Why Do My Prayers Feel Unheard? | Allah's Names | Dr. Omar Suleiman | Ep. 11

The One Who Hears and Responds

When my servants ask you about me, I am close.

And notice how Allah says it. In every other question, the people ask the Prophet ﷺ, the Qur'an says, Say, قُل. But here, there is no قُل, no Say.

Just إِنِّي قَرِيب, I am close. As Allah Himself intervenes to answer directly. Because He already knew you were going to ask the question.

And He wants you to know that He answers without intervention or hesitation. He is As-Sameer, the all-hearing. Who hears everyone and everything all at the same time.

The Nature of Divine Hearing

Hearing is not an act of effort for him, but an attribute of his essence. Imagine a bunch of people talking at the same time around you. You wouldn't be able to understand any of them.

As-Sameer hears every voice, every decibel, and even what hasn't become sound yet. He hears the secret and what is even more hidden. He hears what is more silent than silence itself.

So when the Prophet ﷺ saw someone shouting in his du'a, he said, إِنَّكُمْ لَا تَدْعُونَ أَصَمًّا وَلَا غَائِبًا. You are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent. And when you make that silent du'a in the dark, that's proof of faith.

Because you wouldn't speak so silently unless you were sure that a Lord was there to hear you. الدُّعَاءُ هُوَ الْعِبَادَة. Du'a is the essence of worship.

Because it manifests all understandings of both Him and you. And He doesn't just hear your words. He hears your heart and what you actually want.

And He acts upon it in a way that goes far beyond what you could ever want.

The Silent Call of Zakariya

Think about Zakariya standing alone in prayer while the world slept in the corner of Masjid al-Aqsa. إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ نِدَاءً خَفِيًّا.

When he called upon his Lord with a secret call. He didn't shout, but his heart shouted. Because in Arabic, نِدَاء means to raise your voice.

So when Allah says نِدَاءً خَفِيًّا, a quiet shout, it almost sounds contradictory. But the cry of the soul doesn't need sound. Qatada rahimahullah said, أَيْ سِرًّا وَإِنَّ اللهَ يَعْلَمُ الْقَلْبَ النَّقِيَّ وَيَسْمَعُ الصَّوْتَ الْخَفِيَّ.

He called upon his Lord secretly. And verily, Allah knows the pure heart and He hears the hidden voice. And some of the Salaf said that Zakariya rose at night while his companion slept.

And he said, يَا رَبّ، يَا رَبّ, until Allah said, لَبَّيْك، لَبَّيْك, here I am, here I am. Who are we for him to say to us لَبَّيْك? Just like we don't deserve to be forgiven on merit or loved by deed, we don't deserve to be heard because we're humans. But just as he heard Zakariya's silent cry in the corner of Masjid al-Aqsa, he hears you in the corner of your room.

Prayer as Affirmation of Divine Hearing

When you say in prayer, سَمِعَ اللهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَه, Allah hears the one who praises him. It's an affirmation that the quiet dhikr you made in ruku' and the quiet du'as you're about to make in sujood are all heard by him. And you immediately say directly after, رَبَّنَا وَلَكَ الْحَمْد, our Lord to you belongs all praise.

And knowing the one who hears all changes how you speak about everything. It makes you weigh your words and talk about him and even to him constantly to where you start making quiet dhikr and du'a between your breaths. And he doesn't hear like one who is distant because he's also al-qareeb, the one who is always close.

The Divine Response

Before Zakariya could even finish his du'a, Allah cut him off with the response, يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَىٰ. I heard you and here's the child you were asking for, already named and shaped with the most beautiful qualities. Remember that was رَحْمَةُ رَبِّكَ عَبْدَهُ زَكَرِيَّا, your Lord's mercy to his slave Zakariya.

And Allah says, إِنَّ رَحْمَتَ اللهِ قَرِيبٌ مِّنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ. His mercy is close to all the good doers. أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللهِ قَرِيب.

Verily the help of Allah is close. But greater than his mercy being close or his help being close is that he himself is close. But that nearness can also be scary if you've been running away from him.

Verily we created man and we know what his soul whispers to him and we are closer to him than his jugular vein. He hears evil whispers and he hears righteous whispers.

There is a closeness that can confront you or a closeness that can comfort you depending on what you're saying under your breath or even in your heart. He is close to everyone in his awareness but he's close to the believer with his awareness and his mercy. And think of how that awareness and mercy tie generations of belief together.

Connecting Generations of Faith

Before Zakariya asked for a son and said, إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ الدُّعَاءِ. Indeed you are the hearer of supplication. His forefather Ibrahim said the exact same thing.

إِنَّ رَبِّي لَسَمِيعُ الدُّعَاءِ. My Lord is surely the hearer of supplication. The father of Bani Israel called for a son so that faith could begin to take root in his descendants.

Then one of the last prophets of Bani Israel called for a son so that faith would not end in this dunya without a descendant to carry on the message. Both asked not out of desperation for lineage but out of love for al-wadood. And both knew that al-samee'u already heard what was in their hearts before their lips knew what to say.

But Allah turned up the volume and recorded their du'as in his final revelation so that we all read them and call upon our Rabb the same way they did. But are you willing to sacrifice what they did? Because that closeness demands a step. Think of the word qurbani, sacrifice, which comes from the word qurb, closeness.

The Cost of Closeness

Ibrahim was willing to lay down his son to get closer. Are you willing to lay down your time, your pride, your habits, even your comfort? Each act of sacrifice is a step of closeness because al-qareeb isn't a concept that you talk about. He's a closeness that you live.

Closeness to Allah is the greatest gift before you even ask him for anything. Remember when Fir'aun once told his magicians that his greatest favor to them was, I'll make you from my close ones, الْمُقَرَّبِين. But Asiya, his own wife looked beyond his throne and to the Lord of the mighty throne and said, My Lord built for me with you a house in paradise.

She didn't just want jannah, she wanted it with him. That's qurb, that's what it means to seek closeness. And then those same magicians that once longed for the closeness of Fir'aun fell into sujood to Allah and were martyred here only to have their souls ascend to the throne of Allah just like Asiya.

The Fruit of Closeness

So then what's the fruit of all this in terms of du'as actually being answered? Remember the hadith Qudsi where Allah talks about his wali and he says, my servant keeps coming closer to me with his obligations and then his voluntary good deeds until I love him and when I love him I become the hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps and his foot with which he walks. That's the qurb part, that's the closeness. But then, if he asks me I will surely answer him.

And if he seeks refuge in me then I will surely grant it to him. Notice Allah says you ask and he's close and then he says you ask and he answers. أَمَّن يُجِيبُ الْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكْشِفُ السُّوءَ Who is the one who answers the caller in distress and removes the evil? But qurb comes before ijabah.

Salih captured it perfectly when he said, إِنَّ رَبِّي قَرِيبٌ مُّجِيبٌ Indeed my Lord is close and responsive. The scholars explain that al-qareeb comes before al-mujeeb just like al-tawwab comes before al-raheem. فَتَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوا So just like he turns to you so you can turn to him, he brings you close to him so that he can answer you in the best way.

The Wisdom of Divine Timing

Imam Ahmad rahimahullah was once asked, O Imam what's the distance between us and the throne of Allah? He said a sincere prayer from a pure heart. Sometimes al-mujeeb answers by protecting you from evil instead or with exactly what you asked for or better. And sometimes he changes you before he changes your circumstances because that was better for you all along.

And Imam al-Ghazali rahimahullah said, he knows the needs of the needy before they ask and he answers the unspoken prayers with the wisdom of his timing. So if someone says, if he already knows, then what's the point of du'a? Because du'a isn't about informing him. It's about transforming you.

And that only happens through bringing you closer to him. Every time you ask, you move closer. Every time you fall into sujood and cry your heart out, he fills your heart with him before he fills your hands with what you asked him for.

Prostrate and come closer. And don't ever think getting close to anyone else in this world will get you a better share of anything this world has to offer. Tawus rahimahullah said, وَانْظُرْ إِيَّاكَ أَن تَطْلُبَ حَوَائِجَكَ مِمَّنْ أَغْلَقَ دُونَكَ بَابَهُ وَعَلَيْكَ بِمَن بَابُهُ مَفْتُوحٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ أَمَرَكَ أَن تَسْأَلَهُ وَوَعَدَكَ أَن يُجِيبَكَ

Beware of seeking your needs from someone who shuts his door in your face. Turn instead to the one whose door is open until the day of judgment. He commanded you to ask him and then he promised you to answer you. He is As-Samee' who heard you before you spoke, Al-Qareeb who came close before you even moved, and Al-Mujeeb who answered before you even finished asking.

The Prophet ﷺ said, أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ I call to Allah alone. The one who if harm touches you and you call upon him removes it from you. The one who if you are lost in a barren land and call upon him guides you back.

The one who if drought afflicts you and you call upon him brings forth growth for you. So ask, ask for everything. For what you know you need and what you don't know you need.

But don't ask so much for possessions and forget that the greatest possession he can give you is a position near to him.

Final Du'a

You hear every sound before it's spoken and every silence before it finds words. Inspire in me the words that are pleasing to you.

Make sincere the du'a that I utter between breaths and even the ones I make loud alongside others. Let me never doubt that you are listening and never tire of my calling.

You are nearer than every thought I hide. Let me feel your nearness in the stillness of my prayer. Let the clarity and comfort of your closeness cut through all the noise outside. And forgive me for what should have never made it inside.

Answer not only what I ask but what I mean. Give me what I would have prayed for if I knew what was best for me. When I raise my hands to you, fill them only with what draws me closer to you and protect me from ever believing that an answer is not possible or questioning you.