#2 – Make Du’aa (i.e. doa) to Allah
The righteous predecessors of the past used to make
constant du’aa to Allah to be granted the best from their Ramadhan. In fact, if
you think about it, their mindset focus of the entire year revolves around
Ramadhan itself.
Ma’la Ibn al-Fadhl said about the Salaf (the pious predecessors):
“They used to call upon Allah for six months for Ramadhan to be granted to
them,
then they would call on Him the
other six months that Allah may accept it from them.”
Thus we can see that, from the habit/culture of the
righteous Muslims,
it all begins
– and ends – with du’aa to Allah.
Allah can leave you distracted as Ramadhan passes by, or He
can Make this the Ramadhan that can change your life forever – all you have to
do is ASK (Him) : sincerely!
the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said: "The
most excellent worship is Du’a." (Sahih Al-Jami` no. 1133)
Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And your Lord said:
"Invoke Me, [i.e. Make du’aa to Me, and ask Me for anything), I will
respond to your (do’a).
Verily! Those who are too
arrogant to worship Me [i.e. do not invoke Me] they will surely enter Hell in
humiliation!" (Surah
Ghafir 40:60)
Here, Allah actually commands us to ask from Him & that
He has Guaranteed a Response. In fact, to leave off making du’aa to Him is a
sign of arrogance and lack of recognition that Allah is Capable of Granting
what we want – when in fact He is
·
Al-mujeeb ( المجيب ) : The One Who Answers & Responds (to
those who ask of Him)
·
Al-Ghaniy (الغني) : The All-Rich & Free from any needs
·
Al-wahhab (الوهاب) : The Bestower and Granter of Gifts
·
An-nasir (للناصر) : the One Who Helps
·
Al-Jawwad (الجواد) : the Bestower of Good
·
Al-kareem (الكريم) al-Akram (الأكرم) : the ever Most Generous
·
Al-mu'tee (المعطي) : the Supreme Giver
Think about it: for us to not make du’aa is
in fact, by our actions, denying Him of these Attributes which He affirmed for
Himself – which is a major weakness in our aqidah.
And that’s why the poet, he says,
“Allah gets angry if you stop
asking Him,
Whereas the son of Adam, when
he is asked, he gets angry!”
What we’ll want to do now in the weeks leading up to
Ramadhan, is to make lots and lots of du’aa – not just for Allah to grant us
the maximum and best benefit out of Ramadhan, but in general, asking Allah for
anything you want.. or, rather, anything you NEED.
Capitalize on this opportunity to mentally and spiritually
train ourselves to set aside time to make sincere, personal du’aa to Allah – as
simple as it sounds, unfortunately many of us, due to our busy schedules &
intensive entertainment demands, we barely spend time to make du’aa to Allah,
and hence merely resort to blurting our scripted du’aas which we don’t
understand the meaning of, or worse yet, only say “ameen” to what the imam says
in his du’aa.
We need to be wary of this, as the Prophet (sallAllahu
alayhi wasallam) warned - "…And
know that Allah does not answer a du’aa that comes from a careless and
inattentive heart." [Narrated by At–Tirmidzi]
So let’s train from now to speak from our hearts to ask of
Allah, so that by Ramadhan, we are more than eager to go through our wishlist!
When should I Make Du’aa?
Alhamdulillah, with some notable exceptions (e.g. in the
ttoilet) there are no real restrictions as to when or where we can make du’aa –
it can be made virtually anytime, anywhere.
In several authentic hadith, the Prophet Muhammad
(sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) informs us of many different times in which du’aa
is recommended and has a higher likelihood of being responded to – the last
third of the night, while being musafir (traveler), during times of rain, time
between azan and iqamah, etc.
But in preparation for Ramadhan, one of the best times we
recommend to practice making lots of du’aa would be during sujood
(prostration) while in solah (prayer).
The Prophet said:
“The closest that any one of
you may be to his Lord is when he is in sujood (prostration),
so make plentiful du’aa’ during
that time!”
(Narrated in Sahih Muslim, Book #004, Hadith #0979)
We pray five times a day anyway, so in addition to the
usual dzikir and recitation we recite during sujood, why not add more? Allah is
in fact more pleased with you when you ask of Him!
With Ramadhan coming, and regular taraweeh prayers being
part of the schedule, there are even more plentiful opportunities to make du’aa
to Allah in our sujood.
Specific Virtues of Du’aa in
Ramadhan
So we can prepare ourselves to “hit the ground running”, here are
reminders on some specific benefits of making Du’aa in Ramadhan :
The Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said;
“Three du’aa will not be rejected (by Allah
(SWT)), the du’aa of the parent for his child, the du’aa of the one who is
fasting, and the du’aa of the traveler.”
[al-Bayhaqi, at-Tirmidhi - Sahih]
“When Ramadhan comes, the Doors
of Mercy (in one narration: of Paradise) are opened, and the Doors of Hell are
closed, and the Shayatin are chained up.” (Bukhari #1899, Muslim #1079).
It can be inferred from this hadith that du’aa during
Ramadhan has a greater chance of being accepted, as the Gates of Paradise and
Mercy are opened (“Du’aa: the Weapon of the Believer”, Yasir Qadhi).
So let us get into the
habit of constantly making sincere Dua's from deep within our hearts and let us
not be heedless when supplicating to Allah, insha Allah by the time Ramadan
arrives we would have already got into the habit of making the long, sincere
and intense Dua's which will readily be accepted during this blessed month
especially whilst we are fasting and in the tahajjud/tarawih prayers.
‘O Allah, keep us safe until
Ramadan, and make Ramadan faultless for us, and secure it for us as an accepted
(month of virtue).
O Allah, make us amongst those
who always ask of You, and make us not amongst the heedless and miserly who
abandon du’aa.
O Allah, Grant us steadfastness
towards preparation of this month & make us not tired or bored from seeking
Your Pleasure.
O Allah, Grant us a Ramadhan
that will really have a positive impact in changing our lives for the better,
and make this a means to attain your Pleasure and Love, perhaps that, by your
Mercy, You will grant us acceptance into your Jannah’
Ameen!
“And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed
I am near.
I respond to the du’aa of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.
So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they
may be [rightly] guided.”
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:186)
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