Supplications

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) liked comprehensive supplications and would leave aside anything else.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported The supplication that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) recited most was: "Allāhumma rabbana ātina fi ad-dunya hasanah wa fi al-ākhirati hasanah wa qina ‘adhāb an-nār (O Allah our Lord, give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good and protect us from the torment of the Fire)."

‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "Allāhumma inni as’aluka al-huda wa at-tuqa wa al-‘afāf wa al-ghina (O Allah, I ask You for guidance, piety, chastity, and self-sufficiency)."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Seek refuge with Allah from arduous afflictions, degrading misery, preordained evils, and from the gloating of enemies." In another narration, Sufyān said: "I suspect that I added one of them."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "O Allah, set right for me my religion that is the safeguard of my affairs, and set right for me my world wherein my living is, and set right for me my Hereafter wherein my return is, and make life an increase for me in every good, and make death a relief for me from every evil."

Abu Mūsa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to invoke Allah with this supplication: "O Lord, forgive me my sin, my ignorance, my excess in all of my affairs, and whatever You are better aware of than me. O Allah, forgive me my sins, my deliberate sins, my ignorant sins, my humorous sins, and all of this I have committed. O Allah, forgive what I have done and what I have left undone, what I have committed secretly and what I have committed openly; You are the Advancer and You are the Delayer, and You have absolute power over everything."

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate, saying: "O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the removal of Your favor, the change of Your well-being, the suddenness of Your calamity, and all of Your wrath."

Zayd ibn Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I only say to you what the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say. He used to say: "Allāhumma inni a‘ūdhu bika min al-‘ajzi wal-kasal, wal-jubni wal-bukhl, wal-harami wa ‘adhāb al-qabr. Allāhumma āti nafsi taqwāha, wa zakkiha anta khayru man zakkāha, anta waliyyuha wa mawlāha. Allāhumma inni a‘ūdhu bika min ‘ilmin la yanfa‘, wa min qalbin la yakhsha‘, wa min nafsin la tashba‘, wa min da‘watin la yustajābu laha" (O Allah, I seek refuge with You from inability, indolence, cowardice, miserliness, decrepitude, and torment of the grave. O Allah, grant me the sense of piety and purify my soul as You are the Best to purify it. You are its Protector and its Guardian. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from knowledge that is not beneficial, from a heart that does not fear, from a soul that is not satisfied, and from a supplication that is not answered).

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say the following supplications: “O Allah, verily I seek refuge in You from the trial of the Fire, the torment of the Fire, and from the evil of affluence and poverty.”

Qutbah ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "Allāhumma inni a‘ūdhu bika min munkarāti al-akhlāqi wal-a‘māli wal-ahwā’ (O Allah, I seek refuge with You from evil morals, deeds, and desires)."

ShakI ibn Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, teach me a supplication." He said: "Say: O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil of my hearing, from the evil of my sight, from the evil of my tongue, from the evil of my heart, and from the evil of my semen (i.e. my lust)."

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from leucoderma, insanity, leprosy, and evil diseases."

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a Mukātab (a slave who buys himself from his owner) came to him and said: Indeed, I have been unable to fulfill my Mukātabah (manumission) contract, so help me. He said: Shall I not teach you words that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) taught me? If you were burdened with a debt like the mountain of Sīr, Allah would pay it off on your behalf. He said: "Say: Allāhumma ikfini bihalālika ‘an harāmik waghnini bifadlika ‘amman siwāk (O Allah, suffice me with what You have made lawful against what You have made unlawful, and make me with Your bounty in no need of anyone besides You).".

Al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, teach me something that I may ask Allah Almighty for." He said: "Ask Allah for safety." After some days, I went to him and said: "O Messenger of Allah, teach me something that I may ask Allah for." He said to me: "O ‘Abbās, O uncle of the Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for safety in this life and the Hereafter."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The nearest a slave to his Lord is while he is prostrating, so increase supplication."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The supplication of one of you is answered, as long as he is not in haste, saying: ‘I have supplicated to my Lord, but He did not answer me.'" In another narration by Muslim: “The supplication of a slave will continue to be answered, as long as he does not ask for a sin or sever a tie of kinship, and is not hasty.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, what is hastiness?” He said: “It is to say: 'I have supplicated and supplicated, but I have not seen it has been answered.' He would then lose hope and stop supplicating.”

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: The Prophet of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say during times of distress: "There is no god but Allah, the Most Great, the Forbearing. There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the heavens, the Lord of the earth, and the Lord of the Noble Throne."

Jābir ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The people of Kufa complained to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) about their governor Sa‘d (ibn Abi Waqqās) (may Allah be pleased with him). He dismissed him and appointed ‘Ammār as their governor. They lodged many complaints against Sa‘d and even alleged that Sa‘d does not know how to perform the prayers properly. ‘Umar sent for him and said: "O Abu Is'hāq, those people claim that you do not pray properly." He replied: "By Allah, I used to lead them in prayer exactly as I learnt from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). I prolong the first two Rak‘ahs of the ‘Ishā' prayer and shorten the last two." ‘Umar then said: "That is what I thought of you, O Abu Is'hāq." Then he sent a man (or more) with him to Kufa to ask the people about him. This man went there and did not leave any mosque without asking about Sa‘d. All the people praised him till he came to the mosque of the tribe of Banu ‘Abs; where a man called Usāmah ibn Qatādah, with a surname of Abu Sa‘d, stood up and said: "Since you asked, I am bound to tell you that Sa‘d never marched with the armies, nor did he ever divide the spoils of war fairly, nor was he ever fair in delivering justice regarding legal verdicts." This complaint reached Sa‘d and he said: "By Allah, I shall make three supplications: O Allah, if this slave of Yours is a liar and got up for showing off and speaking boastfully, then prolong his life, make him poor for the rest of his life, and afflict him with trials." This person suffered, following the invocation of Sa‘d and would tell people he was an old man subjected to trials because of Sa‘d’s invocation. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr, who narrated from Jābir ibn Samurah, said: "I saw this man afterwards in such a state that his eyebrows were shaggy and had fallen over his eyelids, because of old age; and he used to wink at young girls as they pass by in the roads.”

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: At the time of the battle of Uhud, my father called me at night and said: "I have a feeling that I will be the first to be killed from among the Prophet's Companions. I am going to leave none behind dearer to me than you except the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). Indeed, there is a debt that I have to pay off, so pay it off on my behalf, and take good care of your sisters." In the morning, he was the first to be killed. I buried with him another man in the same grave. I did not feel good about leaving him buried with another. So, I got him out of his grave six months later, and found him the same as the day I put him therein, except for his ear. Then, I placed him in a grave where he was buried alone.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Two men from the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) left his house on a dark night and were led by two lights like lamps, illuminating the way before them. When they parted, each of them was accompanied by one of these lights until he came to his family.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched a secret troop of ten men under the leadership of ‘Āsim ibn Thābit al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him). They proceeded until they reached Al-Had'ah, a place between ‘Usfān and Makkah, when the news reached a branch of the tribe of Hudhayl called Banu Lihyān. About one hundred of their archers hurried to track them. When ‘Āsim and his companions sensed them, they took refuge in a safe place. Their trackers circled them and said: "Come down and surrender. We give you our pledge and covenant that we will not kill any of you." ‘Āsim ibn Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O people, as for me, I will not go down to be under the protection of disbelievers. O Allah, let your Prophet know what has happened to us." The disbelievers then shot arrows at them until they killed ‘Āsim. Three of the men went down trusting their pledge and covenant; Khubayb, Zayd ibn Ad-Dathinnah, and a third man. When the disbelievers captured them and tied them up with the strings of their bows, the third companion said: "This is the start of a betrayal. By Allah, I will not go with you. I have a clear example in these (killed companions)." So they dragged him and tried to force him to accompany them, but he refused, so they killed him. They took Khubayb and Zayd ibn Ad-Dathinnah with them and sold them as slaves in Makkah. This incident took place after the battle of Badr. Khubayb was bought by the children of Al-Hārith ibn ‘Āmir ibn Nawfal ibn ‘Abd Manāf. It was Khubayb who had killed Al-Hārith in the battle of Badr. Khubayb remained as their prisoner for a several days, until they decided to kill him. Khubayb borrowed a razor from one of Al-Hārith’s daughters to shave his pubic hair. Without her being aware, her little son crawled towards Khubayb. When she saw her son on Khubayb's knee and he had the razor in his hand, she was so alarmed that Khubayb noticed the agitation on her face. He said: "Are you afraid that I will kill him? No, I will never do that." She later commented: "By Allah, I never saw a prisoner better than Khubayb. By Allah, I once saw him eating a bunch of grapes from his hand while he was chained up, but there was no such fruit at that time in Makkah. It must have been a blessing that Allah had bestowed upon Khubayb." When they took him out of the Sacred Precincts, so they could kill him outside its boundaries, Khubayb asked them to let him pray two Rak‘ahs. They allowed him to do so, so he offered the two Rak‘ahs. Then he said: "Had I not reckoned that you would think that I was anxious, I would have prayed more. O Allah, remove them altogether; slay them one by one and spare none of them." He then recited these poetic verses: "I do not care how I will be killed as long as I will die in the cause of Allah, as a Muslim. This is for Allah's sake, and if He so wills, He may bless torn and amputated limbs." It was therefore Khubayb who established the Sunnah (practice) for any Muslim who is about to be killed to pray two Rak‘ahs. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) related to his Companions what had happened to the ten Companions on the day that it happened. Later, when some disbelievers from the Quraysh were informed that ‘Āsim had been killed; they sent people to fetch a recognizable part of him to confirm his death. They did so, because ‘Āsim had previously killed one of their chiefs. So Allah sent a swarm of bees, resembling a shady cloud, to hover over the body of ‘Āsim to shield him from their messengers, so they could not cut off any part of him.