Most of us are aware of the power of supplications and prayers. Most of us are aware that it is only God, who can bless us and provide for us what we ask Him and no one but Him could answer our prayers and supplications.
Knowing this would in turn make us want to constantly be in prayers and supplications, since most of us would always wish to be guided and have many demands. Our demands could range from worldly material objects to peace and tranquility in this world and the hereafter. Regardless of what our demands may be, we have researched and realized that it is necessary to pray and supplicate to God in hope of His blessings and mercy.
However, at times, many of us, especially those of us who have not practiced being patient, quickly become anxious and edgy and in fact frustrated and mad at God for not responding to our supplications and prayers.
Such people, perhaps, have not contemplated on the purpose of supplication to God or have not worked to increase their faith in their hearts or have not realized the implication of God’s omniscience. What ever the reason may be, if such attitude or mentality is not quickly cured, then it could lead to further separation from God and His religion.
One way to approach the issue of unanswered supplications, or perhaps the first step that should be taken, should be to check and see whether all of the necessary conditions for supplication are fulfilled or not.
Necessary conditions are those that, if not fulfilled, the process cannot proceed. For example, a necessary condition for your television to turn on is for it to be plugged to an electrical plug. Another, or possibly even a better, example would be, growing a plant in your property. Certain conditions and criteria are necessary for your plant to grow properly; firstly, sufficient exposure to the sun, secondly, sufficient amount of water, and thirdly, proper and healthy soil and fertilizer. Without any of these necessary requirements your plant will not grow and will not flower or fruit.
In the same way, for our supplications to be fruitful, three necessary conditions need to be fulfilled. The following Authentic tradition very clearly, and through an example, brings to light these three conditions.
Having this tradition in mind, next time you see a friend or a family member, asking you if you know of an effective supplication, let him or her know that the effect of our supplications directly depends on these three necessary requirements, and if they are not fulfilled then no supplication will be an effective supplication.
May Allah answer all of our supplications that help in bringing us closer to His path and help to increase our faiths in our hearts.
Arabic Text:
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ يَزِيدَ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ كَانَ فِي بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ رَجُلٌ فَدَعَا اللَّهَ أَنْ يَرْزُقَهُ غُلَاماً ثَلَاثَ سِنِينَ فَلَمَّا رَأَى أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُجِيبُهُ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ أَ بَعِيدٌ أَنَا مِنْكَ فَلَا تَسْمَعُنِي أَمْ قَرِيبٌ أَنْتَ مِنِّي فَلَا تُجِيبُنِي قَالَ فَأَتَاهُ آتٍ فِي مَنَامِهِ فَقَالَ إِنَّكَ تَدْعُو اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ مُنْذُ ثَلَاثِ سِنِينَ بِلِسَانٍ بَذِيءٍ وَ قَلْبٍ عَاتٍ غَيْرِ تَقِيٍّ وَ نِيَّةٍ غَيْرِ صَادِقَةٍ فَاقْلَعْ عَنْ بَذَائِكَ وَ لْيَتَّقِ اللَّهَ قَلْبُكَ وَ لْتَحْسُنْ نِيَّتُكَ قَالَ فَفَعَلَ الرَّجُلُ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ دَعَا اللَّهَ فَوُلِدَ لَهُ غُلَامٌ
Farsi Translation:
امام صادق (ع)، فرمود:
در بنى اسرائيل مردى بود و تا سه سال پيوسته به درگاه خدا دعا كرد كه به او پسرى روزى كند و چون ديد كه خدا خواهش او را بر نياورد عرض كرد: پروردگارا! من از تو دورم و سخن مرا نمى شنوى يا به تو نزديكم و به من پاسخ نمى دهى؟ گوينده اى در خواب نزد او آمد و به او گفت: راستى تو سه سال است كه خدا را با زبانى هرزه و قلبى سركش و ناپرهيزگار و نيّتى نادرست مى خوانى، بايد از هرزه دارائى خود ببرى و فلبت پرهيزكار گردد و نيّتت درست شود، گويد: آن مرد چنين كرد و سپس به درگاه خدا دعا كرد و پسرى براى او زائيده شد.
English Translation:
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Eissa from ibn Mahbob from Omar ibn Yazeed from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, who has said:
“There was a man from the children of Israel who persistently, for three years, supplicated to God to give him a son, but since God didn't answer his supplication, he said: O God, Am I far from you so that you don't hear me? or are you near me but you do not answer me?
He said: then he had a dream in which a man came and said to him: ‘you have been asking God for three years with a lewd tongue, a hostile heart without God-consciousness [in it] and a dishonest intention. Thus, stop your lewdness and bring God-consciousness in your heart and have good intention.’”
He [the Imam] said: “the man did so, then he asked Allah again and Allah gave him a son.”
The three necessary conditions for fruitful supplications:
1) Supplicating with a pure and decent tongue and language
2) Having God-consciousness or Taqwa in our hearts
3) Having good intentions
Source:
Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 324, Tradition #7
brother, do you believe the language used for the supplication is a factor at all?
ReplyDeleteSalamu Alaikom,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great question.
I would like to quickly clarify that when I used the word "language" in this post, based on the context of this post, it is related to one's manners and not the language that one speaks (i.e. English, Arabic and etc.)
Now, as for the language itself (i.e. Arabic, English and etc.) there are two factors that we need think about. One, understanding what we say in our supplications, and two, if we are reading a translation we should try to stay as close as possible to the Arabic texts.
I have heard two different opinions on this issue. Some state that it is better to read the supplications in Arabic since Arabic is the language of the Quran and if one does so he would not lose anything important in his or her supplication.
The other opinion is that, it is more important to understand the meaning of one's supplications to Allah. If one doesn't know what he or she is supplicating then is he merely parroting, and if so, how does parroting help one in getting closer to Allah?!
In my opinion, and I like to emphasize that this is merely my opinion, it is better to do both. To supplicate in both Arabic and one's own language. If one does so for a long period of time, one begins to slowly become familiar with certain Arabic terms and phrases, which in turn he would be more comfortable in using in his supplications.
Lastly, it is important for me to emphasize that it is perfectly permitted to supplicate in another language than Arabic.
Arabic is mandatory for daily prayers, but outside of that, Arabic is not mandatory.
I hope my reply helped. If not please don't hesitate to ask more questions.