2015 05 22 Friday Prayer Sheikh Asil Khan

The Power and Significance of Du'a

My respected elders, brothers and sisters in Islam — human life is full of challenges, tests and tribulations. Especially the believer. Prophets suffered a great deal. The companions — their real life was also full of tests and trials, full of challenges. In our life we have also tests and trials. We are passing through different challenges.

Some of us give up very quickly without making any efforts. Some of us try our best, but at the end — frustration. So apparently, when we have no hope, we do not know what to do, we are frustrated, all doors are closed — but one door will remain open, will never close. That's the greatest hope for us. Being a believer, it's a great hope for us. And what is that hope? Come back to Allah and ask Allah, our Creator and Sustainer.

The concept of du'a, the significance of du'a, the virtues of du'a — are well preserved in Kitabullah and the Sunnah of Rasulullah.

Quranic Verses on Du'a

The ayah that I have recited — Allah says:

And when My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls Me. So let them answer Me and believe in Me, so that they may be guided. And when My servants ask you about Me — inform them, tell them — I am indeed near to them. I respond to the invocations of supplicants whenever they call upon Me. Let them obey Me, and let them believe in Me, so that they may be guided — they may be led aright.

Now the second ayah — Allah says:

And your Lord said: Call on Me, call on Me — I will respond to your calls, I will respond to your du'as, I will respond to your invocations and supplications. But those who are turning away, who are arrogant, who think they don't need to call, who feel they have no need from Allah — they will enter the Fire in humiliation.

Hazrat Qatadah (radiallahu ta'ala 'anhu) said: This is the speciality of the Ummah of Muhammad. And before that, the Prophets were given this option — the Prophets were given this speciality to call Allah and their du'as would be responded to. So this is the speciality of the Ummah of Muhammad — anyone, everyone can call Allah without having any barrier, without any intermediary. سبحان الله.

Call upon your Lord in humiliation, in humility, and in secret. Allah does not like those who are transgressors.

Is He not the One who responds to a distressed one, who removes the evil, and who makes you inheritors of this earth — generation after generation? Is there any other god besides Allah? But little of them are remembered. Look at these Quranic ayat — few ayat that I have selected. So Allah says: Ask Me again and again.

Ahadith on Du'a

This is a reminder for me and for all of us. And the best interpretation of Quranic ayat — the highest form of tafsir — is when the Quran interprets a Quranic ayah. And the second form of tafsir is when the Quran is interpreted by the Sunnah of Rasulullah.

And Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) says in a very authentic, very profound hadith:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1479; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2969 — graded Sahih)

Du'a by itself is ibadah. You are asking Allah — this is not only du'a, but this is ibadah. Because you are humbling yourself to Allah, you are begging to Allah. This is a form of ibadah.

In another hadith of Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam):

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3371)

Du'a is the essence — the marrow — of your ibadah. So Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) highly encouraged us to make du'a, to ask Allah.

Making Du'a for One Another

And if you would like to make your du'a more effective — make du'a for one another. Hazrat Abu Darda (radiallahu 'anhu) said that Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) used to say:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2732)

When a person makes du'a for his brother in his absence — on behalf of his brother, in his absence — Allah will appoint an angel, and that angel will make du'a for him and say: "May Allah bless you with the same that you are asking for your brother." The same is further confirmed. Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: When a person asks for his brother in his absence — as long as he does not ask for something which is sinful or evil, but asks for something which is good — Allah will appoint an angel, and he will say: Ameen, Ameen — and will also make du'a: "May Allah provide him whatever he is asking for his brother."

Du'a will be very effective. Although when we make du'a, it is a secret between the servant and his Creator. It is a secret. But to make it more effective — make du'a for one another. All the time you hear this announcement: make du'a for Rashidah, make du'a for Maghfirah, make du'a for someone who is really in need, someone who is in trouble, in problems — make du'a for the prosperity. So when we make du'a for one another, du'a is granted, du'a is accepted, and the angel makes du'a for you.

Do Not Be in a Hurry

Look at this second hadith. We are human beings — when we make du'a, we want results immediately. We are too fast to see a good result.

The person — whenever he is asking — his du'a will be answered, his du'a will be granted, as long as he is not in a hurry. What does "in a hurry" mean? He says: "I make du'a, I keep on asking, but it is not responded to." We are too much in a hurry.

In another hadith, Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: Everyone's du'a will be granted as long as he is not asking for something sinful, or something that cuts off the ties of kinship — as long as he does not ask for that, or as long as he is not in a hurry.

Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was asked: What does "hurry up" mean? He (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: The person who is making du'a says: "I keep on asking, I make this du'a, I make that du'a, but it seems it is not being responded to." Then at the end, because of this, he is frustrated, and because of his frustration, he does not make any more du'a. He gives up. That is being in a hurry. Now where is the faith for us? سبحان الله.

Every Du'a Is Granted — The Results May Differ

Look at this hadith — this is a great hope for us. Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: There is no Muslim on earth whose du'as are not granted. Everyone's du'as are granted, but the result could be different.

If the thing that he is asking for is good for him, Allah will give him. But if it is not good for him, Allah will substitute something better for him. It is just like a baby — they don't know what is good for them. If a mother is working in the kitchen and she has a knife in her hands, and the baby tries to grab it to play with — she does not let the baby have it. It is not good for him; it could be dangerous, could harm, could hurt him. And she tries to give him something better — maybe a spoon or something that is not harmful. So if something is good, Allah will give it to us. If it is not good, Allah will give us something better than that.

Or if it is neither, then because of your du'as, Allah will remove the difficulties or the troubles that were going to fall on you. Or if it is none of that, Allah will preserve the reward of your du'as — and on the Day of Judgement, the person will be granted a great reward. When he sees it, he will ask: "O Allah, I did not do so much ibadah. I did not have that much ibadah." And Allah will let him know: "These are the results of the du'as that were not granted in the world." And at that time, he will regret — saying: "I wish none of my du'as had been granted in the world when I was alive." So everyone's du'as are granted. This is a hope for us. سبحان الله.

Sometimes people think — because we are human beings — we are always making du'a for the Muslim Ummah, but they do not seem to change, they do not seem to improve. We always say اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلامَ وَالمُسْلِمِين — we always make this du'a. But apparently, it looks like the Muslim Ummah is going down and down. What do we do? Should we stop making du'a? No. Keep on asking — this is ibadah for you. Allah will give you reward for that. Your reward will be well preserved.

In our life, we make du'a for our children, we make du'a for our jobs. People are sick — we make du'a for them. Apparently we see there are no results. Should we stop making du'a? No. Keep on asking. If you do not see any changes — and apparently we don't always see changes, but there are some changes — keep asking.

Etiquettes of Du'a

But yes, there are some etiquettes of making du'a. We have to observe them. First of all, it is mentioned: when we make du'a, do not make du'a heedlessly. Most of the time we just read du'a — we do not truly ask. Just reading and asking are two different things. Just reading a du'a is different from sincerely asking. When you sincerely ask, it has a different influence.

It is like someone who is begging — he is stretching his hands, but he is talking to someone else, he is arrogant, he is not paying attention to you. You don't have to give him anything, because he is not even paying attention. When you make du'a, make du'a with yaqeen — with complete concentration, with focus, with this certainty that Allah is going to respond. His du'a will be granted. His du'a will be more effective, more powerful.

At the same time, we are reminded: if you would like to make your du'as effective, stay away from haram. In the famous hadith of Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam):

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1015)

The person who travels a long distance, his dress is full of dust, his hair is full of dust, and he raises his hands to the sky saying: "Ya Rabb, Ya Rabb!" — but his food is from haram, his drink is from haram, whatever he is wearing is from haram. How do you think he is going to be responded to? To make du'a effective, stay away from haram. These are the etiquettes.

The Story of the Three Men in the Cave

And when we do something good, then after that, ask Allah — Allah will even move the rocks. Du'as can move rocks. This is in Sahih al-Bukhari — the story of Bani Israel. To make it shorter: three people got stuck in a cave, and a big rock covered the mouth of the cave. They tried to come out, but they could not. Finally, they consulted with one another: "Remember your good deeds."

One of them said: "Ya Allah, I used to serve my parents — when I would come home, I would serve my parents first, then feed myself. Ya Allah, if this was done only for Your sake, save us and move this rock." The rock moved a little bit.

The second one said: "Ya Allah, once I was about to commit evil with my cousin. She reminded me of You, and I stopped myself. If this was only for Your sake, please save us and move this rock." The rock shifted a little bit more.

The third one said: "Ya Allah, a person was working for me and I could not pay him at the time. I invested his wages, and later that grew manifold. When he came, I gave it all to him — and he was surprised. I told him: this is all yours, because I invested it on your behalf. Ya Allah, if this was only for Your sake, save us." The rock moved, and they came out from the cave.

When you do something good, after doing good — ask Allah. Allah will respond to your du'a. This du'a will be more effective.

Du'a in Congregation

We make du'a individually — this is between us and Allah. Sometimes we make du'a collectively. The reason is these are all adab and etiquettes. When we make du'a to Allah collectively, you never know whose ameen is granted. This is the only reason we say it — we say ameen and ameen. Once ameen is granted to one person, the entire gathering — those who are sitting in it — Allah will bless them all with His ameen.

The Night of Sha'ban

My brothers and sisters in Islam, we are all facing different challenges, trials and tribulations in our life. Some of us because of our children and our family, because of our job, because of sicknesses, because of other things — apparently, if we see, there is no hope. But Allah is there. Don't stop asking.

And now this is the month of Sha'ban. Although not all scholars — the muhadditheen — are agreed on this, and some consider it da'if, still a da'if hadith in matters of virtuous acts of worship can be acted upon. The night of the 15th of Sha'ban is approaching. Hazrat Ali (radiallahu 'anhu) said the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: When the night of the 15th of Sha'ban comes, then wake up in the night and fast in the day, for Allah descends to the lowest heaven at sunset and proclaims:

"Is there anyone asking for forgiveness, so that I may forgive him? Is there anyone asking for sustenance, so that I may provide him with sustenance? Is there anyone in trouble and problems, so that I may remove his problems and difficulties?" This announcement will remain until Subh Sadiq.

And it is not necessarily only once in a while. All the time — Allah is there all the time. Not only once in a while. Not only once in a year. Not only for particular nights. Allah is there for us, and we have to come back to Allah and keep on asking. In sha Allah, Allah will fulfill our hopes and desires in this world and in the life after.

I say this, and I ask Allah to forgive me and you and the believers. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Second Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, and we ask His help, and we ask His forgiveness, and we believe in Him, and we put our trust in Him. And I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whomever He misguides, none can guide him. And we bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And we bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

O Allah, support Islam and the Muslims. O Allah, help the Muslims everywhere. O Allah, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.

Remember Allah so that He may remember you, and He will respond to you.