The Seagull continued, "Verily, man has been created for a noble and great purpose and that he may worship Allah alone, without any partners. And the greatest and most noble form of worship is du'a." Sparrow asked, "What is du'a?" Seagull said, "Du'a is the essence of worship. Du a is a noble, spiritual form of worship which allows the created to appreciate the majesty and eminence of the Creator. It is amongst the greatest acts of worship, and one of the best ways to bring a worshipper closer to Allah.
The word du'a is the verbal noun (masdar) of the verb da'a which signifies to call out, to summon. Al-Khattabi said: "The meaning of du'a is the servant's asking his Lord for His Help, and asking His continued support. Its essence is that a person shows his neediness to Allah, and frees himself from any power or ability to change (any matter by himself). This characteristic is the mark of servitude, and in it is the feeling of human submissiveness. Du a also carries the meaning of praising Allah, and attributing to Him Generosity and Bounteousness."
Ibn al-Qayyim defined it as, "Asking what is of benefit to the person, and asking the removal of what is harming him, or (asking) the repelling of it (before it afflicts him)".
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has said: "Verily, your Lord has said: "Call upon Me, and I will answer you! " Those who are arrogant to worship Allah will enter Hell, humiliated!""
Allah has commanded us to ask Him and petition Him, and counted those who do not ask Him among those who are too arrogant to worship Allah. From this, it is understood that du a is among the acts of worship, and this meaning was explicitly stated by the Prophet (ﷺ). Nu'man ibn Bashir reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Du'a is worship".
When one makes a du'a to Allah, one is implicitly acknowledging that Allah exists, and that He is the true Lord. The person so doing is stating by his actions that Allah controls all matters, for only Allah has the power and capability to respond to his du'a. He is admitting that Allah is the Nourisher, Sustainer, Creator and Master of the entire creation, and all of this is the essence of Tawhid al-Rububiyyah.
Du a also necessitates that only Allah deserves to be worshipped (Tawhid al-Uluhiyyah), for if only Allah has complete control over creation, and if only He can respond to the call of the one in distress, then only He deserves our complete submission and worship.
Du a also obligates that Allah has the most Perfect Names and Attributes (Tawhid al-Asma wa al-Sifat). For only He can hear the whispering plea of the servant, no matter where the servant is, and only He can understand the situation that the servant is in. His knowledge is far more complete than the knowledge of the servant himself concerning the plight that he is in. Likewise, only Allah has the complete power and ultimate authority in granting what the servant desires.
So du'a is a powerful indication of tawhid in all of its three aspects.
Sparrow asked, "Are there any type of duas?" Seagull said,"Du'a can be categorised in a variety of ways, depending on the perspective that one is using. When one examines the texts of the Qur'an and sunnah, one finds that there are two types of duas that are mentioned. The first type, which is the one that most people are familiar with, is known as du'a al-mas'alah, or the du'a of asking. This is when a person asks to be given something that is of benefit to him, or asks that some harm be removed from him. So the worshipper asks Allah to fulfil a need; for example, he says, "O Allah! Grant me good in this world, and good in the Hereafter!" So this is an example of du'a al-mas'alah.
The second type of du a is known as du'a al- ibadah, or the du'a of worship. This is a very broad concept, for every single act of worship includes in it this type of du'a. Every praise that a person pronounces, every prayer that he performs, is done with an intrinsic plea and cry that emanates from the heart of every believer: "O Allah! I am doing this act of worship because you are All-Mighty and Powerful! You are the only one that deserves all types of praise! O Allah! Accept this act from me!" Therefore, when a person says, ' Alhamdulillah or 'SubhanAllah, this can be taken to be examples of du'a al- ibadah. When a person prays the salat, or gives zakat, or fasts, all of these are examples of dua al-ibadah.
These two types of duas are inherently related to one another. Every du a al-masalah intrinsically contains a du'a al-ibadah, and every du'a al-ibadah necessitates a du'a al-masalah.
When the Muslim prays, "O Allah! Bless me with pious off-spring", then this is a clear example of a du'a al-mas 'alah, as he is asking for some benefit. However, this simple du'a implies, without him saying anything, that Allah is the One Who hears his prayer, and responds to it, and He is the One that gives sustenance, and blesses people with offspring. It implies that Allah is the Ever-Living, the Giver of life, the Ever-Merciful who responds to His servants. This simple du'a necessitates that the person who makes it attributes to Allah many beautiful and perfect attributes. Thus, this du'a al-masalah intrinsically contains du a al-ibadah at the same time.
When a person says, 'La hawla wa la quwwata ilia billah', this expression, is du'a al- ibadah, as nothing is actually being asked from Allah. However, this expression necessitates that a person make du'a al-mas'alah to Allah. When a person affirms that there is no power, nor is it possible to change anything, except with the Will and Permission of Allah, then this automatically necessitates that he ask Allah, and only Allah, whenever he wishes to achieve something. So, this du'a al- ibadah necessitates du'a al-mas'alah.
Whenever the word 'du a occurs in the Qur'an and Sunnah, it has one of three possibilities: it either refers to both types of du'a, or it refers to du'a al-mas'alah, or it refers to du'a al- ibadah.
Du'a is, by its very nature, a call or request to another being. Therefore, it is possible to categorise du'a with respect to the one being asked, for it is possible that the one that is being asked is Allah, and it is possible that it is a false deity. It is also possible that the person making du a combines du'a al-mas'alah and du'a al-ibadah to the same deity at all times, or he differentiates between them. So this leads to four categories of people. The first category are those people who worship other than Allah, and call out to these others at all times. These people do not acknowledge Allah as the Lord or One that deserves worship.
The second category are those who believe in Allah, and worship Him, yet never ask anything of Him. Instead, basing their idea on perverted logic, they use intermediaries in order to approach Allah, and ask these intermediaries to bless them with what they need.
The third category are those people who believe in Allah, and worship Him, but only turn to Him at times of severity. When they are in extremely desperate situations, they combine their du'a al-ibadah and du'a al-mas'alah to Allah, but at times of ease, they call out to other than Allah.
The last category are the true Muslims, those that always combine du'a al-ibadah and du'a al-mas'alah and direct it to Allah, and only to Allah. So they direct their worship, prayer, and charity, to Allah, and they turn to Him only for all of their needs.
Du'a is the most noble act in the sight of Allah, all Glory and Praise be to Him. This is due to the fact that du'a is a means of showing one's poverty and incapability to Allah. It is a manner of humiliating one's self to Allah and acknowledging the power and capabilities of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
When a person realises that everything that occurs is by the Will and Power of Allah, then he also realise that the best way to achieve any goal is to ask Allah, Afterall, the wise man is he who makes the best plan to arrive at his destination, and uses the optimum means to achieve his goal.
One of the duas that has been guaranteed a response is the du'a that a Muslim makes for his Muslim brother in his absence. This is because such a du'a is a clear sign of love and solidarity between Muslims. The fact that a person remembers another Muslim in his absence, and raises his hands to Allah to make a special du'a for him, clearly proves that he wants only good for him. It demonstrates the concern and care that he has for his fellow Muslims.
Du'a is the cure for all of diseases. Diseases are of two types: physical, and spiritual. Physical diseases are the sicknesses that man faces from time to time, such as fever and other aches and pains of the body. Spiritual diseases, or diseases of the soul, can also be divided into two categories: diseases of doubt and diseases of desires. All the problems relating to the soul stem from these two types of disease.
The diseases of desires are those impermissible urges and cravings that afflict a person that he does not have the power to fight or overcome. So the one that steals only does so because he is too weak to control his desire for money, and does not have the iman necessary to limit himself to permissible methods of earning money. Likewise, the one who fornicates only does so due to a weakness in his faith that causes him to leave permissible methods of satisfying his desires and to follow impermissible avenues.
The diseases of doubts are those diseases that occur due to misconceptions or misunderstandings. Such misconceptions could be intentional or unintentional. So, for example, when some ignorant Muslims make du a to other than Allah, it is due to the fact that they have not understood the concept of du'a, and not appreciated Allah's Names and Attributes. Therefore, they turn to others, ascribing them with Attributes only Allah deserves.
Du'a is the cure for all of these diseases. As for diseases of the body, then it is clear that a person prays to Allah to cure him of any physical affliction or ailment that he is suffering from. As for diseases of desires, the way that a person removes them is by turning to Allah, praying that Allah grants him the iman that is necessary for avoiding the sins that he is doing. By realising that only Allah can grant him such an increase, he is automatically showing his trust and hope in Allah, and in the process increasing his iman. As for diseases of doubt, the way for a person to cure them is by sincerely praying to Allah to grant him guidance, and to bless him with proper iman y and an understanding of the Qur'an and Sunnah.
When a person makes du a, he finds in this du'a a way out of the problems he is facing. No matter how great the problem is, he realises that there is an exit from this problem through du'a. So his spirits are lifted, and he is optimistic about his situation. Du a gives him hope, and increases his trust in Allah's mercy. It opens up a door that shows him the escape from the cage of problems that he is in, and it lights up the path that grants him an exit from his darkness.
The person who makes du'a sincerely opens up a new 'relationship' with Allah that did not exist before he started his du'a. He calls upon Allah, sincerely, with his full heart, concentrating on his du'a, believing that Allah is hearing him, hoping Allah's response, and fearing its delay. He calls upon Allah with His most beautiful Names and Attributes, perhaps realising for the first time the true meaning and application of these Names and Attributes. His iman increases, as his hopes and fears increase, and his love of Allah also increases. At the same time, he remembers his sins, for sins are like closed doors that prevent the du'a from being responded to, and he fears that, because of these sins, his du'a will be rejected. So he repents to Allah, and changes his life, striving to please Allah, realising that only Allah can change his situation, and thus, in the process, he develops a new relationship with Allah. "
Seagull then said, "O my brothers and sisters, it is desirable to only attach ones hope to Allah' and not to fear oppression and wrong-doing from Him for Allah does not oppress the servant in the slightest, instead it is they who oppress themselves. He should, however, fear that Allah recompense him for his sins. Du'a is a plea from the very heart of a believer directed towards Allah — the Hearer of all things, the Knower of all secrets. It is a confession that emanates from the heart of a believer that he is weak and helpless, that he cannot achieve anything without Allah's help and aid. It is an implicit affirmation of every single Name and Attribute of Allah, for it affirms that Allah is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Controller of all Affairs, the Hearer, the Seer, the Merciful, the Great, the All-Powerful, the Ever-Capable. And Allah knows best."
Reference :"And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided." - [QS 2:186]
- Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, Du'a The Weapon of the Believer, Al-Hidaayah
