Parables of the Qur’an

Episode Twenty Two

Amr Khaled

About Ramadan

In the name of Allah^[1], The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful. All praises be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. All prayers and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger of Allah (SAWS)^[2].

Now we are in the last ten days in Ramadan, a time in which people exert much effort to perform acts of obedience and worship to Allah. Consequently, today we will keep away from Qur’anic fables to experience with this episode a faithful and spiritual state, in line with the value of these days of Ramadan. Personally, I take the opportunity of this episode to meet Ramadan's needs. That is why neither I nor the audience feels while recording this episode that we are in a studio, in front of cameras. In fact, we feel that we are in a divine circle of faith, surrounded by the angels and united in worshipping Allah.

Supplications as a Worship:

When I thought about which act of worship would be suitable for performing together on this program on a night of Ramadan, I found that Dua'a (supplications) to be the most appropriate. Although it was mentioned in previous episodes, I refer to it again as one of the prerequisites of Ramadan. We already supplicate to Allah at the end of every episode, but today there will be plenty more supplications, for there is a big difference between supplicating to Allah while understanding the essence of Dua'a and supplicating without any understanding of this act. This distinction is what makes for a heart-felt and powerful dua'a.

Ramadan and Supplications:

A man once came to the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and asked him: Is Allah faraway so we should call out for Him, or near so we can talk softly and privately to Him? Before the Prophet (SAWS) replied, Allah revealed the following ayah^[3] which can be translated as, "And when My bondmen ask you concerning Me, then, surely I am near; I answer the invocation of the invoker when he invokes Me..." (TMQ, 2:186)^[4].

Thus, all the questions in the Qur'an are expressed as: "And they ask you concerning the Inviolable month, say..."," And they ask you concerning menstruation, say...", "They ask you concerning the new moons (Literally: crescents), say..."

Here, the word "say" in the questions is necessary. However, in the aforementioned ayah there is no mediator between us and Allah, so He answers us directly. See the affection and intimacy manifested in His reply (SWT)^[5]: "Then, surely I am near".

Then, He says: "…when he invokes me", meaning when He chooses to do so. This ayah came amidst the fasting ayahs.

Invoke Me and I will respond to you:

Whenever the companions heard: “Oh you who have believed”, they turned all ears to listen to the ayah.

So, do you become all ears when you hear "…when My bondmen ask you concerning Me..." knowing that Allah is addressing you? Following this ayah, Allah says what can be translated as, "And your Lord has said, “Invoke Me and I will respond to you..." (TMQ, 40:60).

There is no promise like this, for Allah does not simply ask us to invoke Him but also assures us that He will answer our invocation. Allah gives us the empowering worship of dua'a just like a soldier who is given a weapon by his commander to guard himself when in danger (surely, to Allah belongs the utmost example of perfection).

There is a Hadith Qudsy^[6] that says: "Oh My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you, Oh My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. Oh My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. Oh My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. Oh My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it."

Further, note the Prophet's (SAWS)’s hadith^[7]: "Du'a is worship"; then what is worship? It means humility and submission to Allah. It is a feeling that you are a servant and He is the God. You could pray but never enjoy this feeling due to a defect in your soul, or fast but not feel it due to your distractedness. Nevertheless, it is impossible to raise your hands in supplication saying: "I am in need, grant me my need" or "I am afraid and distressed, rescue me" without experiencing the feeling of servitude.

The Prophet also says: "He who doesn't invoke Allah, brings upon himself His anger", and Allah says in the Qur'an what can be translated as:

"And your Lord has said, “Invoke Me and I will respond to you. Surely the ones who are too proud to do Me worship will soon enter Hell utterly abject." (TMQ, 40:60).

The Prophet said: "Allah favors those who nag in supplications", referring to those who never tire of repeating their supplications over and over again.

Additionally, the Prophet (SAWS) told us: "Don't feel powerless when you're supplicating to Allah, no one perishes when he supplicates".

All these ahadeeth and ayahs are important in illustrating that we are servants of Allah "The Almighty", and He never accepts that His servants bow their heads to any other creature.

One of the followers named Hamad Ibn-Maslama was once walking on a rainy night in Baghdad when he heard a woman talking inside her house, saying: "Oh Allah, Thou art Compassionate so bestow Your compassion upon us; Thou art the Gentle so lend us Your Gentleness, Thou art the Rescuer so rescue us". He felt that she was unable to go out because of the heaviness of the rain, so he bought her food and gave it to her. She said: "who are you?" he answered: "Hamad" and left right away. Her daughter said: "Mom, why did you raise your voice? You made Hamad a mediator between us and The Lord. The mother said: "My dear, I did not raise my voice, but The Compassionate bestowed on us His compassion by sending Hamad to our cottage."

Invoke Allah and say: “Oh Allah, The Ever-Affluent, who helps the poor but You? Oh Allah, The Ever-Powerful, who helps the weak but you? Oh Allah, The Almighty, who helps the downtrodden but You?"

The Prophet (SAWS) used to raise his hands up, stretched and opened when he was supplicating to Allah, and when his dua'a was for a matter that concerned the Muslims he would stretch his hands until the whiteness of his armpit showed. The Prophet said: "Allah is Bashful and Generous, He does not like to let someone go empty-handed after he stretched his hands in supplications".

The Prophet (SAWS) said that Allah the Almighty said: "I am as My servant expects Me to be". So, what do you think Allah will do to you? Let it be, that He will forgive us and will answer our prayers. Let us trust Allah.

Another hadith says: "Allah (Ta`ala) goes down to the lowest sky in the last third of the night and calls out: Is there someone who seeks forgiveness so I forgive him, is there a repentant so I grant him repentance; is there someone needy so I give him his need?" The Prophet says that this happens every night.

The companions used to prepare themselves for Ramadan by organizing a set of supplications that they memorize and would agree on a number of times to repeat them. They swore that they kept on supplicating over and over; and Allah granted them their wishes before the following Ramadan.

From my personal experience, all the major transformations and good happenings that took place in my life were answers to my Ramadan prayers. I have waited for 10 years to have a child, and Allah answered my prayer after a fervent dua'a on the Day of Arafat.After that I came across a lot of people who shared the same experience, who were granted this miracle from Allah.

In the Qur'an, Zakaria said what can be translated as, "...And I have not been wretched in invoking you, Lord!" (TMQ, 19:4)

The Qur'an and Dua'a:

The Qur'an is pregnant with a lot of difficult-to-realize, even impossible supplications. For example, at an age where technology was nonexistent, Solaiman (AS) (Solomon) said:"Oh Allah, grant me a dominion that no one after me will hope to have". Was this prayer realized or not? Yes, it was and until now it is plain to see. As for Prophet Ibrahim (AS) (Abraham), who said in the Qur'an what can be translated as:

"And as Ibrahîm said, “Lord! Make this a secure land, and provide its population with (various) products..."  (TMQ, 2:126), thousands of years later, you can still behold the riches in Mecca and say subhan Allah (Glorified be Allah) the One, who answers all prayers.

Prophet Noah (AS)'s prayer was delayed for 950 years, on the other hand, until he said to Allah, "I am overcome, so vindicate me. Then We opened the gates of the heaven to torrential water, and We made the earth to erupt forth springs, so the waters met for a Command already estimated."  (TMQ, 54:10-12).

In addition to this, there was also Yunus (AS) (Jonah)'s prayer when he was in the whale's belly. He said in the Qur'an what can be translated as, "Then he called out in the darkness (Literally: darkenesses) (saying), “There is no god except You. All Extolment be to You! Surely, I have been of the unjust. So We responded to him and safely delivered him from suffering..."  (TMQ, 21:87-88).

Prophet Zakariya (AS) (Zechariah) said in the Qur'an what can be translated as:

"He said, “Lord! Surely the bone (s) within me have become feeble, and my head is turned white with hoary (hair) (Literally: is aflame with hoary “hair”) and I have not been wretched in invoking you, Lord! "(TMQ, 19:4).

No dua'a is turned down, for Allah is The Supreme-Answerer, The All-Hearing, The All-Seeing. Therefore, renew the hope in your soul and prepare your supplications for the last ten days Ramadan.

The Quran and Supplication (dua’a)

The Quran is filled with various types of supplications, such as the supplication of Prophet Solaiman (AS) (Solomon) during a time with no technology, "… bestow on me a kingdom such as may not behoove anyone even after me…”" (TMQ, 38:35). We can clearly see that his supplication was fulfilled simply by looking at the technology around us today.

Another example is Prophet Ibrahim's (AS) (Abraham) supplication: "And as Ibrahîm said, “Lord! Make this a secure land, and provide its population with (various) products…" (TMQ, 2:126).

Go to Makkah and see how long the effect of this supplication was. It was made such a long time ago but Allah (SWT)[8] has kept it fulfilled to this day.

The same applies to Prophet Noah (AS)’s supplication, which had to wait for 950 years until Allah (SWT) finally answered his prayers.

"So, he invoked his Lord, (saying), “I am overcome, so vindicate me!” Then We opened the gates of the heaven to torrential water, And We made the earth to erupt forth springs, so the waters met for a Command already estimated." (TMQ, 54:10-12)

Similarly with Prophet Yunus' (AS) (Jonah) supplication in the whale’s stomach, "…Then he called out in the darkness (Literally: darkenesses) (saying), “There is no god except You. All Extolment be to You! Surely, I have been of the unjust.”" (TMQ, 21:87)

Therefore, we should pay importance to our supplications and have full faith and certainty that they will be fulfilled by Allah (SWT). Even Prophet Zakariya (AS) (Zechariah)’s supplication was fulfilled with certainty.

"He said, “Lord! Surely the bone (s) within me have become feeble, and my head is turned white with hoary (hair) (Literally: is aflame with hoary “hair”) and I have not been wretched in invoking you, Lord! And surely I fear my patronized (relatives) beyond me, (i.e., after I am gone) and my wife is barren. So bestow upon me, from very close to You, a constant patron (Some take it to mean a nephew or kinsman)" (TMQ, 19:45)

One of Allah’s Beautiful names is The Supreme-Answerer (Al Mujeeb), so all supplications are guaranteed to be answered with no doubt. Even Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) used to say I don’t worry about Allah answering the supplication, but I worry about being able to supplicate, so if I was inspired and made the supplication, Allah will answer it.

Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) once said that if the doors for supplication open to someone then the doors of paradise will open for him.

Therefore, your main concern should be the supplication rather than the end result as that is not in your hands.

Satan and Supplication

Do you remember how many of your supplications were answered by Allah (SWT)? That is the big problem. Unfortunately, Satan makes us forget the answered supplications, because he knows that dua’a is an extremely powerful weapon for us.

Preferred Hours of Supplication

·        Last ten days of Ramadan

·        Last third of the night

·        The Night of Determination

·        When breaking your fast

^·          During hajj^[9] and umrah^[10]

Subhan Allah (Glorified be Allah); note that no matter how many of we millions supplicate to Allah (SWT) simultaneously during these blessed hours, He listens to all of us and answers all our supplications.

Supplication Conditions

1.      Certainty that Allah (SWT) will definitely answer and fulfill all our supplications

2.      Submissiveness during supplication

3.      Patience

4.      Eating from lawful (halal) income

Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) said Allah is Good and only accepts that which is good, then he mentioned a man who has traveled on a long journey and is disheveled and covered with dust; he stretches forth his hands to the heaven, (saying) “O Lord, O Lord”, but his food is haram (unlawful), his drink is haram, all his nourishment is haram, so how can his du`a' be accepted?

There are certain moments when you feel very close to Allah (SWT) and these moments are the best times for supplication, just as Prophet Zakariya (AS)’s supplication, "Thereover Zakariyya (Zechariah) invoked his Lord (and) said, “Lord! Bestow upon me from very close to You a goodly offspring. Surely You are The Ever-Hearer of invocation.” So, the Angels called out to him (as) he was upright praying in the Chamber, ” Allah gives you the good tidings of Yahya, (John) sincerely (verifying previous scriptures) with a Word from Allah, and a master, and chaste, and a Prophet, one of the righteous.”" (TMQ, 3:38-39).

Translated by: The English Convoy – Dar al-Tarjama

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