duʿā | Devotion to the Almighty
Regarding this matter, the
blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations and peace) has been
narrated to have said, “A duʿā is but the worship of Allāh.”[1]
After which he recited, “And your Lord says: “Call upon Me, I will answer you;
surely those who are too proud for My service shall soon enter hell abased.” (Qur’ān
[40:60]).
Here we touch upon two important
things: ʿibādah (worship) and ʿijz (humbleness). It must be remembered that
there is not just one method of worship, there are many and no matter what form
is practised, it must be embedded with humbleness. It is an attitude that we
need to constantly immerse ourselves in, otherwise, the essential nature and
spirit of worship is lost.
This interconnection of ʿibādah
and ʿijz is perfectly reflected in ṣalāh (the daily ritual prayer). Scholars
reveal that in the history of all forms of physical worship and expression of
humbleness, the most beloved to Allāh is prostration. This is because when one
makes sujūd (prostration) our feet (considered by some as the foundation of our
body), our knees (what keep us upright), our hands (with which we can work),
nose (an object of beauty upon one’s face) and the forehead (a point of respect)
all touch the ground simultaneously, or so they should. The ṣalāh embodies this
perfectly as one of the key features of ṣalāh is the sujūd and it comes as no
surprise that from all the constituent elements of ṣalāh, it is the sujūd that
is repeated twice whilst all others are just performed once. Another important
reason why ṣalāh relates to duʿā is because one of the linguistic meanings to ṣalāh
is duʿā; and so, in the very essence of this ʿibādah resides not only ʿijz
through practise but also the invocation of Allāh which He himself has
commanded us to do. Therefore, ṣalāh is the perfect amalgamation of ʿibādah and
ʿijz expressed in a single sitting. Furthermore, the importance of worship and
humbleness (especially worship with humbleness) is so great that one of the,
known, gifts Allāh gave His beloved (upon him and his family salutations and
peace) on the laylah al-miʿrāj (night of ascension was the ṣalāh), which as
indicated earlier, is bejewelled with ʿibādah and ʿijz.
Hence, not invoking Allāh in your
time of need is an act of kibr (pride). Take heed, therefore, that in the
presence of Allāh, pride is indeed a great act of foolery with extraordinary
repercussions. Thus, it would mean that when one is in need, one must raise
one’s hands and invoke their Lord. One must express one’s needs in the presence
of the Almighty and cry out to Him in a state of utter helplessness. One must
not feel abased whilst in this state and should in fact ask for as much as one
can knowing that the supreme provider is Allāh and no one or nothing else. He
is the al-Qādir (the All Able) and can give whatever He likes, to whomever He
likes, whenever He likes. There are no boundaries upon His qudrah (ability and
power). His divinity has no dependency whilst everything He created is
dependent upon Him. When one spreads one’s hands with all the above in mind,
with the belief that the Lord is listening to every word one is uttering
attentively, which He surely does as He is al-Samīʿ (the All Hearing), this act
becomes one of the most beautiful forms of ʿibādah, and so, the Lord is
pleased. The ocean of His mercy becomes excited and the spray from His waves of
compassion begin to shower His ʿabd (slave). The more one invocates their Lord,
at that moment, the greater His beneficence rushes to His seeker. So do not
lose this wonderful opportunity by giving wind to the fire of arrogance that
only shayṭān (Satan) lights a match to and burns all deeds like a wild forest
fire. This angers the Almighty. Indeed Allāh is more merciful than He is a Lord
of wrath, so invoke His pleasure and not His fury.
Blessed is he who is fortunate
enough to invoke Allāh’s mercy, as, indeed, the blessed Prophet (upon him and
his family salutations and peace) once said, “For whomever one of you, duʿā has
been opened,[2]
the doors of acceptance have been opened for them.”[3]
In another narration, the blessed Prophet (upon him and his family salutations
and peace) was narrated to have said, “... [t]he doors of heaven have been
opened for them.”[4]
And in another, “... [t]he doors of mercy have been opened for them and Allāh
has never been asked anything better than the wellbeing of one’s self.”[5]
Thus, what now becomes clear is that making duʿā to Allāh is in itself a great
blessing. Even if one asks nothing from Allāh but for one’s self, so long as
one raises one’s hands to Him, Allāh opens up various doors to various
blessings. One must therefore take heed to this matter and make an effort at
all times. Allāh’s Presence and Mercy knows no limits or bounds. It is for us
to ask and for Him to give. Verily Allāh is the Most Merciful, Most
Compassionate.
Twitter | @hqmaasim
Facebook | @hqmaasim
[1]
Tirmidhī, Abū Dāwūd, Nisā’ī, Ibn Mājah, Ḥākim & Aḥmad.
[2]
i.e. whoever has been blessed with the chance to invoke Allāh.
[3]
Jazarī.
[4] Ḥākim.
[5]
Tirmidhī.
No comments:
Post a Comment