophet ﷺ as much as you can — not only once or twice. Repeat:

Repeat it — perhaps 20 times, 50 times, 100 times. The more you send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ, the higher the chances for your du'a to be accepted and answered by Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram.

The Third Etiquette: Seeking Forgiveness Before Worldly Requests

After that, once you have done this, then make du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Before asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for anything related to this world — any worldly matter — ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He Dhul Jalal Ikram forgives your sins. We commit sins every single day without exception, intentionally or unintentionally, and for all those sins we need the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We need to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He Dhul Jalal Ikram forgives our sins here before we leave this dunya.

The Prophet ﷺ used to say:

"By Allah, I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for His forgiveness more than 70 times every single day." This is Muhammad ﷺ — so what about you and I?

If you look at the du'as of the Prophet ﷺ with regards to istighfar and begging Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for His forgiveness, you will come to realize that he ﷺ used very precise words. He used to say:

"O Allah, forgive all of my sins — minor and major, the sins that I have committed in public, the sins that I have committed in private and in secrecy — all of my sins, O Allah, forgive them."

"O Allah, forgive all of my sins — the sins that I have committed intentionally and also the sins that I have committed unintentionally." So make du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala asking Him Dhul Jalal Ikram for His forgiveness.

The Fourth Etiquette: Making Du'a for Yourself First

Number four: you should include other people in your du'a as well, but the manner of du'a is that first and foremost you make du'a for yourself, and then make du'a for others also. This is one of the etiquettes of du'a, and this is something that we learn from the seerah of Rasulullah ﷺ — even before that, from Surah al-Fatiha. Every single one of us, when we stand in our prayer, we are praying our own prayer, but in Surah al-Fatiha we say: "O Allah, guide us all towards a straight path."

Sayyiduna Anas radiyallahu ta'ala anhu — who spent 10 years in the house of Rasulullah ﷺ — says that the most frequent du'a that Rasulullah ﷺ used to make was again in plural form. He ﷺ used to say:

"O our Lord, grant us all goodness in this dunya and in the hereafter, and O Allah, save us all from the punishment of the Fire."

Whenever the Prophet ﷺ would mention anyone and make du'a for him, he would begin with himself. So whatever du'a he ﷺ used to make for other people, he would make for himself first.

The Fifth Etiquette: Including Others in Your Du'a

And fifthly, include other people as well in your du'as — because the Prophet ﷺ has said: when a slave of Allah, when a believer makes du'a for his fellow Muslims and believers, Allah appoints an angel who makes the same du'a for him. If you make du'a for your fellow Muslim — "O Allah, guide him towards a straight path," "O Allah, increase him in his wealth," "O Allah, increase him in his health," "O Allah, protect him" — whatever du'a you make for your fellow Muslim, Allah appoints an angel who makes the same du'a for you, and he continues saying: "and for you the same, and for you the same, and for you the same."

Then ask yourself — is it not better to make du'a for others? Your own du'a — there is a chance it may not be accepted. But when Allah Himself appoints an angel to make du'a for you, there is no chance for that du'a to be rejected. His du'a is definitely going to be answered, because the angel himself is being appointed by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Summary

So these are the five basic etiquettes of du'a that we should observe when we raise our hands for du'a. Just to summarize all the points:

1. Praise Allah Dhul Jalal Ikram first and foremost.
2. Send salutations upon Rasulullah ﷺ.
3. Before asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for any worldly matter, ask Allah to forgive your sins.
4. Whenever you make du'a, begin with yourself — make du'a for yourself before others.
5. Include other people as well in your du'as.

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He gives us the tawfiq and ability to adhere to these etiquettes and manners of du'a, and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepts our du'a whenever we raise our hands before Him, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us all the ability to beg Him and to make du'a to Him abundantly, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala answer all of our du'as.