The Secret Weapon

Since centuries of old, empires and nations have sought power and strength to overcome one another. They have searched for secret weapons that can change the outcome of their conquests and battles. But despite their efforts to find such mythical weapons, none have succeeded; except, those who were not even looking.

Do you know what that weapon is? Has anyone ever shared this secret with you? Pay close attention now because there is a weapon out there, that even when in the hands of the most poor and oppressed of people, it is enough to defend against the greatest armies of the world.

It is known as the “dua” – to call on Allaah for help.

The Messenger of Allaah (ﷺ) said: “Nothing can change destiny (qadr), except dua.” [at-Tirmidhi]

So imagine if you could gather all the weapons of the world together on one side and try to change the qadr of Allaah, you would never be able to. Yet a simple dua on the other hand would be enough with Allaah to change the course of any battle, any difficulty, any scenario, no matter how great.

You don’t have to be eighteen or twenty one years of age to be able to use this weapon. Even a five year old can use it with perfection. The key however, is to be able to ask Allaah sincerely and with devotion.

Allaah, the Almighty says in the Qur’an:

“And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad ﷺ) concerning Me, then, I am indeed near. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright.”

[al-Baqarah 2:186]

If we carefully examine the above ayah, we will observe the following points:

Point No.1

Allaah says “I respond to the invocations…” meaning that you can feel free to ask Allaah without hesitation and He will respond to you. When Allaah Himself is telling us that He responds, can there be anyone to doubt it? This is a special mercy from Allaah that He listens to His people and answers their prayers.

Point No.2

Then Allaah says “…when he calls on Me”. This means that Allaah answers you whenever you decide to call Him. Never will you get a busy signal or an automated message saying “Allaah is not available at the moment” or “Sorry the office is closed right now, please call back tomorrow”! No, you can call Allaah anytime of the day or night and He will always be there to listen. This is the beauty of dua.

Image if you are worried about a test at school or a student who has been giving you a hard time or a teacher who scolds you; and you find yourself tossing and turning in bed, not being able to sleep, you don’t have to wait until morning, you don’t even have to get on the prayer mat or make wudoo, you can simply ask Allaah while lying in bed and you will find Allaah listening to you. Even if you are in the car or on a plane or a train, make dua to Allaah to help you with your worries.

Point No.3

People often forget that in order to increase the acceptance of their prayers there is something that they also need to do. Just like whenever there is an agreement or a contract, there must be at least two parties (or persons) involved. If Allaah is accepting your prayers and giving you what you have asked for, isn’t there something that we need to do as well? Or is it that Allaah should just keep giving us and we can do whatever we want?

Allaah says “so let them obey Me”, meaning if you want Allaah to listen to your duas, you have to become one who is obedient to Allaah also. How many times have you said this to your brother, sister or friend “if you do this for me, I will do that for you.” Isn’t there always a give and take?

For example, Allah wants us to pray as soon as we hear the azaan but we say “no let’s finish the game first” or “no, I don’t have time right now”.

Think about it, will this type of attitude get our prayers accepted?

Point No.4

According to authentic narrations from Sahih Muslim, there are certain types of duas which will never be accepted. These include:

• Asking Allaah for something that is sinful (or haraam)
• Asking Allaah to break the ties of the family
• Being hopeless after making dua, thinking that the dua will never be answered

Every dua of a Muslim, no matter what it is, is never devoid of good. According to a Hadith from Ahmad, Abu Said al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allaah (ﷺ) mentioned three possible outcomes of every dua:

• That the person gets whatever he asked for very soon.
• The person’s dua will be saved for him in the Hereafter (meaning, he will get much better than what he asked for).
• The person did not get what he wanted but instead an adversity (difficulty, illness, hardship, trial) coming his way was avoided.

So no matter what the result, there is always good in making dua.

Should we not develop the habit of making dua abundantly; asking Allaah alone, anytime of the day or night and doing our best to be obedient to Him?

Remember that apart from all the other duas we make, we should pray especially for ourselves and our families to be guided to the straight path. At the end of the day, that is what will really matter.

I conclude with a special dua that the Messenger of Allaah (ﷺ) used to make often:

“Oh turner of the hearts (Allaah), keep our hearts firm on your religion” [at-Tirmidhi]