Du’a is important in the life of a Muslim. The Servant of Allah is always in need of his Lord, hence, Du’as are made to supplicate from Him. However, Du’as are to be made correctly as established by the Qur’an and Sunnah in line with the understanding of the pious predecessors.
The following are best Du’a practices;
1) PRAISE ALLAH AS HE DESERVES BEFORE ASKING
Fadaalah ibn ‘Ubayd RA said: Whilst the Messenger of Allaah SAW was sitting, a man came in and prayed and said, “O Allaah, forgive me and have mercy on me.”
The Messenger of Allaah SAW said,
“You have been too hasty, O worshipper.
When you have prayed and are sitting, praise Allaah as He deserves to be praised, and send blessings upon me, then call upon Him.”
Al-Tirmidhi (3476)
2) SEND SALUTATIONS UPON THE PROPHET (PEACE BE UPON HIM)
The Prophet SAW said: “Every du’a is kept back until you send blessings upon the Prophet SAW”
Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Awsat, 1/220; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 4399.
3) RAISING THE HANDS
Salman said,” The Messenger of Allaah SAW said: “Your Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, is Kind and Most Generous, and He is too kind to let His slave, if he raises his hands to Him, bring them back empty.”
Classed as saheeh by Shaykh
al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 1320.
NB: Hands should be raised on other occasions except during obligatory prayers. It is not from the sunnah to raise hands to make du’a after obligatory prayers and it’s also not from the sunnah to spittle on your palm and wipe your face after making du’a. From the sunnah, the spittle into your palm and rubbing on your body is done after the adhkar for sleeping is done and for ruqiya purposes. What is done after obligatory prayers are the adhkars that were reported that the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) asked us to do. You can check Hisnul Muslim or Muslim Pro app. You make du’a in your sujud and before taslim in the last tashahud when observing obligatory prayers. In a few cases, you can also make du’a after taslim but this shouldn’t be done frequently and you shouldn’t raise your hands.
4) ASK ALLAH BY HIS MOST BEAUTIFUL NAMES
Allaah says :
“And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allaah, so call on Him by them,
and leave the company of those who belie or deny (or utter impious speech against) His Names”
5) Do not shout while making du’a. Make it silently with humility.
“Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret”.
Q7:55
“And remember your Lord within yourself, humbly and with fear and without loudness in words in the mornings and in the afternoons”
Q 7:205
6) ASK WITH CERTAINTY
The Prophet SAW said: “No one of you should say, ‘O Allaah, forgive me if You wish, O Allaah, have mercy on me if You wish’; he should be firm in his asking, for Allaah cannot be compelled.”
Bukhaari, 6339 and Muslim, 2679.
7) DO NOT BE HASTY
The Prophet SAW said: “The slave will receive a response so long as his du’aa’ does not involve sin or severing of family ties, and so long as he is not hasty.” It was said, “What does being hasty mean?”
He said: “When he says, ‘I made du’aa’ and I made du’aa’, and I have not seen any response,’ and he gets frustrated and stops making du’aa’.”
Bukhari, 6340 and Muslim, 2735
NB: If an individual cannot pray in Arabic, the individual should make du’a in his language but the best forms of Du’a are the ones revealed in the Quran and Sunnah.
The prescriptions some Malams/Alfas give are not from the sunnah. They ascribe certain numbers to some names of Allah, some verses of the Quran and some dhikr. It’s not from the sunnah but the ways of some deviant sects. They have written books on prayers and ascribed numbers to them which are not from the sunnah and reported lots of fabricated ahadith in respect to those du’as. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) never did that neither did his companions.
Sheikh Ibn Al-Uthaymeen رحمه الله said:
“When the people began neglecting the regular Dua and Dhikr from the Sharia, then the Jinn increased a lot among them, and the Jinn mocked and played around with them.”
[Liqa Al-Baab Al-Maftooh (No. 197)]Sunnah of Adhkar.
• No use of beads(Counter)
• Be discreet
• Not doing it in the congregation
• The Adhkar that have a Fixed number, Use your fingers to count.
• Usually Maximum of a 100 times and you can add more without counting.
• Majority of Adhkar don’t have limit, so do as much as you can without having a specific number to it.
Allahu A’alam
Shukrah Ibrahim
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