Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
One of the prescribed methods of making dua is by using Allah’s beautiful names as tawassul (intercession). Allah said in the Quran:
And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. [7:180]
You fall in love with a person only when you know them. In fact, for a really amazing person, the more you know about them, the more you admire and love them.
Allah is above any examples. He is the Perfect Lord. The more you get to know about His beautiful names and attributes, the more you will fall in love with Him. So whenever you have a particular problem or need that you want to tell Allah, you can invoke Him with particular names related to the thing you want.
For example, when feeling very guilty and in need of forgiveness, you call Him by the names At Tawwab, Al Ghafur, Al Afuw and ask for forgiveness. This method is not a conjecture, it has been taught to us by Allah and His Messenger (saws) In this article we will look at some duas from the Quran where Allah teaches us how to call Him by His different names. In the next article we will look at how the Messenger (saws) used to call Allah by His names in sha Allah.
Dua of Ibrahim (as)
When Ibrahim was building the Kabah accompanied by his son Ismael (as), he made the following very beautiful dua, and in each sentence he used different names of Allah related to his dua.
وَإِذْيَرْفَعُإِبْرَاهِيمُالْقَوَاعِدَمِنَالْبَيْتِوَإِسْمَاعِيلُرَبَّنَاتَقَبَّلْمِنَّاۖإِنَّكَأَنتَالسَّمِيعُالْعَلِيمُ o رَبَّنَاوَاجْعَلْنَامُسْلِمَيْنِلَكَوَمِنذُرِّيَّتِنَاأُمَّةًمُّسْلِمَةًلَّكَوَأَرِنَامَنَاسِكَنَاوَتُبْعَلَيْنَاۖإِنَّكَأَنتَالتَّوَّابُالرَّحِيمُ o رَبَّنَاوَابْعَثْفِيهِمْرَسُولًامِّنْهُمْيَتْلُوعَلَيْهِمْآيَاتِكَوَيُعَلِّمُهُمُالْكِتَابَوَالْحِكْمَةَوَيُزَكِّيهِمْۚإِنَّكَأَنتَالْعَزِيزُالْحَكِيمُ .
And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], ‘Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing. Our Lord, and make us Muslims [in submission] to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation [in submission] to You. And show us our rites and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise.’ [2:127-29]
Dua of the Ulul Albab (Men of Undersatnding)
Allah says first of all:
. . . those firm in knowledge say, ‘We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.’ And no one will be reminded except those of understanding. [4:7]
Then Allah mentions these people making this beautiful dua:
رَبَّنَالَاتُزِغْقُلُوبَنَابَعْدَإِذْهَدَيْتَنَاوَهَبْلَنَامِنلَّدُنكَرَحْمَةًۚإِنَّكَأَنتَالْوَهَّابُ
[Who say], ‘Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower. [3:8]
Al Wahhab means ‘the Giver of Gifts’. In this dua we are asking Allah to give us the gift of His mercy, and the best gift is to be able to walk and stay on the Straight Path and not deviate from it.
Those who are students of knowledge should especially make this dua all the time, so that we do not become from those ghayril maghdubi alaihim mentioned in surah Fatiha.
Surat An Naas
قُلْأَعُوذُبِرَبِّالنَّاسِoمَلِكِالنَّاسoإِلَٰهِالنَّاس
Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, The Sovereign of mankind. The God of mankind… [114]
In this last surah of the Quran, we seek refuge from our most harmful enemy – shaytan. He is such an enemy who doesn’t harm us physically but rather makes us harm ourselves. In the Day of Judgment we won’t be able to say ‘Shaytan made us do this and that sin’ because we were able to stop ourselves from doing those sins, but we just couldn’t resist shaytan’s whispered suggestions. That’s why he is the most harmful enemy – he can make us end up in Hellfire. So we seek refuge in Allah, calling by three of His beautiful names – Rabb (Master), Malik (King), and Ilah (Deity).
Dua of Adam (as)
When Adam (as) was sent down to earth, Allah gave him this amazing gift– a dua to ask for forgiveness for his sin.
قَالَارَبَّنَاظَلَمْنَاأَنفُسَنَاوَإِنلَّمْتَغْفِرْلَنَاوَتَرْحَمْنَالَنَكُونَنَّمِنَالْخَاسِرِينَ
They said, ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.’ [7:23]
Adam is our father since we all descended from him. This dua is an inheritance to us from Adam.
Many of the duas Allah taught us start with Rabb. It is one of the most comprehensive names of Allah.
Dua of the Angels
This is one of my favourite duas. It is especially important for students of knowledge. It makes you humbly admit in front of Allah that no matter how knowledgeable and wise you feel you have become, it is nothing compared to the infinite knowledge and wisdom of Al Alim Al Hakeem.
قَالُواسُبْحَانَكَلَاعِلْمَلَنَاإِلَّامَاعَلَّمْتَنَاۖإِنَّكَأَنتَالْعَلِيمُالْحَكِيمُ
They said, ‘Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise.’ [2:32]
To talk to Allah while making dua in Arabic, we need to understand what we’re saying. Take this 9 hours course on learning 50% of the Quran.
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