Supplication of the Muslim

Allah says:

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ

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. (2:186)

This is one of the most beautiful places out of all the places Allah asks the Muslims to make dua to Him.


The people during the time of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam [peace be upon him], would ask him questions, and Allah would reveal answers to those question in the Quran. [1] The following are three such examples, out of many, of such occurrences:

...يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِ ۖ قُلْ 

They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say... (2:189)

...يَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنْفِقُونَ ۖ قُلْ 

They ask you, [O Muhammad], what they should spend. Say... (2:215)

...وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْيَتَامَىٰ ۖ قُلْ 

And they ask you about orphans. Say... (2:220)

One thing is common in these ayaat [verses] is their format. Allah starts off by saying يَسْأَلُونَكَ "They ask you, [O Muhammad]", but the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is not authorized to give the answer - the answer comes from Allah.  Allah responds with a command by saying قُلْ "Say" or Tell them, and then He gives the answer. [1]

But this ayah [verse] is unique. It begins:

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي
And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me

Although this ayah is also about people asking a question, the difference is that they have not asked it yet.  Instead, Allah instigates the question, before it is even asked. [1]

Everywhere else Allah waits for the question to be asked, but here Allah is so eager to give the answer he gives the response before the question is asked. Remember that this ayah is about dua [supplication]. Allah does not wait for the questions regarding dua to occur, he instead states that they will ask you. [1]

وَإِذَا  
When

'When' is used for certainty, as in they will ask you, instead of saying if, which includes the possibility of it not occuring. [1]

سَأَلَكَ  
they ask you

عِبَادِي
My servants

This refers to all of his slaves. The pious and not-so pious amongst them.  Allah calls the Muslims "My servants," so being the servants of Allah, there is an expectation to ask of Him. [1]

عَنِّي
about Me

فَإِنِّي
Then indeed I am
Used to remove doubt (i.e. إِنِّي indeed).  Allah uses the pronoun 'I' as an exception and not the rule in the Quran. When Allah is especially merciful, he uses 'I' and just by using it, he brings Himself close. [1]

قَرِيبٌ  
Near 

I am accessible to my servants. [1]

Allah says, "And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein" (50:16)

Also Allah said when my servants ask you about Me, then indeed I am near. This means that we should learn about Allah, about His names and His attributes. When you ask about Allah, he gets closer. When you have questions about Allah, read the Quran. [1]

Also, the expectation after stating the question for Allah is to say قُلْ Say (a command to the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, to inform them), but Allah is so eager to respond He does not say,  قُلْ إِنِّي قَرِيبٌ Say indeed I am Near, he says, فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ Then indeed I am Near, thus removing the barrier between Himself and his servants. [1]

Thus He first instigates the question, then instead to telling His prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, to respond, as in previous cases, Allah Himself responds directly. [1] Allahu Akbar.

أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ 
I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me

This is a conditional sentence, where normally, the condition comes first.  For example, 'when' comes first in normal sequence, like in the first part of the ayah, 'when my servants'...'then indeed I am'...The normal expected sentence should be 'when the caller calls, I respond'.  The condition 'when' is now at the end. Allah put the answer in the beginning and the condition at the end because he is so eager to answer the question.  What we learn is that before you make the call, Allah is ready and willing to accept your prayer. [1]

Imam Ahmad reported that Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari said, "We were in the company of Allah's Messenger during a battle. Whenever we climbed a high place, went up a hill or went down a valley, we used to say, `Allah is the Most Great,' raising our voices. The Prophet came by us and said, "O people! Be merciful to yourselves (i.e., don't raise your voices), for you are not calling a deaf or an absent one, but One Who is All-Hearer, All-Seer. The One Whom you call is closer to one of you than the neck of his animal."  This Hadith was also recorded in the Two Sahihs, and Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah recorded similar wordings" [2]

So call upon Allah slowly and quietly. [4]

الدَّاعِ 
the supplicant

The supplicant.  Meaning it is specific, He knows who you are.

Three categories of people will have their supplication especially accepted by Allah.  In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and the Sunans of At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah it is recorded that Abu Hurayrah narrated that Allah's Messenger said, "Three persons will not have their supplication rejected: the just ruler, the fasting person until breaking the fast, and the supplication of the oppressed person, for Allah raises it above the clouds on the Day of Resurrection, and the doors of heaven will be opened for it, and Allah says, `By My grace! I will certainly grant it for you, even if after a while.'" [2]

أُجِيبُ
I respond

Means to answer immediately. [1]

He responds immediately, not to what you asked, but to what is best for you. So if you make dua [supplication] and you do not see a response, know that Allah has already responded to your dua, so the problem is not with allah, the problem is with you. [1] As Allah says, "And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." (40:60)

Imam Ahmad recorded that Anas said that the Prophet said, "Allah the Exalted said, `I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him whenever he invokes Me.'" [2]

Salmān, the Persian, a Companion of the Prophet, quotes the Prophet as saying, "God would not like to see His servant holding out his arms pleading for help and turn him away empty handed." [Related by Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah] [3]

Imam Ahmad also recorded Abu Sa`id saying that the Prophet said, "No Muslim supplicates to Allah with a Du`a that does not involve sin or cutting the relations of the womb, but Allah will grant him one of the three things. He will either hasten the response to his supplication, save it for him until the Hereafter, or would turn an equivalent amount of evil away from him.'' They said, "What if we were to recite more (Du`a).'' He said, "There is more with Allah." [2]

دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ 
the invocation of the supplicant

Meaning however many times you call on Him, in whatever language you call on Him, He responds to every single one of them. [1]

If you think you are a bad person, and you think Allah will not respond because of your misdeeds, you are mistaken.  Allah says he responds to the call of the caller (دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ), no matter who the caller is. The call itself is important. [1]

This has many implications for someone who thinks that their call will not get accepted. You just make the call, and Allah is ready and willing to answer it. If you lived a life of sin, then decided to turn around and invoke Allah, he will respond. Allah never shuts the door to dua in this life. But on the Day of judgement, when people will be making dua to Allah, Allah will turn away from them. Therefore, the time to make dua is now. [1]

Muslim recorded that the Prophet said, "The supplication of the servant will be accepted as long as he does not supplicate for what includes sin, or cutting the relations of the womb, and as long as he does not become hasty." He was asked, "O Messenger of Allah! How does one become hasty'' He said, "He says, `I supplicated and supplicated, but I do not see that my supplication is being accepted from me.' He thus looses interest and abandons supplicating (to Allah)." [2]

And Shaikh ibn al-Jawzi said regarding supplication:

“I have reflected over an interesting situation: that a calamity may befall a believer and so he supplicates, going to great lengths in doing so, but he sees no sign of an answer.  So when despair comes close, at that time his heart is looked at, thus if it is acceptant of the [many] decrees of fate, not having despaired of Allaah the Mighty and Majestic’s Bounty, then in most cases at that time the response is hastened, for it is there that eemaan is qualified, and the devil vanquished, and it is there that a man’s worth is shown.   

And this has been alluded to in His Saying, the Most High, “… until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, “When is the help of Allaah?” [Baqarah 2:214].  And likewise is what happened to Ya’qoob عليه السلام, for when he lost a son and the situation went on for a long time, he did not despair–and then his other son was taken, but his hope in his Lord’s Bounty that, “… perhaps Allaah will bring them to me all together …” [Yusuf 12:83] still did not cut off.  And likewise Zakariya عليه السلام said, “… and never have I been in my supplication to You, my Lord, unhappy [i.e., disappointed].” [Maryam 19:3]  

So beware of considering as too long the time for a prayer to be answered!  And look to the fact that He is the Sovereign Lord/the Absolute King of the entire universe, and that He is the All-Wise in that which He plans, and the One who knows what is of benefit [to you], and that He wants to examine you in order to test your concealed mettle, and that He wants to see your earnest supplication, and that He wants to reward you for your patience, and other such purposes.  In addition to that, He is testing you by delaying the response to your supplication so that you can fight Iblis’ whisperings and wicked insinuations–and every one of these things strengthens [one’s] belief in His Bounty, and obligates being thankful to Him–for He, by testing you with the trial, prepared you to turn to ask Him.  And the distressed person’s destitution/poverty in having to turn to Him is total and utter affluence.”[6]

إِذَا دَعَانِ 
when he calls (upon Me)

Means whenever he calls. When you deal with important people in this world, its hard to get in touch with them. Contrast this to Allah, who always has time for you, always responds to your calls. Or constrast this with the experience of getting a doctor's appointment. You can only see the doctor when the doctor is free, the doctor does not come to you. Allah responds to your call whenever you make it. Who else do you know who does that? [1]

Although the verse are related to the time of Ramadan, Allah says whenever he calls, meaning any time of the year. [1]

So call upon Allah.

فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي
So let them respond to Me [by obedience]

The word 'respond' comes twice in the ayah, once Allah responds to the call of the caller and the second time is here where Allah asks that His servants should respond to Him through obedience. This produces the meaning of this communication is a two way relationship. Allah is also asking His servants to obey Him, refrain from things, and to do things he asks of, but what is worth noting here is the form of the word 'respond' Allah uses. When he responded, he used the most immediate form of the word (أُجِيبُ). When he asks us to respond, he used a less immediate form (يَسْتَجِيبُو), which implies a meaning it could take some time, so the servant should at least try and want to respond to Him, to do their best in His obedience.  [1]

And Allah ends off by stating:

وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ
and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided

Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi says in his commen
tary, "[t]his announcement of God's closeness to man may open his eyes to the Truth, may turn him to the right way wherein lies his success and well-being." [4]

I will close with the following Hadith from Riyad Us Saliheen:

Mu'adh bin Jabal (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, held my hand and said, "O Mu'adh, By Allah, I love you and advise you not to miss supplicating after every Salat (prayer) saying: 

اللهم أعني على ذكرك وشكرك، وحسن عبادتك

'Allahumma a'inni 'ala dhikrika wa shukrika, wa husni 'ibadatika,' (O Allah, help me remember You, expressing gratitude to You and worship You in the best manner)". [Abu Dawud and An- Nasa'i].

Sources:

1. Nouman Ali Khan, Supplication of the Muslim, Friday Sermon posted on Bayyinah.com, published 20 Feb. 2012. <http://bayyinah.com/podcast/2012/02/20/khutbah-the-supplication-of-the-muslim>
2. Tafsir Ibn Kathir found at <ttp://www.qtafsir.com/>
3. Sayyid Qutb, In the shade of the Quran, Vol 1, p207
4.  Maulana Mufti Mohammad Shafi, Maarif ul Quran, translation by Prof. Muhammad Hasan Askari & Prof. Muhammad Shamim, vol. 1, p463. <http://www.islamicstudies.info/maarif.php?sura=2&verse=186>
5. Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, Tafheem ul Quran, translation by Zafar Ishaque Ansari and Muhammad Akbar. <http://www.tafheem.net/tafheem.html>
6. Saidul-Khaatir, pp. 227-228. Taken from Gifts of Knowledge