My Notes Muslim Sufi: Conditions of Du`a and How to Perfect It

Conditions of Du`a and How to Perfect It

Healing in the Qur’an and Sunnah, Volume 4

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

24 December 2012

Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Zhuhr Suhbah

Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad (s) hatta yardaa Sayyidina Muhammad (s).

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah `Azeez Allah!

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Kareem Allah!

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Subhaan Allah!

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Sultan Allah!

Allah is the Creator! Allah doesn't need anyone, everyone is in need of Him! In order to give the ummah the best of this dunya and Akhirah, He gave us Sayyidina Muhammad (s), and the greatness of the Prophet (s) is from the Greatness of Allah (swt), and what the Prophet (s) showed us we follow, and for sure we are weak servants, helpless! Even if you become a leader you are still helpless. We are still struggling.

Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) liked to tell this story that some people might say is not nice, but it has big wisdom in it. There was a king who invited to his presence many people and he fed them. One time one of the invitees had with him a majdhoob, someone in a trance who is always attracted in Allah's love and he says things that people don't understand, although for sure he understands and awliyaullah understand.

So he invited that majdhoob to come along and the king offered the food and was happy looking and eating with them, and the majdhoob said, "O my king! The best thing in life is to pee (urinate) and to go to restroom (deficate)!"

At this, the king was upset. He said, “Who brought you here?”

The majdhoob said, “This man brought me here.”

So the king said, “Take him to prison, that one is majdhoob!” and he continued to say, “The best thing in life is to pee and go to the restroom!”

The king cursed him and the majdhoob ran away, but he made a du`a (and we have to be persistent in our du`a), “May Allah not make you pee and not go to the restroom!” and then he ran away like a bird and no one could catch him.

The next day the king could not go to the bathroom or do anything (to relieve himself) and the next day it was the same. He brought all doctors, homeopaths, etc., but no one could cure him, and finally he realized the only one who can cure him is that majdhoob, so he sent for him.

That majdhoob came strutting like a hero and asked him, “O King! Do you accept what I said?

The king said, “Yes.”

He said, “Okay, then say it publicly!”

The king said, “The best thing in life is to go to the restroom and pee.”

The majdhoob was teaching him that if Allah (swt) pulls one favor out you will be imbalanced and “you need that majdhoob to balance you.” Although the king brought all kinds of doctors to help him, they couldn’t, which was to show him that everything is in balance. If you have a problem, you must try to solve that problem and to keep nice everything nice that Allah (swt) gave you. If there is a problem ask Allah (swt).

Our belief is that everything is from Allah--what is good is from Him and what is bad is from us. So if someone comes and tells you, “I am seeing something wrong in you, try to fix it,” who pushed that person to say that? Is it not Allah also? Since we surrender and submit (to Allah) we must submit to what everyone says, as it is Allah Who makes him or her speak, to bring your attention to a particular issue. If someone keeps quiet, that is okay, but if someone mentions something to you for your own good, follow that! Don't be like Sayyidina Musa (a) who said to Sayyidina Khidr (a), “I’ll go along with you,” but later refused to accept when Khidr (s) made a hole in the boat and he said, “Why are you making a hole in the boat? You’re going to make everyone to fall in the ocean!” In fact, Khidr (a) had done that in order to prevent a tyrant king from coming and seizing the boat but that [knowledge] was hidden from Sayyidina Musa (a). So there are certain things you must follow [without question].

Why is there Prophetic Medicine? Why did the Prophet (s) cure people when he could have left it and said, “Leave it as it is, there is nothing to be done.” But this dunya is created with asbaab, causes: you do something, you get something. So whatever he gives you, you must follow.

As we mentioned in the prior session, a group of Sahaabah (r) went to a village where the leader of that village was bitten by a poisonous scorpion. The Sahaabah (r) cured him by reciting ruqya on him, which they were later compensated for. When they returned to the Prophet (s), he asked them to give him a share of (their compensation), which means he was indicating, “I am approving that everyone needs someone specialized in the particular pain he or she is in.”

It means there are some professionals who can check you. Why are people coming here? There is a spiritual cure for our souls in the words coming here that have been inherited through a spiritual chain from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) to Grandshaykh (q) and all the way to the Prophet (s). Whatever spiritual sickness the soul is inflicted by, there is a spiritual cure for them here. People come in order to be healed from their spiritual sickness. Why do we do dhikr every week? Although it is not an obligation, we do it every week. Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) insist on attending the weekly dhikr for two reasons. If you don't want to do it, don’t do it, but for those who attend dhikr every week, Allah (swt) will waive whatever sins they have done from one week to another. Is that good or bad? It is good, so should we do it or not? The second reason, everyone who attends dhikrullah, kaffaaratan li saba`een majlis soow, 70,000 evil associations around your area will be cleansed from the barakah of your dhikr gathering! Yet this is only through one person from the gathering; for two people it will be 70,000 multiplied by 2, for three people, 70,000 multiplied by 3, and so on. So we must know that illnesses, both spiritual or physical, can be cured in any different way.

How to Perfect Your Du`a

1) Be persistent in making du`a; don’t stop.

As we said in the previous lectures, the Prophet (s) insisted that this (healing) has to be done through du`a: al-ilhaah bid'-du`a, continue on your position with determination. Allah (swt) likes when you keep insisting and continue making du`a, as the Prophet (s) said:

مَنْ لَمْ يَسْألِ اللَّه يَغْضِبْ عَلَيْهِ

Man lam yas’ali-Llaahi yaghdib `alayh

Whosoever does not supplicate to Allah, He will be angry with Him. (Tirmidhi)

So when you don't ask Allah (swt), He gets angry with you. Ask Him and keep asking! Be persistent in your du`a. Don't say, “I made du`a but it didn't work, so I will stop.” No, don't stop! When people want to receive grants, they submit paperwork and if they don’t get it they submit it again and again, until finally they say, “What is the benefit? We did our best, but it didn't work,” and they stop. They also say, “Those people submitted their grant paperwork and got it (immediately); they received the grant, but we didn’t!” You are not them, as they are dunya people and you are Akhirah people. If you didn’t get it, continue to be persistent as Allah (swt) likes that!

Ajalla al-karamaat dawaam at-tawfeeq.

The best of miracles is to be consistent (in what you are doing).

We pray five times a day. Can you say the next day, “I prayed yesterday so (I don't have to pray now)”? No, you have to pray! Some say, “Don't celebrate the Prophet's birthday,” as they have their own ideas. But Sayyidina Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (q) observed the birthday of Prophet (s) year after year, as that was how it was in that time. Although he was a big scholar, he had doubts (mutashakkik). It was Monday, 12 Rabi` al-Awwal and he was writing something important which, at that time, was necessary to get it out immediately. Suddenly, a black fly came and began to drink the ink from his pen, for which Imam Ghazali (q) stopped moving his hand as he didn’t want it to fly off. He said, “Allah (swt) created me from Ummat an-Nabi (s) for the sake of the Prophet (s) just as He created this fly for the sake of the Prophet (s), so I will keep it until it quenches its thirst.” That night inaayatullah was coming down on the 12th Rabi` al-Awwal, as not every year it coincides on a Monday.

Similarly for Hajj, you ask your shaykh whether you should go for Hajj this year or not and if he doesn’t give permission don’t go, as awliyaullah can see if the Manifestation of Allah (swt) will come on the hujjaj on `Arafat or not. If it is not, they tell you don’t go, and otherwise, they tell you to go. So you need to keep asking each year until you get permission and go. Don't stop asking, saying, “I’m not going as Shaykh is not giving permission.” Keep asking! How many times we asked your grandfather (Mawlana Shaykh Nazim) if we can we go for Hajj and he told us, “Go next year,” and when the next year comes, he says, “Next year,” and ‘next year’ comes, again he says, “Next year.” Then he says to others, “You go,” but for us he says, “Don’t go.” That is a test, but still you persist (in trying to go).

So the fly was quenching its thirst and Imam Ghazali (r) persisted in observing that night of 12th Rabi` al-Awwal that year when that tajalli came down and Allah (swt) opened all his spiritual powers. Similarly with people who apply for grants, they keep asking and asking, perhaps they ask non-stop for fifteen years, but they never get it until it opens suddenly! You are not dunya people, you are Akhirah people, and Allah gives when he sees you are patient. So persist in your du`a as Allah is happy with His Servant when He sees His Servant is persistant and keeps asking and asking!

Elements that Prevent Du`a from Being Accepted

Now we come to the issue of al-aafaat allatee tamna` athara ‘d-du`a, the various elements or things that forbid/prevent the du`a from being accepted.

1) Fa yastahsir wa yada` ad-du`a, the servant slows down in his asking:

People know the importance of making du`a, but they don’t know why their du`a is not accepted. Our obligation is to make du`a and it is not our duty to say that Allah accepted it or not. Just as you are obliged to pray Salaat azh-Zhuhr every day and cannot say, “I already prayed yesterday (so need to pray today),” your duty is to make du`a! The first thing that prevents du`a from being accepted is when the servant slows down or increases too much in asking: one day he asks too much and the next day he says, “I asked too much but Allah didn’t accept, so I will not ask again. Whenever He wants to give, He will give.” So he stops, and Allah (swt) doesn’t like that. Fa yastahsir wa yada` ad-du`a, he will drop the du`a and he will not continue. This is one of the elements that prevent your du`a from getting accepted. So your duty is to make du`a and it’s not your business if it is accepted or not, as Allah knows best!

An example of this is when someone plants seeds in his garden and begins watering them, then finally he gets tired and stops watering and taking care of his garden. What will happen? All his plants will die, they will finish! When the stem was about to come out, he stopped and left it. This is an example of a person who constantly makes du`as, but right when his du`a is about to reach its peak and get accepted, he stops. Shaytan whispers in your ear, “Why do you want to make du`a today?” But when you stop, that du`a is dead; it will no longer be accepted because you let Shaytan throw his seeds into your heart, destroying that nice plantation planted by divine du`as that Prophet (s) used to make! Shaytan throws in them something with a bad smell and destroys that whole du`a you were making!

2) Do not rush your du`a.

It was mentioned by Imam Abu Hurayrah (r) in Sahih Bukhari that the Prophet (s) said:

يُسْتَجَابُ لِأَحَدِكُمْ مَا لَمْ يُعَجِّلْ يَقُوْلُ دَعَوْتُ فَلَمْ يُسْتَجَابُ لِيْ

Yustajaabu li-ahadikum maa lam yu’ajjil yaqoolu da`awtu fa lam yustajaabu lee.

The du`a of any one of you will be answered so long as he is not impatient and says, ‘I made du`a but it was not answered.’”

Allah will accept your du`a if you are not trying to rush it! Keep reciting it every day with all your heart and don’t rush like those who rush to make a deadline and you see them writing their paper in the last moment, rushing and rushing, and they make many mistakes in rushing. Prophet (s) said, “Don't rush your du`a, keep doing it.”

Ajalla al-karamaat dawaam at-tawfeeq.

The best of miracles is the continuity of what you are doing.

When you rush you don't get anything! Allah will not give it to you, then you say, “I asked and my du`a was not accepted.” That is why it is recommended that when you need a du`a, go to those whom you know are sincere servants of Allah as they have been given authorization from their guides, like the Sahaabah (r) were given from Prophet (s): like aimmah given from Sahaabah (r) and like awliyaullah given from a’immah, so you go to them and they make du`a for you and you see that your du`a is completely accepted.

As narrated by Sayyidina Anas (r) in Musnad Ahmad, the Prophet (s) said:

فِي مُسْنَدِ أَحْمَدَ مِنْ حَدِيثِ أَنَسٍ قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : لَا يَزَالُ الْعَبْدُ بِخَيْرٍ مَا لَمْ يَسْتَعْجِلْ ، قَالُوا : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَيْفَ يَسْتَعْجِلُ ؟ قَالَ : يَقُولُ قَدْ دَعَوْتُ رَبِّي فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِبْ لِي .

Laa yazaal al-`abdu bi khayrin maa lam yasta`jil. Qaaloo ya Rasoolullahi kayfa yast`ajilu? Qaal: yaqoolu qad da`awtu rabbee falam yastajib lee

The servant is always in a good way as long as he does not rush. They asked: O Prophet of Allah, how does he rush? He (s) said, “He says, ‘I prayed to my Lord and He did not respond to me.’”

Allah (swt) doesn’t like people who rush their du`a, so keep making du`a but don't rush, as the Prophet (s) said:

وَفِي صَحِيحِ مُسْلِمٍ عَنْهُ : لَا يَزَالُ يُسْتَجَابُ لِلْعَبْدِ ، مَا لَمْ يَدْعُ بِإِثْمٍ أَوْ قَطِيعَةِ رَحِمٍ ، مَا لَمْ يَسْتَعْجِلْ ، قِيلَ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا الِاسْتِعْجَالُ ؟ قَالَ يَقُولُ : قَدْ دَعَوْتُ ، وَقَدْ دَعَوْتُ ، فَلَمْ أَرَ يُسْتَجَابُ لِي ، فَيَسْتَحْسِرُ عِنْدَ ذَلِكَ وَيَدَعُ الدُّعَاءَ .

Laa yazaalu yustajaabu li’l-`abdi maa lam yadu` bi-ithmin aw qati`atee rahimin maa lam yasta`jal. faqeela: yaa rasoolullahi maa’l-isti`jaal? Qaala yaqoolu qad da`awtu wa qad da`awtu falam ara yastajaabu lee. Fa-yatahasir `inda dhalika wa yadau` ad-du`aa.

Allah rejects supplications if the worshipper is hasty or does not have patience. It was asked, "O Messenger of God! What does it mean to be hasty?" The Prophet (s) said, "A worshipper says, 'I have prayed and prayed, and I don't yet see that it will be accepted,” so he gives up hope of being answered and leaves making du`a.” (Hadith narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurayrah, as mentioned in Sahih al-Jami #7705)

So the Sahaabah (r) asked the Prophet (s), “What does it mean to rush?” and he replied, “When he says, ‘;I asked Allah but He didn’t respond!’ ” This means, he rushed for his du`a to be accepted. Don't rush! Whenever Allah wants, that is when He will accept your du`a.

Conditions for Du`a to Be Accepted

1) Focus Wholeheartedly on What You Are Asking and Correct Guidance Will Come

What are the conditions for du`a to be accepted? When you are making du`a, focus on the specific issue you are making du`a for. For example, “I’m making du`a to get healthy!” as many people today remember to make du`a only when they are sick. So do muraqabah and focus your thoughts and your heart on your sickness. Hudoor al-qalb wa jam`eeyatuhu bi kulliyatihi ma` al-matloob, during your du`a, make sure you are focusing on the issue that is before you. For example, if someone tells you, “I want my daughter/son to get married,” “I want my son to get good grades,” or “My son is applying for college,” try to focus well and bring your heart toward the du`a you need to recite in order for it to become a perfect medicine for that issue or sickness, and like giving medicine, you have to give the right one in order to treat the disease.

You have to go back to the previous three lectures in order to fully understand what we are saying. There are du`as the guide will guide you to that are perfect in fixing your problem. Not every du`a is going to have the same effect for your problem, as each du`a differs from one person to another. I will give an example, as I did previously with many other examples about cancer and conceiving a child, and so on. There is a lady in Texas whose name I will not mention, although I think many people here know her. Her daughter was trying to get into medical school for many years, and her test scores were always around 73 or 74 (not passing). Each time her mother came to me, I told her to let her daughter retake the test. I remember telling her to take it four times, which she did, and she kept getting 73 or 74--not enough to get accepted for residency. Finally, she came again last year and said, “My daughter is thinking of doing another specialty,” and I told her, “There is no harm if she takes the test again.” She retook the test and this time got an 80 (passed)! It’s not from me but from the barakah of our shaykh, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q). After many years of struggling, she got accepted in Boston. We pushed her to not give up and Allah accepted. If we had rushed and given up after the first year, saying, “O! It didn’t work out so you don't need to do that...” (the outcome would have changed). I was continuously pushing her to repeat and repeat, although she and her mother were fed up. She repeated it and got it! The du`a is what caused her to get that position and it’s from Allah (swt), no one else!

2) The Best Times to Make Du`a and Fulfilling What is Prescribed

There are times best for making du`a and if it coincides in one of these times, for sure your du`a will be accepted, and Allah (swt) accepts all du`as, as He said:

ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ

Id`oonee astajib lakum.

Supplicate to Me and I will give you! (Surat al-Mu’min, 40:60)

But ask! If you don’t get in dunya you might get it in the grave, where Allah will give you better than what you were asking. There are six times in which du`a is most accepted:

1) Ath-thuluth al-akheer min al-layl. The last third of the night before Salaat al-Fajr by two hours, which is the time of qiyam when everyone is sleeping. At that time you can focus well and meditate on what you are asking and the du`a you got from your guide. Sit at that time and do it, but don't say, “I did it” like some people, when we give them something to recite for forty days and they call us on the 39th day, saying “Should I continue or stop?” What is the issue if you continue? Continue! Why do you want to stop? Do it one time, two times, three times, four times, continue! Therefore, when you want to make a du`a in the last third of the night, do it continuously unless you are traveling, sick or with a guest.

2) Ba`d al-adhaan. When the adhaan is being called [adhaan sounds], like right now. May Allah (swt) give us long life to see Mahdi (a) and give shifaa` to us and to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q)! May He make everyone happy with their family,for those who just got married to be happy with their wives and those who are not married to get married and for everyone to be happy with their children, both in dunya and in Akhirah, and to be with Prophet (s)! Fatihah.

(We said) “adhaan” and the adhaan came! But we don't stop and say, “O! Since we did it on the right time, this is a karamah.” No, there is a wisdom here to show us that Allah (swt) wanted us to make a du`a at that exact moment when the adhaan was being called when we mentioned it, to show that perhaps there is a benefit in it.

3) Bayn al-adhaan wal-iqaamah. Between the adhaan and iqaamah, the time when you wait about five minutes after the calling of adhaan just before the iqaamah.

4) Adbaar as-salaat al-maktubaat. After the fard prayers. Any du`a you make at that time is also accepted.

5) Wa `inda su`oodil imaam yawmi ‘l-jum`ah `ala ‘l-mimbar hatta taqdi as-salaat min dhaalika ‘l-yawm. On Friday when the imaam goes up on the minbar to give his khutbah. Make du`a through your heart, but not by holding beads in your hand since khutbah is considered to be part of prayer and holding beads is not accepted at that time. So make du`a through your heart and think about it until the khutbah and the prayer is finished.

6) Wa aakhiru sa`atin ba`ad al-`asr. The last hour after Salaat al-`Asr, one hour before Maghrib.

Finally, the one thing all of these times have in common is khushu`, sincerity in the heart, which means to focus well on your du`a despite the whispers. The best du`a in these six times is the du`a made from a broken heart, in a state of helplessness and weakness, in-between the Hands of Allah, as you are at His Door. In order for your du`a to be accepted, turn toward your Lord in humility, face the qiblah, and ask Him!

Inshaa-Allah, we will continue later. May Allah forgive us and bless us.

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq.

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