INTRODUCTION The Prophet (s) visits Ta'if.. Abu Masud At-Thaqafi was the Abu Jahl of Ta'if.

His three sons that were at the time the leaders of Ta'if. The Prophet (s) thought he would meet them and talk to them and gain their permission to talk to the rest of the city dwellers. He schedules his "appointment' with them and after some work he finally gets to meet them. At meeting the first chief, he presents the message of Islam. The first brother, the first chief, responds, "if you are a Prophet than I will go and tear down the clothe of the Kabah" i.e. get-out. The Prophet (s) than meets the second brother, and he gives the chief the message of Islam. The second chief responds, "are you telling me that God made no other Prophet but YOU?" And the Prophet (s) is asked to leave again. Than he goes to meet the third brother, and the Prophet (s) is more optimistic about this meeting as this third brother's wife is from the Quraysh so there is some family relation to the Prophet (s). Compared to the meeting with the other two brothers, the Prophet (s) here is atleast hopeful for courteusness and hospitality. The third brother though when he is met with responds, " Either you are lying and in that case I do not talk to liars, or you are in fact a Prophet and in that case opposing you would be inviting trouble, asking the wrath of God to descend upon me, so I also can not talk to you in that case". So in both cases he refused to speak to the Prophet (s) - no response - and he asked the Prophet (s) to leave. The Prophet (s) thinks he did what he could. He notifies all three of them that he will not cause any trouble in the city - he is leaving back to Makkah and with peace. But how do they react? One chief lines people up in the streets, one narration says that he actually pays people, takes a large bag of coins, and he asks the thugs and the young punks in the streets to come to harass this man - the Prophet (s) - while he is trying to leave. The Prophet (s) does not expect anything such as he leaves. This is an interesting quality of decent people; that they expect decency from others. The sahaba were such decent, God-fearing people that no one would expect a second motive or agenda from them, but in reality the one expecting is the decent one i.e. the sahaba themselves were decent and so they assumed decency of others. The Prophet (s) did not expect anything thus because he was the most decent person. But just as the Prophet (s) reached the boundary of the city of Ta'if, some narrations describe 100s of people (remember Ta'if is a bustling city with a population in the 1000s). They were able to gather 100s of people thus to attack the Prophet (s). They started from the boundary of the city and the narration describes they lined up on the road on both sides, and another narration says that they sat down on both sides of the road. They had gathered pebbles, stones, rocks, whatever they could find. As the Prophet (s) reached the boundary of Ta'if he was perplexed but he thought he would place his head down and keep walking. As he put his first step forward, they had planned this out that they would hit him with rocks with every single step that he would walk. And thus he gets hit with dozens of rocks the first step he takes out. And with his second step another couple dozen rocks hit him, and so on with his third step. A narration describes that they had planned not just to throw rocks at his body but aim at his feet, why? To injure him so badly to make him crawl out of town like an animal. And every time he placed a foot on the ground they hit him with rocks. The first couple of steps that happened was just a shock to the Prophet (s)! So Zaid bin Haritha (ra) was just shocked too and started yelling at them, " what are you doing!?" And he was so scared he tried to shield the Prophet (s) with his own body. One person saw Zaid was getting in the way and took a large boulder and hit Zaid in the head, busting it open. The Prophet (s) shoved Zaid out of the way; they wanted to torture the Prophet (s) but they would literally kill Zaid. Again, imagine, every step, getting pelted and pelted and pelted, with stones, rocks, pebbles!. But the Prophet (s) put his head down and kept walking, and remember there are 100s on both sides. Eventually the line though should end, right? But it was not over. As soon as he reached the end of the line what happened? The people from the front of the line get to the end, get more rocks, and sit down throwing rocks as he walks forward. He is not provided even a moment of relief! And the most shocking part: this continues til the Prophet (s) reaches the point of Qarnul manazil or Qarnal Tha-alib and this place is 3 miles outside of Ta'if. This means that for 3 miles every time he took a step they hit him with rocks, aiming mostly at his feet. Imagine walking 3 miles, how long does it take? how much effort does it take? What about when you are being hit with a rock every single step? When the Prophet (s) finally reached the point of Qarnul Manazil the crowd

disperses and goes back to Ta'if, why? Not out of pity or remorse for him rather out of boredom and out of being tired. Here the Prophet (s) stops, takes a deep breathe, and Zaid describes that the Prophet (s) is bleeding from every single place on his body. There is blood over his clothes, his clothes torn, wounds everywhere, and his feet are just completely red and raw, the skin is gone. His foot is basically an open wound. Imagine leather and how it soaks up liquid. The entire sandals of the Prophet (s) were colored red as the narration describes. When blood dries up it is very hard to remove, and so when he finally stopped and sat down Zaid looked at his feet and cried. He realized he needed to remove the sandals to check the Prophet's feet (s), but he can not because the blood has dried and the leather of the sandals is completely stuck to whatever was remaining of the Prophet (s)'s feet. Zaid has to literally rip the sandals off the Prophet's feet (s) and the skin also comes off. There is blood everywhere - all open wounds - and the Prophet (s) sits in this condition. We absolutely can not discount the emotional, human component of this - the Prophet (s) was confused, why would anyone treat anybody this way? But here we gain perspective. The Prophet (s) has gone through the most traumatic experience of his life, brutally attacked by a mob, sitting in the middle of nowhere without help, family or support, trying to figure out what to do and where to go. And what in that moment does the Prophet (s) do? The only thing he knows how to do and what should be done in moments like this; he raises his hands to the sky and he talks to Allah. We just finished the month of Ramadan, this is a time we talk about Du'a and we have Du'a lsits and we encourage it so much. Too often it becomes such a rigid formality, we say, " brother make du'a" or "I am going to make du'a" like checking the boxes off our lists. The reality of du'a is that it is just talking to Allah, and whenever you need to the ultimate option in this situation is to pour your heart out to Allah, talk even more openly to Allah than you would to anybody else. Seek comfort, solace with Him. And this is what the Prophet (s) did. The beauty of our deen is that all these things are preserved for us so that whenever we go back and study the life of the Prophet (s) we know what was done and so we can relate. Not only did he make du'a but it has been preserved for us thus. And more so it is for us to learn, to know why he did it and what did he say. The Prophet's du'a (s) at Ta'if:

"Oh Allah to you alone do I complain about my own weakness, and only to you Allah do I complain of my own lack of resources, and only to you do Allah do I complain of my own lack of respect in the eyes of these people. Oh Allah you are the caretaker of the weak, oppressed, downtrodden and you are my Lord (I am sitting here bruised, injured and hurt, but you are my

care taker). Who do you hand me over to my Lord? To somebody who lacks mercy that he would rough me like this? Or to an enemy that you have given full control to over me? Even my Lord even if you have surrendered me to a merciless enemy, as long as You are not upset with me oh Allah I do not care about all this (Imagine! He is sitting there and his feet bloodied, and he does not care! He only seeks Allah's pleasure) but rather my Lord Your forgiveness and protection is more than enough for me. My Lord, I take refuge and protection in the light of Your Face that can remove all darkness in this world or the next that You would ever be upset with Me. I ask protection that your anger or protection come upon me, I will continue to serve you until You are Pleased with me. There is no power to resist evil or do good except with Your Mercy" What happens next after this beautiful du'a? Jibreel (as) comes to the Prophet (s) and says, "the entire creation of Allah stood in silence and shock as they saw what was unfolding with you, but when you made this du'a it shook the heavens. I have been sent as your disposal, what do you need? I have brought with me the angel who is in charge of the mountains, issue your command and we will crush Ta'if". The Prophet (s) responded, "I have no ill will towards them or wish death upon them, rather I hope that if they do not accept the message maybe their kids will" . This was the greatest gesture of mercy that he made! What was his strength though? When you talk to Allah and connect with Him it not only calms you but you can draw to His Mercy and gain perspective and make the proper decision. This is what du'a is about! There are literally dozens of incidents in the Qur'an and from the life of the Prophet (s) that explain the power of du'a. As individuals we are all different and our life experiences and especially challenges are different, and there are different circumstances mentioned in the Qur'an and Seerah, but the commonality is that du'a was the result and the tool by which how things came together. Surah Maryam begins by telling us about a devout Prophet of God, Zachariya (as). He was old. Imam Kurtubi and others mention he was 70, some say even 80 or even a 100 according to some sahaba. Either way he is very very old and the Surah begins in such a powerful way:

19:1)
Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ain. Sad.

19:2)
(This is) a recital of the Mercy of thy Lord to His servant Zakariya.

19:3)
Behold! he cried to his Lord in secret,

19:4)
Praying: "O my Lord! infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head doth glisten with grey: but never am I unblest, O my Lord, in my prayer to Thee!

19:5) 19:6) )

"Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Thyself,"(One that) will (truly) represent me, and represent the posterity of Jacob; and make him, O my Lord! one with whom Thou art well-pleased!"

19:7) )
(His prayer was answered): "O Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His name shall be Yahya: on none by that name have We conferred distinction before."

"This is the mention of the mercy of your Lord upon HIs slave, that one time in the darkness of night (when no one was there or hear) he cried out to Allah, my Lord, my bones are falling apart (holding his hands out and staring at them) and my hair is completely white, but my master you have never ever forsaken me! He realizes how old he is - white hair and bones breaking and in the Surah later he says literally, I am extremely old - but at the same time he knows that Allah has never dissapointed him. I fear about the people I leave behind he says, my wife has never been able to bear children (even when young) but inspite of all this (their ages, their medical history) grant me a son. Not only does he ask, he asks: dont just give me a son but give me an unbelievable or amazing son, who willl inherit me who will follow in the forefathers that are Prophets of Allah, and make him righteous and pious. He pours his heart out to Allah! The odds are stacked against him and he has not had kids with his wife for decades! But he asks Allah without a shred of doubt that Allah will take care of him. And immediately an angel comes, Zachariya congraluations you will have a son! And Allah guarantees this so much that He says, this is so sure that we have already picked his name: Yahya, not only that, nobody has ever had a son like this ever before (he will be the best of all time). The Qur'an presents a beautiful example here, a very emotional situation for someone struggling for something for decades and they finally feel like they are at the end of their endurance, and they cry and plead! And Allah takes care of them. In Surah Anbiyyah, Younus (as) became upset and angry with his people and Allah teaches him a lesson. We don't criticize Prophets as Muslims, but Allah can and does here. He puts him in a dark belly of a whale in the depth of ocean in the darkness of the night; 3 layers of darkness! And how did Younus (as) react? He was a Prophet of Allah ofcourse. He screams and calls out to Allah, piercing through the 3 layers he is buried over, straight to Allah.

21:87) )
And remember Zun-nun, when he departed in wrath: He imagined that We had no power over him! But he cried through the depths of darkness, "There is no god but thou: glory to thee: I was indeed wrong!" There is absolutely no one worthy of worship, and I am wrong. And Allah answers immediately (Ijaba means to answer. Istijaba means to immediately answer - Allah uses this). Why? We are dealing with Allah! And we saved him (regardless of how difficult his situation was!) And Allah says something beautiful, and just like that we will continue to save those who put their faith in Allah

) 21:88)
So We listened to him: and delivered him from distress: and thus do We deliver those who have faith. Imagine, what we do in this situation? Resign yourself to your faith? If someone said, " make du'a" you'd say, "are you crazy!" But this is OUR limitation and problem. When we are in such a difficult circumstance, an impossible circumstance, we don't even think that du'a will work, we say, " gotta be practical! Assume the means!" And all of a sudden we become experts in Islam and of theology and muhadithoon. We fail to understand that the greatest means is du'a, in fact it is a means in itself. a tool. And when we make du'a we must understand that, " when I feel my situation is "hopeless" and making dua is "pointless" this is my limitation because what I am doing, intentionally or unintentionally, am limiting the power of Allah Almighty". I say, "Allah can not handle this situation" Sh Jangda: one of the most powerful phrases for me, mentioned often in Qur'an, was lifechanging when I first studied it. And we all know this phrase, " Wallahu 'Ala Kulli Shay-in Qadeer"

translated as Allah, and only Allah, (showing dominance, full power and control) over each and every single thing, Qadeer is from Qudra (which means control, capability, power). Qadeer is a constant, continous adjective word structure. Qadir is someone capable and in control, Qadeer is someone always in control. Thus, the ayah translated as Allah is over each and every single thing ALWAYS in control! The subject in the sentence is Allah, Ala Kulli shay is extra, and the predicate is Qadeeran. Normally in Arabic the sentence actually should be Allahu Qadeerun Ala Kulli. But switching the sentence structure like this adds exclusivity, Allah and only Allah is in total control all the time over each and every single thing! He is capable of anything, all the time, always. Remember, the challenge is on us! We must step up to our du'a. We must really sit with ourselves and understand the power of du'a, only when du'a is life changing for us can we truly benefit and utilize this tool. Du'a is not a luxury, rather a necessity. We all need it, whether we like it or think it or not. Another scenario of how the Prophet (s) uses du'a to facilitate a situation; in the mid to late Makkan period, the 9-10th year of his preaching in Makkah, he receives a visitor. A man visits Makkah by the name of Tufayl bin Ammar Ad-Douwsi. To summarize the story, he is considered one of the greatest intellectuals of all of Arabia, in fact an intellectual celebrity in Arabia. He visits Makkah and he is received properly by the Quraysh, and they warn him of their own - Mohammed (s) - claiming to be a Prophet and so on and so forth, with "magical abilities" of reading to people and people following him, so they ask him to be careful of his words. Tufayl narrates that they were so paranoid that they scared him. He narrates as follows: " the next morning when I went out to Makkah I put cotton in my ears, I go to the Haram and I see the man they are talking about and I see him and he does not seem like a man with bad intentions, rather he appears to be a respectful, dignified individual. So I think they are wrong and tell myself, 'I am the smartest person I know, so why be like these simple-minded of Makkah'. I took the cotton out of my ear and went to him, and he was reading something (in prayer). I got as close as I could while sneaking to him. It peaked my curiosity and when he left after praying I followed him back to his house. When he entered into his home and opened the door to his house I jumped into his door. The Prophet (s) remained calm and asked why I entered. I told him, 'you were reading; and asked him to read more. So the Prophet (s) started reciting Qur'an to me (some narrations say Surah Qalam was recited). By the time he was done reciting I believed, and I said the shahadah. Tufayl (ra) was a genius and he knew of the best of men, and he even acknowledged that these ayaat of the Qur'an were not from any man. He narrates that he stayed days with the Prophet and learnt the basics of Islam, and than was asked to go and share this with his own tribe of Douws in Yemen. Tufayl being an intellectual was impatient with people not being as smart as him, so he returned to his tribe and met his dad. When asked he told his dad we can't talk, " I am Muslim and if you don't believe I can't talk to you anymore". And his dad calms him down and says that he would believe in Islam than. And he meets his wife, and Tufayl says the same to her, I am Muslim and you are not so we are done, and she calms him down and believes in Islam too. Than he gathers the people together and he says, " this is my message and if you don't believe we have nothing to do with each other". Unlike with his father and wife, the people leave. Tufayl tells his dad and his wife to pack and they are to leave. The Prophet (s) sees him in Makkah and asks why he was back so soon? He answers, "I went, gave them the message, but they are bad people who don't want to believe, make du'a Allah destroys these people," The sahaba who are sitting close by are watching this unfold with curiosity and are now afraid, if the Prophet (s) were to raise his hands and make du'a against Tufayl's tribe than it will be over for them. Here is our lesson now, a fascinating thing. The Prophet (s) does make du'a, raises his hands and opens his mouth and says, "Oh Allah give guidance to the people of Douws" And he asks Tufayl to return and continue the Dawah. Tufayl returns 10 years later, and the narration describes he returns with 80 families i.e. almost the entire tribe accepted Islam! Not just this, one of these people who comes is Abu Hurayrah (ra), the one who has recorded the most amount of hadith from the Prophet (s) - over 10,000 - and he was the outcome of the du'a of the Prophet (s). In the mind of a man (i.e. Tufayl) this was a hopeless situation and these were hopeless people (the tribe in Yemen of Douws), but the Prophet (s) raised his hands and put his faith in Allah! And not only were they guided but from those people came a man who narrated so much about the

Prophet (s) that have allowed us to learn his life and Islam. These stories and evidences above are narrated so that we in our minds can convince ourselves of the power of Du'a and realize that this is a tool that we really need and need to implement regularly and in the best of ways. So now the technicalities of du'a.... The Prophet (s) has taught us multiple adaab of du'a, especially things that will help them be accepted and answered. But this may be confusing and overwhelming as they are numerous. It is hard to keep track of them. Here we have grouped them together to the most essential things necessary: 1. The hadith of the Prophet (s) in Tirmidhi's Jamih', "Whenever any one of you wants to make du'a they should start by praising Allah and send peace and blessings upon me" Thus think of your blessings from Allah, and say the names and attributes of Allah that reflect them; AlWadood, AlGhaffoor, AlGhaffar, AlRahman, AlRaheem and so on. A profound lesson here: Praising and glorifying Allah is how you should appreciatioon and gratitude. Nothing compares to Allah, but at a human level if you want a favor from someone a good way to get that person to comply with your request is to appreciate what that person has done for you in the past. This is what we are being taught. Secondly, sending peace and blessings upon the Prophet (s) has two meanings. Realize that after Allah the Prophet (s) has done more for us than every other human being, and this may be a huge statement to say but tihnk about the the incident of Ta'if that we just mentioned: he literally bled for us. So appreciating this fact is very important. Secondly, a good way to get in the good graces of someone is to be nice to those close to them. As an example, to get to in the good graces of a parent be nice to their kids. There is no one more beloved to Allah than Mohammed (s). When we show love and respect to the Prophet (s) we are in Allah's good graces thus because we have shown love to the Prophet (s). 2. Believe that Allah will take care of it. Do not ever doubt that Allah will fulfill your request. As the Prophet (s) says, " Ask Allah and you have no doubt about the fact that Allah WILL answer your prayers" The narration goes on to say, "And realize that Allah does not answer the prayers that come from a heart that is disconnected" So be connected to Allah, and believe He hears and answers your prayers because when your du'a lacks conviction with laziness the Prophet (s) said Allah does not answer such a du'a. Ummar bin Khattab had a beautiful reflection regarding this, he'd say, " I don't worry about accepting prayers, rather I worry about making the prayers" i.e I worry about begging and asking Allah because that is my role, accepting and answering is His job and I let Him do it with full conviction. If we believe in Allah we believe that He takes care of everything and the more I ask the more He answers. 3. Put yourself in a position to succeed We mentioned those beautiful moments when these great men made du'a, crying out to Allah and raising their hands, and their du'as were answered. But at the same time to have our du'as answered we must seek out opportunities when He tells us to ask and there is a better chance of the du'a being accepted. E.g. imagine needing a job really badly, and Allah and the Prophet (s) have said there is a time on Friday when du'as are answered (Ibn Taymiyyah (ra), Hasan Basri (ra) say this is likely between Asr and Maghrib on Friday), "Than I must utilize these times. If I do not show initiative and sincerity in this time how can I expect acceptance?" What are these opportunities: -The day of Friday -Between Adhan and Iqamah -During the last 1/3rd of the night, just before Fajr prayer. It is so important to wake up 10 or 30 minutes before Fajr. Remember instead of checking

facebook, thinking about your day just make du'a! We all need something, and if we don't need something we can't make an excuse that we do not have anything to make du'a for with what is going on in the world -When you are about to break your fast. Instead of looking at the TV or your watch about time, or thinking about your food, just make du'a. -At Fardh prayers Abdullah bin Masud (ra) would tell his family members, "if you have any need save it for the next prayer" Thus after your prayers just sit and connect with Allah. A comment: The commonality in these circumstances is that when we make an extraordinary effort - we fasted extra, we travelled halfway across the world to Hajj, we went to a mosque to pray - this is when du'as are accepted

4. Grovel, beg, cry Often times many of us come from a culture that admires and glorifies arrogance, pride and independence completely - standing tall, holding head up high - and these may be good meanings in many of these other contexts but the problem is that when this is not spiritually framed properly it can be confusing. Regardless of how we deal with people, our relationship with Allah is one of slavery and submission. We are the property of Allah, we are at His mercy, we are dependant on Him, completely. We do not show pride, independance and arrogance in dealing with Allah. If you have a problem with this understand this is something you need to work on. You can't say you have a unique relationship with Allah and you do not function this way. We are ALL beggers infront of Allah, we are all His slaves and property. In the Qur'an Allah says often, " everyone (every living being), all belong to Allah". We are all His property thus. Thus one of the most important principles of making du'a is thus said in the Qur'an, " make du'a to Allah, be humble and do it privately" Why privately? So you can beg and cry because it is no one else's business. We must all make time thus like we make time for everything else in our lives for what is important, we must learn to make private and quality time where we can just talk to Allah so we can truly humble ourselves to Him. A narration that teaches us this is in the Seerah at the Battle of Badr. We talk a lot about the amazing battle itself without talking about the night before this battle. Abu Bakr (ra) walks into the tent of the Prophet (s) and sees him crying with his hands as high as he can, his body fully wet from crying, and his upper garment falling off, and the Prophet (s) is continually asking Allah, " Oh Allah please save them! Oh Allah please save them!" And Abu Bakr narrates that his own tears flowed just by seeing the Prophet (s) beg, and he tells the Prophet (s) that indeed Allah would definitely answer his prayers. And Badr happened the day after as we know it.. More etiquettes of making du'a: - Always include a du'a for Allah to forgive you Another etiquette of du'a is to always in your prayers just ask Allah to forgive you. The Prophet (s) said that whoever continually asks Allah for forgiveness, Allah will find a way out for that person. Thus every time you begin to pray, begin by asking him for forgiveness! " Oh Allah, I messed up please forgive me" - Do not be lazy The Prophet (s) in Sahih Bokhari narrates that, "none of you should ever say in your du'as, 'Oh Allah please forgive me if you feel like it'" Thus do not be casual! Do not do this! Because the Prophet (s) said rather when you make du'a you should insist, beg, plead and cry. - Have wudhu - Sit in the tashahud position - Face the Qiblah Why? Show that you are begging to Allah! Show that, "oh Allah I need You" This is part of showing your desparate need for Allah. 4 Things to Avoid in Du'a (these can prevent our du'as from being accepted)

The Prophet (s) said three things in one hadith to avoid, " the du'as of the slave of Allah are always answered except.." 1. "..When he or she makes a du'a that involves a sin.." This is common sense, but you can not say you want to rob a bank tomorrow and than ask Allah to put blessing into it. At a subtle level, sometimes we ask for something that we know to be wrong; to help win a girl unislamically, to seal a business deal that we know involves haraam, for Allah to protect your store when it deals with haraam etc 2. "..when it involves the destruction of family relationships..." Family relationships in Islam are sacred. In a Hadith Qudsi, Allah says, " Family relationships are sacred, I gave the name to family relationships from my name of Rahim" Thus Allah names our family members a derivative of His attribute of Mercy to prove how sacred they are! So if you sit and make du'a against a family member these du'as will not be accepted, this is a destructive du'a. We are violating the principle of du'a by being unmerciful in our du'as to our family members and ourselves hoping to gain the mercy of Allah. 3. "..as long as he or she does not become impatient.." When asked, the Prophet (s) said this means the person says, " why aren't my du'as being answered and I have made tons of them!" You do not harm Allah when you do this, rather you must understand that you need it. When you say such things your mentality becomes that of hopelessness and this is never our state as Muslims. You must put your faith and trust in Allah. Know that they will be answered in a way best fit for you. 4. The Prophet (s) described a man travelling for a long time, his hair dishevelled, he is poor, his clothes filled with dust (he has received no mercy thus far in his journey) and he finally gets so overwhelmed he raises his hands straight to the sky and says, " My Lord, my Lord, my Lord, please please please! But his food is from the haraam (not just that it is zabihah but where is the money from this coming from?), his drink is from the haraam (again what is the source, not just the drink itself), his clothing is from the haraam (again the source) and his haraam has gone for so long that his body has been nourished through the haraam". And the Prophet (s) says, "poor guy, how are his du'as ever going to be accepted?" Even the Prophet (s) feels for such a man. We may argue that Allah's mercy is endless, but we like to twist things as we wish, we continue to earn money in the Haraam, and than we question why our du'as not accepted!? If you took a survey of our religion and our life, the overwhelming things are permissible with only a few things not allowed. Even in Usul-ul-Fiqh (the principles of Jurisprudence) the default ruling is that of permissibility due to the number of permissible things. Very clear explicit evidence is thus required for something to be impermissible. SubhanAllah, this is the mercy of Allah and after all of this we still retain my cavalier, disrespectful, rebellious attitude to do that one thing Allah told us not to do, think about this. What are our actions showing us of our regard for Allah? If they did it out of ignorance that is different but the problem is the disrespect for Allah's authority. The outcome of Du'a In a beautiful hadith, the Prophet (s) guarantees that as long as somoene is mindful of all the above, anytime a Muslim makes du'a to Allah their du'a is answered in one of three ways: 1. Either that person's du'a is answered immediately 2. Allah gives it to us in the Hereafter We must understand that Allah is not giving us something just to keep us quiet (like a parent would to their children), rather He is looking out for us, so we must think: " if I ask for something that is not good for me here, Allah invests for me in the Hereafter" Hasan Basri (ra) said that, "when a person enters Paradise and he sees the results of his du'as not being answered in this duniya for what he gets in Jannah in exchange, he will wish that none of his du'as were to be answered in this world and all were to be invested in Paradise for him " E.g. someone asks for their dream house over and over again in this life. Imagine a house in Paradise instead, the Prophet (s) says the cement will be musk and the bricks made of gold. The Prophet (s) told Khadija her house in Paradise is a singular pearl, and this one pearl is so huge

the distance between the ground and ceiling is 30,000 feet and the pearl itself has 70,000 rooms. So than ask yourself if Allah has not given you a dream house in this life would it not be better for you in the Hereafter anyway? 3. If what is asked for is not good in this life or the next, Allah will remove some harm from us in exhange for that du'a. In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet (s) tells us that Allah loves us more than our mothers. If a kid asks for a knife, and they yell and cry and scream for it, will the mum still give it? No, they'll be explained this is bad because it is harming their own kid. And this is similar when we ask for things that are not good for us. A Du'a to Learn: 1.

Rabbana la tuzigh quloobana baAAda ith hadaytana wahab lana min ladunka rahmatan innaka anta alwahhabu "Our Lord!" (they say), "Let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us, but grant us mercy from Thine own Presence; for Thou art the Grantor of bounties without measure. Rabbana means our master, who maintains, sustains and creates and guides. La Tuzigh: Zaigh means to be twisted or crooked, thus we ask, " do not make go crooked" Quloobana: Our hearts. The word Qalb literally means something that flips back and forth, over and over again. So we ask Allah to keep our heart firm to Allah's pleasure. Ba'da: after the fact Hadaytana: after you have guided us Wa Habb-lana: what will sustain us to the path of guidance? Gift it to us. Habb comes from hiba meaning gift - we are not deserving oh Allah but we still ask Him. Mil-Ladunka: Your Mercy (in it's common form - meaning at all times and places and in all shapes) Innaka antal Wahab: Most definitely You are the constant giver of gifts. You've given us so much that we shouldn't but you are only capable of giving us Why talk about this du'a? Ramadan was a life changing experience for us. Our priorities, our time management, our relationships, our worsihp all changd. And what is our biggest fear after ramadan? We do not want to lose it, and du'a is our tool. And Allah taught us in the Qur'an this du'a that we can use it to retain our Ramadan habits. See how du'as can become meaningful and practical? Remember, more than anything else we must be able to take du'a from something that is ritualistic and rigid and make it meaningful and personal, it is literally a conversation with Allah. To conclude..

2:186 When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way. Allah tells the Prophet (s) that the people will most definitely ask you about Him. What is unique about this ayah is that Allah responds Himself to those asking directly about how close He is! And Allah continues.. I always answer the call of the caller when he calls out to me Simply put, He could have said, "I answer whenever He calls out to me" but no! He says this in repetition to emphasize. Why does Allah do this? To nudge us to du'a! He repeats "call" as in Du'a. Allah says here, "I answer Du'a when the one making Du'a calls me via Du'a." Thus Allah is always ready to answer. He has limitless ability to give, the question is whether we are asking or

not. So remember: start making du'a as much as you can, all the time and for whatever you need. We talk about sports for hours, and we get awkward in du'a within a few seconds. We can talk to strangers for hours but not to Allah for more than a few seconds. This is wrong and this mentality must be changed.