THE POWER OF DU`A SERIES Part (I)

Indeed, all glory and praise is due to Allah. We glorify and praise Him and we ask Him for help and forgiveness. In Allah we seek refuge from the evils in ourselves and from our wrong doings.

The ritual prayer, in Arabic Salah, means supplication. It is also derived from the word "silah" which means link. Indeed the prayer is a real link between the human being and his Lord, and is full of supplication to the Lord from its beginning to its end.

In this article I want to share with the dear reader some of the supplications said during the Muslim prayer. These supplications are so deep in their meaning that the commentary on each of them would take tens of pages, however, I will restrict myself to their report and leave it to the reader to ponder about them.

The Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Prayer be upon him, PPBUH) said : " No person's prayer is complete unless he says takbeer [Allah is greater], praises Allah the Mighty and Sublime and extols Him, recites of the Quran (2) what is easy for him"

As a prerequisite to prayer, a believer must perform ablution (called "Wudoo'", which is a ritual in itself) to make himself clean before meeting his Lord and to pave the road for the cleanliness of his soul after finishing his prayer. The prayer starts by saying "Allahu Akbar", which means "Allah is greater", greater than me, than my job, than my family, than my life, than everything. At this time the believer leaves this world and joins His Lord. Then he says an opening supplication and recites the opening chapter of the Qur'an [al-Fatiha] followed by any other chapter (short or long), then bows and prostrates to his Lord as a symbol of worship, love and submission. At the end of the prayer the believer says a closing supplication and finishes by greeting saying "Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatu Allah", which means "May the Peace and the Mercy of Allah be upon you". It is these opening and closing supplications as well as the recitation of the opening chapter that is the subject of today's article.

Opening Supplications

• O Allah! Separate me (far) from my sins as you have separated (far) the East and West. O Allah! Cleanse me of my sins as white cloth is cleansed from dirt. O Allah! Wash me of my sins with water, ice and snow.

• I have set my face towards the Originator of the heavens and the earth sincerely [in Islam] and I am not among the polytheists. Indeed my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds: no partner has He. With this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims (those who submit to Him). O Allah! You are the King, none has the right to be worshipped but You, You are the Most Perfect & all Praise is for You. You are my Lord and I am Your slave. I have wronged myself, and have acknowledged my sins, so forgive all my sins, for no-one forgives sins except You. Guide me to the best of characters, to which no-one can guide except You, and save me from the worst of characters, from which no-one can save except You. I am here and happy to serve you. All good is in your Hands, and evil is not from You. The guided one is he who is guided by you. I exist by your will and belong to You. There is no escape or shelter from You except to You. You are blessed and exalted. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.

• You are Glorified, O Allah, and Praised; Your Name is Blessed; Your Majesty is Exalted, and none has the right to worshipped but You. [The Prophet Muhammad (PPBUH) said: Indeed, the words most loved by Allah are when His slave says: "You are glorified, O Allah"]

• O Allah, to You belongs all Praise. You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and all those in them; to You belongs all Praise. You are the Maintainer of the heavens and the earth and all those in them; to You belongs all Praise. You are the King of the heavens and the earth and all those in them, to You belongs all Praise. You are the truth; Your promise is truth; Your saying is truth; meeting You is truth; Paradise is truth; the Fire is truth; the Hour is truth; the Prophets are truth; Muhammad is truth. O Allah! to You I have submitted; in You I have placed my trust; in You I have believed; to You I have turned; for Your sake I have fought; to You I have referred for judgement; You are our Lord and to You is the end of all journeys: so forgive me my earlier and later sins, what I have concealed and what I have showed and whatever else You know about more than I. You are the Bringer-Forward and You are the Delayer; You are my deity; and none has the right to worshipped but You. and there is no might nor power except with You.

• O Allah, Lord of Jibraa'eel (3), Meekaa'eel(3) and Israafeel(3), Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of all that is hidden and open! It is You that will judge between Your servants in those matters about which they used to differ. Guide me by Your Grace to the Truth concerning that about which they differed, for indeed You guide whomsoever You wish to a path that is straight.

Recitation of the opening Chapter [The Fatiha] :

Praise be to Allah Lord of the worlds
The Merciful, the Compassionate
Master of the Day of Judgement
It is You we worship and it is You we ask for help
Guide us to the straight path,
the path of those upon whom you have bestowed favours,
not those against whom You are angry,
nor of those who are astray.

The closing supplications :

• The Prophet (PPBUH) used to say, "When one of you has finished the last tashahhud [the last formal supplication of the prayer where one witnesses the oneness of God], he should seek refuge with Allah from four things; saying: O Allah! I truly seek refuge with You from the punishment of Hellfire, and from the punishment of the grave, and from the trials of living and dying, and from the evil [trials] of the False Christ.

• "O Allah! truly I seek refuge with You from the punishment of the grave, and I seek refuge with you from the trials of the False Christ, and I seek refuge with You from the trials of living and dying. O Allah! truly I seek refuge with You from sin and burden."

• "O Allah! truly I seek refuge with You from the evil of what I have done, and from the evil of what I have not done [yet]."

• "O Allah! call me to account with an easy reckoning."

• "O Allah! [I ask you], by Your knowledge of the Unseen, and Your control over the creation: give me life as long as You know that life is best for me, and take me when death is best for me. O Allah! I also ask of You fear of You, in secret and in open; I ask of You the word of Truth and justice in anger and in pleasure; I ask of You moderation in poverty and affluence; I ask of You joy which does not fade; I ask of You pleasure [which does not pass away, nor that] which ceases; I ask of You contentment with Your decree; I ask of You coolness of life after death; I ask of You the delight of looking towards Your Face; and [I ask of You] eagerness towards meeting You, not in harmful adversity, nor in misleading afflictions. O Allah! adorn us with the decoration of faith, and make us those who guide and are guided."

• "O Allah! indeed I have wronged myself greatly, and none can forgive sins except You, so forgive me out of Your forgiveness, and have mercy on me. Truly, You are the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful."

• "O Allah! indeed I ask of You all Good, [the imminent and the far-off,] that of it which I know and that which I do not know. I seek refuge with You from all Evil, [the imminent and the far-off,] that of it which I know and that which I do not know. I ask of You the Garden [of Paradise], and whatever saying or deed which brings one near to it; I seek refuge with You from the Fire, and (from) whatever saying or deed which brings one near to it. I ask of You [the] good of what was asked of You by Your slave and messenger Muhammad; and I seek refuge with You from evil of what Your slave and messenger Muhammad (PPBUH) sought refuge with You. I ask of You that whatever You have decreed for me, its result [for me] be beneficial."

• The Prophet (PPBUH) heard a man saying in his tashahhud: "O Allah! indeed I ask of You, O Allah, the One, the Only, the Absolute, Who begets not and nor is He begotten, and there is none like Him, that You forgive me my sins; indeed You are the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
  On this, he said : "he has been forgiven, he has been forgiven."

• He heard another man say in his tashahhud:
  "O Allah! Indeed, I ask of You, by the fact that to You belongs all Praise; there is no (true) god except You, You alone, You have no partners; the Bestower of Favours; [O] Originator of the Heavens and the Earth; O One that is Full of Majesty and Honour; O Living One, O Eternal One; indeed I ask of You the Garden, and I seek refuge with You from the Fire."

  So the Prophet (PPBUH) said to his Companions, Do you know with what he has supplicated? They said, Allah and His Messenger know best. He said, By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, he has supplicated Allah with His Mightiest name, with which if He is supplicated, He answers, and with which if He is asked, He gives.

• "O Allah! Forgive me what I have done in the past, and what I will do in the future, and what I have concealed, and what I have done openly, and what I have exceeded in, whatever You know about more know than I. You are the Bringer-Forward, and You are the Delayer, there is no (true) god except You."

We ask Allah All Mighty to open our hearts to His words and to guide us to the Straight Path.

(1) Allah is the name of GOD in Islam.

(2) The Qur'an is the book revealed by Allah to His last Messenger Muhammad (PPBUH).

(3) These are the names of the Angels Gabriel, Michael, and the Angel who will blew the Trumpet