Supplications (Duaas) of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
Dear brothers and sisters, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had a gift of words which had immense meanings that go beyond the simple understanding of the words. By this we mean that he would say few words but would have depth of meaning that would last for all time.
And this was the same when He was doing Dua’s, peace and blessings be upon him, and we were encouraged to repeat these duas, that have depth of meaning in few words.
You see, we all have our own duas but the specific wording of the duas of the Prophet SAWS are rich in both their articulation and their precise meaning. Even the translation of these would not do justice to the dua in Arabic and hence we are all encouraged to learn them as they were relayed by the Prophet SAWS.
The imam mentioned one of these in the hadith of the Prophet SAWS. The dua is translated as part of the hadith and it states that:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say in his prayer: O Allah, I ask You for steadfastness in all my affairs and determination in following the right path, I ask You to make me thankful for Your blessings and to make me worship You properly. I ask You for a sound heart and a truthful tongue. I ask You for the best of what You know and I seek refuge in You from the worst of what You know and I seek Your forgiveness for what You know.”
And this one in which the supplication says:
O Allah! I beg You for that which incites Your Mercy and the means of Your forgiveness, safety from every sin, the benefit from every good deed, success in attaining Jannah and deliverance from Fire
And as mentioned earlier, these duas are best recited in their original form. The imam alluded to this advice by referencing the 32nd ayat of Sura Al-Imran which is translated to say:
Say, “Obey Allah and the Messenger.” But if they turn away – then indeed, Allah does not like the disbelievers.
Another hadith in relation to this is one that is relayed in this reminder in both Arabic and English as it is both an easy one to follow and one that we all can take advantage of in this busy lifestyle we live in.
It is translated to say:
Fatima complained about the blisters on her hand because of using a mill-stone. She went to ask the Prophet for servant, but she did not find him (at home) and had to inform `Aisha of her need. When he came, `Aisha informed him about it. `Ali added: The Prophet (ﷺ) came to us when we had gone to our beds. When I was going to get up, he said, “‘Stay in your places,” and sat between us, till I felt the coolness of the feet on my chest. The Prophet (ﷺ) then said, “Shall I not tell you of a thing which is better for you than a servant? When you (both) go to your beds, say ‘Allahu Akbar’ thirty-four times, and ‘Subhan Allah’ thirty-three times, ‘Al hamdu ‘illah’ thirty-three times, for that is better for you than a servant.” Ibn Seereen said, “Subhan Allah’ (is to be said for) thirty-four times.”
It is documented that after this dua was relayed to Fatima and Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both, Ali stuck to using this dua for the rest of his life.
Dear brothers and sisters, we ought to remember that the best dua is that which is followed in it’s exact form as delivered by the Prophet SAWS. The imam mentioned ayat 7 of Sura Al-Hujarat in relation to this which says:
And know that among you is the Messenger of Allah . If he were to obey you in much of the matter, you would be in difficulty, but Allah has endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has made hateful to you disbelief, defiance and disobedience. Those are the [rightly] guided.
Dear brothers and sisters, this reminder is not meant to belittle those of us who are unable to recite properly, or those who are unable to memorize these duas. Allah SWT listens to our pleas, our conversations and our requests in whatever language we speak to Him in. We should take comfort in the fact that regardless of language, all our communication with Allah SWT is heard and our duas are accepted either in this life as they are, in a form that is better for us or in the next life.
However, we should still make the effort to learn the duas of our Prophet SAWS in their original form and so the reminder ends with 3 tips to help achieve this.
- Sincerity – Aim to memorize and be sincere with yourself and ask Allah SWT to make it easy for you.
- Consistency- Make a time of the day dedicated to memorization. Whether that is the daily commute or after a prayer, consistency, even in a small form, is most liked by Allah SWT
- Application – Use the dua, or even part of it, in the supplications you make at the end of the prayer. This will help both memorization and the reward and acceptance of the dua you are saying.
Dear brothers and sisters, our interaction with Allah SWT ought to be consistent in our lives. We are not born to have Allah SWT as a concept or a distant reality but in fact a part of our everyday lives. By supplicating to Him in the duas revealed by the Prophet SAWS, we are both achieving the reward of following the sunnah as well as maintaining a consistent, unbreakable connection with our Lord.
