Dua, the Sword of the Believer One day a companion asked the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, how he should pray to Allah ﷻ. Is Allah ﷻ far away from us that we should shout, or is He close to us that we can pray silently? Allah ﷻ did not hesitate in answering the companion right away. 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. (Surat Al-Baqara:186) Allah ﷻ tells us He is near. Does anyone know how close Allah ﷻ actually is to us? وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ Allah ﷻ tells us that He is closer to us than our jugular vein, (Surat Qaf, aya 16). Can anyone show me where our jugular vein is? That means Allah ﷻ is so close to us! He knows how we’re feeling on the inside- maybe we’re scared and we’re trying not to show it to the outside world. Allah ﷻ knows that! Maybe we’re worried about an exam, and we’re taking deep breaths to calm down- Allah ﷻ knows that too! I want you to think of the closest person to you. When you think of this person, how do you feel? You feel like you can talk to them about anything right? You feel like you can trust them with all of your fears and worries and they will be there to comfort you and make things better. Well, Allah ﷻ is telling us that He, subhana wa ta’ala, is even closer to us than our closest allies! So, how should we approach Allah ﷻ? One of the beautiful names of Allah ﷻ is 'Al-Mujeeb.' Does anyone know what Al-Mujeeb means? It means the One who Responds. Allah ﷻ promises us that He will respond to us when we ask of Him. But sometimes, we overlook this beautiful gift. Why do you think we do that? Sometimes, we think we can get the things we want all by ourselves. Other times, we don’t actually believe that Allah ﷻ will grant us what we ask for. And yet, there is this beautiful hadith that we should remember: 'Verily your Lord is Generous and Shy. If His servant raises his hands to Him (in supplication) He becomes shy to return them empty,' (Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi). Yes, it’s true that sometimes we make dua for something and we don’t see the 'answer' right away. Do you know though that Allah ﷻ answers a dua in three ways? Who can tell me what they are? 1. Allah ﷻ answers our dua and we are able to see it answered in this world. 2. The dua is answered, but the time of it is deferred. So, we may get the reward in Jannah, inshaAllah! 3. The dua prevents something bad from happening to us. We may ask for something that we think we really want and is good for us, but since Allah ﷻ knows us better than we know ourselves, Allah ﷻ doesn’t grant it to us but protects and shields us from something bad. Allah ﷻ never ever gets tired of hearing us make dua! You know, sometimes, your friends get tired of hearing you talk about the same thing over and over again. But Allah ﷻ is the opposite. He wants us to keep talking to Him all the time. So, let’s work on being in a continuous conversation with Allah ﷻ. Let’s make dua for the big things (like the Highest level of Jannah! And the little things too- like for Allah ﷻ to help us with our homework!)