Requesting for Forgiveness

1. Ask Allah for exactly what you want. ...
2. When making dua for all the Muslims around the world, don't just end it with “Allah help all the Muslims.” Rather, be specific, and describe to Allah what's going on. ...

 We can’t demand from Allah if He doesn’t answer; everything belongs to Him. He is our Rabb— even we belong to Him. If our prayers are not getting answers, we should think maybe something is wrong with our attitude and our way of seeking help. Let us see how Allah the Master wants us to ask for help.

1. ❤Requesting for Forgiveness

Even before asking Allah for help, we need to cleanse our souls of debris.

 . . Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver. He will send [rain from] the sky upon you in [continuing] showers And give you increase in wealth and children and provide for you gardens and provide for you rivers. [Quran, 71:10-12]

2.❤ Helping yourself

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ

. . . Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves . . . [Quran, 13:11]

Make sure that you have done everything possible by you. Even Maryam alaihi Salam had to shake the tree before she was given its blessed fruits to eat while she was in the lab.

And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. [Quran, 19:25]

3. ❤ Obeying Allah and Avoiding Haram

وَهُوَ يَتَوَلَّى الصَّالِحِينَ

 . . . And He is an ally (Wali) to the righteous (saliheen). [Quran, 7:96]

We need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to fulfill Allah’s commands and forbidden by Him. The Prophet mentioned the story of a disheveled traveler asking for help:

He stretches out his hands towards the heavens and says, ‘O Lord, O Lord’, but his food is haraam, his drink is haraam, everything is haraam. He is nourished by haraam, so how can his du’aa’ be accepted? [Muslim]

However, if we are having trouble with a particular sin, that shouldn’t stop us from seeking Allah’s help. We just do the best we can and then ask Allah to help us overcome our desires and avoid that sin.

4.  ❤Prayer

وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ

And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive. [Quran, 2:45]

First of all, pray the obligatory prayers on time and with concentration. Be aware of what you’re saying in prayer. Make prayer from the heart so that your eyes start watering. Allah has said in the above ayah that seeking help will definitely be a colossal difficulty except for those who have khuskhus, i.e. consciousness of Allah.

(To understand these verses, their meanings, and their subtle implications better, learn Quranic Arabic— 50% of the 9 hours)

Next, make dua. The etiquette and methods of making dua is a vast topic in itself, but here is a summary:

There are many special duas in the Quran and hadiths for specific purposes. Find the ones suitable for you and seek Allah’s help using them. Also, call Allah by His beautiful Name while making dua.

Although you can make dua anytime in the day, there are certain times that the Prophet mentioned are the best times for making dua. Seek out those times to make dua. One of them is during the last third of the night.

Our Lord descends to heaven on the last third of every night, and he says: Who is calling upon me that I may answer him? Who is asking from me that I may give him? Who is seeking my forgiveness that I may forgive him? [Bukhari]

The proper etiquette of making dua is first to praise Allah, then send peace and blessings upon the Messenger, and then ask for whatever it is that we want.

✯Point to ponder:

Allah has said in the Quran that He answers whoever calls upon Him, and He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing. He knows our heart’s deepest secrets, He knows us better than we know ourselves. He said,

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. [Quran, 2:186]

Why do we need to seek out these special times for prayer, special duas, and all the rest of it? Why do we need eight nine or twenty ways to seek help? (I’ll answer this from my own perspective in the next article, in sha Allah.)