As Ramadan rushes through, we are more and more entrenched in the barakah that the holy month brings. Suddenly, when reading a page of the Quran a day was tough, we are reading 20 or even 30 pages. Suddenly when just praying Sunnah prayers felt cumbersome, we are praying many rakats of Taraweeh, and some of us are even topping up with Tahajjud every night as well!
In the most blessed of months, when we celebrate the worship of Allah, we also do what is one of the greatest forms of worship— dua. The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “Dua is Ibadah” [1]— because dua encompasses our neediness before Allah and we request our wishes only from Allah, knowing fully well that Allah is the only source of bounty.
The Prophet also mentioned that when a believer raises his hands and asks Allah, Allah, Owner of Majesty and Honour, is shy to return our hands empty! [2] In fact, Allah Himself says in the Quran, Call on Me and I will answer you; those who are too proud to serve Me will enter Hell humiliated. [3]
First, He promises a response, and secondly, He calls those who do not make dua proud and arrogant and says He will banish them to Hell! So, in this blessed month of Ramadan, how can we actually increase our chances of having our dua accepted?
1. Pick the times of the day when dua is accepted
Allah out of His mercy and benevolence has specified specific times in the day when He accepts dua. This is so that we strive extra hard to make dua during those times. A few of the times when duas are accepted are
- Dua in the last 3rd of the night, when we wake up for suhoor [4]
- After the obligatory prayers [5]
- Between the adhaan and the iqamah [6]
- When it is raining [7]
- When in sajdah (prostration) [8]
- Dua after the 4 rakat Sunnah prayers before Dhuhr [9]
- Dua while fasting [10]
- Dua while breaking fast [11]
- Dua after wudhu [12]
Let us strive to make it a point to try and make dua especially in these times of the day
2. Follow the Proper Etiquette of Dua
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has taught us some etiquettes to be made while making dua. He said, When anyone of you makes du’a, let him start by glorifying his Lord and praising Him, then let him send blessings upon the Prophet, then let him pray for whatever he wants. [13]
He also said, Du’a is detained between the heavens and the earth and no part of it is taken up until you send blessings upon your Prophet. [14] Make it a habit to praise Allah, glorify Him, and also send blessings upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam (commonly known as durood).
Another practice which increases the likelihood of having our dua accepted is to call upon Allah by His beautiful names and attributes, as Allah says, The Most Excellent Names belong to God: use them to call on Him. [15]
So if you are asking for forgiveness ask, Al-Ghafoor (The Most Forgiving). If you are in need of Allah’s generosity ask Al-Kareem (The Most Generous) and Al-Wahhab (The Bestower of Gifts). In the Understand Quran Blog there are a series of articles on Allah’s names that can be accessed here.
3. Obey Allah and Avoid Sin
While Allah has mentioned that He will answer everyone’s duas, He also has the right to say “no” based on His knowledge and wisdom. One of the key things in improving our success rate of dua is to obey Allah. Allah says in the Quran, When My slaves ask you concerning Me, I am indeed Near, I respond to the call of the caller when He calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me that they may be guided. [16]
While Allah mentions that He responds to the call of the caller, He ends the ayah by asking them to respond to His call— to believe in Allah and the Last Day and to do good deeds. Increasing our worship and love of Allah is a sure-fire way to quicken the response to our duas.
Learn the meanings of the beautiful duas we make in prayer, and learn the language of the Quran, for the best of speech is the Quran and therefore the best of duas are the duas of the Quran. Enroll today at UnderstandQuran.com’s 50% of the Quranic words course.
[1] Narrated by Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah
[2] Narrated by Abu Dawud
[3] Quran 40:60
[4] Narrated by Bukhari and Tirmidhi
[5] Narrated by Tirmidhi
[6] Narrated by Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi
[7] Narrated by Abu Dawud
[8] Narrated by Muslim
[9] Narrated by Tirmidhi
[10] Narrated by al-Bayhaqi and at-Tirmidhi
[11] Narrated by Ahmad and Tirmidhi
[12] Narrated by Ahmad, Tirmidhi and an-Nasa’i
[13] Narrated by Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi
[14] Narrated by Tirmidhi
[15] Quran 7:180
[16] Quran 2:186
