Du’a (Supplication)

Du'a (Supplication)

Allah is the Guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of darkness into light.

اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ

Allah is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Peace be upon you.

Welcome to Camp Taqwa

Welcome back to Camp Taqwa. I'm sure that you've enjoyed your stay here, this 29 to 30 day stay here at Camp Taqwa, where you're working and I'm working to acquire the noble quality of Taqwa. And Allah in the Quran, He praised the people of Taqwa and He mentioned in different places the reality of the one who fears Allah, is aware of Allah.

The Rewards of Taqwa

That Allah will make things easy for them. Allah will provide him for ways he could never imagine. That Allah will reward the person and magnify their reward and forgive their sins. So many rewards mentioned about Taqwa, and if you want to see some of those rewards, go to the first page of Surat al-Talaq and there you'll find Allah mentions the many rewards of the people of Taqwa.

The Regiment of Camp Taqwa

As we mentioned before, we have a very tight regiment here at Camp Taqwa and we have certain activities that you have to partake of in order to achieve the quality of Taqwa here at Camp Taqwa. And after talking about Salah, the next important activity that we would like to engage in is an individual exercise which is known as al-Du'a.

The Meaning and Essence of Du'a

And al-Du'a literally means to call, and al-Du'a means I'm calling you to something. Hence we have the word Da'wah which means the call of Islam or the propagation of Islam. And the Prophet, he linked Du'a to being the essence of worship when he said:

That Du'a, supplication, is the marrow, the bone marrow of Ibadah. This is a sign of someone's sincere Tawheed. The more that they go back to Allah, the more that they call on Allah, the more that they supplicate to Allah, this is a reflection of their sincere Iman. That they believe that Allah exists and Allah is the one who provides things.

The Wisdom of Making Du'a in a Silent Voice

There are some interesting nuances that we can talk about Du'a. For example, why is it recommended that one make Du'a in a silent voice, not too loud? Why should someone make Du'a in a silent voice? Because when you make Du'a in a silent voice and you ask Allah for guidance, you ask Allah to give you Taqwa here at Camp Taqwa, you ask Allah to help you with your family, to help you with your children, to help you find a job, to help you with school, to alleviate difficulties for you, nobody can hear you except Allah. Nobody can hear you except the Lord of everything that exists.

Thus, when that Du'a is answered, you know that it was only you and Allah and you know that you lack the ability to provide yourself with what you're asking for. Because if you had the ability to provide yourself what you were asking for, you would have never asked in the first place. So, when you make this Du'a with a slow, silent voice and you see that Du'a answered in your life, this is a sign that Allah exists, that Allah is al-Sami' al-'Alim, the One who hears and knows everything.

The Story of Aisha and the Woman Who Complained

For that reason, Aisha bint Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with her, one day she was sitting and a woman came and started to complain to the Prophet about her husband. And Allah revealed verses about how this husband had treated this woman:

Allah revealed these verses describing her complaint and how Allah heard her complaint and Allah answered her Du'a. And Aisha bint Abi Bakr said, "Subhanallah, I was sitting in the same room and Allah heard what I couldn't hear this woman saying to the Prophet."

Never Despair of Allah's Mercy

Number two is the concept of depression and anxiety and being completely negative in one's outlook. Many people they feel that, you know, I've done this, I've done that, I got a lot of dirt, I got more dirt than a bulldozer in my background. You know, I'm an evil person, how will Allah forgive me? Allah will not answer my Du'a.

If you go to the Quran, look at Shaytan. Shaytan he said:

Shaytan made Du'a to Allah: O Allah, grant me respite until a known day. Grant me respite so I can attack the sons of Adam. And Allah said:

Allah said, you've been granted this respite.

The Ulema said, if Allah answered the Du'a of Iblis, then what about the Du'a of the one who drinks? What about the Du'a of the one who smokes blunts? What about the Du'a of the one who's fallen into illicit relationships with women? What about the one who's a sinner? Allah answered the Du'a of the worst of creation, Iblis, then indeed you should never be sad and you should never give up on yourself. If He's going to answer the Du'a of Iblis, indeed He's going to answer the Du'a of those who seek Him sincerely and want to come back to Him and develop a relationship with Him.

Allah's Closeness to His Servants

The last one is something beautiful, that many times we feel we're far away from Allah. Allah is far away from you. Oh, I've done this, I've done that, I'm so bad or whatever, for whatever reason, and we get depressed. But if you go to the Quran, we see that Allah, He uses the word "Ya" in Arabic.

"Ya" is called Harfu Nida. Harfu Nida means what? Oh. Ya Suhaib, Ya Murad, Ya Ahmed, Ya Binti, Ya Ayni, Ya Fikri, whatever. "Ya" means oh, and it's a sign of respect. And you usually use it to call someone when they're far away from you. Like you could say, if someone's like 30 feet from me, I would say, "Ya Ahmed." If somebody was like, you know, a good 15 feet away, "Ya Ahmed." Even if someone is like 5 or 6 feet away, "Ya Ahmed." But if someone is standing right next to me, there's no need to use "Ya" because he's so close to me, so I just turn to him and say, "Ahmed, yo, what's up? Ahmed, how you doing? Ahmed," without the "Ya."

If you look in the Quran, brothers and sisters, you will never find the Du'a in the Quran which is preceded by the word "Ya." Because Allah wants to show you, I'm so close to you by my knowledge. I'm so close to you by my absolute hearing and seeing. If you want to call on me, oh my servant, don't even say "Ya," just say "Rabbi" (My Lord). And I will answer you.

Allah says in the Quran, your Lord says, call upon me and I will answer you.

The Guarantee of Du'a Being Answered

And that's why the ulama said, one of the gifts which was granted to this ummah, which was not granted to any nation before it, was that Allah swore, if you make Du'a to me, I will answer your Du'a. Either in this life, or maybe Allah wants to save the grand prize for you in the hereafter. You might be like, well, why didn't I get my

Du'a answered? Because Allah is saving it for you. When you go to the hereafter, it's going to be much better than what you asked for in this life.

The Times When Du'a is Accepted

So what should we do in the month of Ramadan? Between the Adhan and the Iqama, don't sit around and talk about Tom Brady getting jacked up in a football game, or the latest Xbox codes, or, you know, the NASDAQ. Make Du'a. Because the Prophet said that this time is a time in which the Du'a is accepted.

An hour before Maghrib, on the day of Jumu'ah, the Prophet said, as according to the scholars, the meaning here is, the hour before Maghrib is a blessed time to make Du'a. During the Qiyam al-Layl, here at Camp Taqwa, don't start talking about the latest iPod and MySpace. Look how the selfishness comes in even to the names of things that we buy. iPod. MySpace. So I become what? Selfish.

Focus on Du'a at Camp Taqwa

But this is the time for you not to talk about these things because they're banned at Camp Taqwa. What we want to see you do here is what? Du'a. We consider these things contraband. Selfishness is contraband. We want to see you what? Make Du'a to Allah.

Closing Supplication

We ask Allah to accept our supplications, our Du'as. We ask Allah to purify our hearts from any ills which cause our Du'a not to be heard by Allah. Until next time, we'll see you here at Camp Taqwa.