South Valley Islamic Community Blog

By Imam Ilyas Anwar

This week we will continue to examine the various aspects of du’a. Although Allah has given us the power of the dua to seek His divine intervention, nonetheless there are certain things that cannot be changed or are beyond dua, or looked upon in another way, when our dua would be answered by Allah in the Hereafter. It is our natural tendency for us to conclude that when Allah does not answer our prayers and dua when in fact He may be deferring them to the Day of Judgment.

To enhance the power of our dua, we must ensure that our lines of communication to God must be clean and unhampered. Meaning, we must lead a life according to His commands. That aside, there are certain events and instances that Allah will not change regardless of our supplication.

Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. never failed to mention the mercy and benevolence of Allah. At the same time the Prophet s.a.w. never hesitated to tell his followers that he was also the “Warner,” to warn us of the awful powers of Allah to punish us should we transgress His commands.

There was a hadith to the effect that the Prophet s.a.w. and the Day of Judgment were like two fingers stuck together, meaning it could come any time after the prophet’s arrival. The Quran listed some of the major and minor signs that would point towards the Day of Judgment.

Thus we must at all times pay attention to those obligations that are incumbent upon us and do not worry of the responsibilities of others and whether they are fulfilling them or not. Execute them to the extent of our capability and execute them well. Do not despair if you were not able to execute all of them; suffice that we have done our best and put in our utmost effort.

Let not the inaction of others be our excuse for not doing our part.

In the Quran it is mentioned that zakat is as important as solat (prayers). It is also mentioned in the Quran that obedience to Allah means being obedient to His commands as preached by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. The Quran and the sunnah illuminate one another.

One of the teachings of the Prophet is that we should be thankful to our parents. Someone came upon the Prophet s.a.w for advice on what he (the follower) should do. The prophet replied the young man to help his mother. The young man again asked what to do after that. Whereupon the prophet s.a.w. replied the same. The man came again the third time, and the prophet replied the same, again to emphasize the importance for us to be kind to our parents especially our mother.

On another occasion, a young man came upon the Prophet s.a.w. for advice before undertaking a jihad. Whereupon the Prophet s.a.w. replied that the young man should instead look after his parents instead of going on a jihad. We should reciprocate what our parents did for us when we were young and helpless. Jannah lies at the mother’s feet, goes a familiar hadith. Even if our parents have died, then we should remember them in our prayers and seek dua that Allah may bless them and grant them mercy. We should remember our parents who have died at least five times a day, meaning during our obligatory prayers.

If we do good to our parents, then Allah will in turn help us. We should also extend that same treatment and courtesy to our family and friends.

Transcribed by Dr. Bakri Musa