Will Allah Not Accept My Du’a Unless I Am Perfect in My Obedience?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

Is it true that Allah will not accept my dua if I sin? There is a verse in the Quran saying, “[He did] this because God would never change a favor He had conferred on a people unless they changed what was within themselves. God is All-hearing, All-knowing.” [Quran, 8:53] According to this, Allah will not remove hardship until we change our obedience to Him. So if I don’t become perfect in obedience to Him, will Allah not accept my dua or remove my hardship? Please explain.

Answer

Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for wanting to perfect your obedience to Him and for seeking to understand His holy words.

Tafseer

It says in Tafseer al Jalalayn:

That chastisement of the disbelievers is because God would never change a grace that He had conferred on a people [substituting it with affliction] until they have changed that which is in themselves [until they have exchanged the grace conferred upon them for unbelief in the way that the Meccan disbelievers exchanged their being ‘fed against hunger’ their being made ‘safe from fear’ cf. Q. 1064 and the sending of the Prophet s to them for unbelief for barring against the way of God and for fighting Muslims;] and know that God is Hearing and Knowing.

Change

According to the above exegesis (tafseer), the verse does mean what you think. Allah Most High is not saying that He will not bestow a favor until you are perfect in obedience. He is saying that he will not take away a favor toward a people unless the people return to disbelief.

It is more clearly understood in Mustafa al Khattab’s translation of the verse: “This is because Allah would never discontinue His favor to a people until they discontinue their faith. Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” [Quran, 8:53]

Perfect Obedience

Perfect obedience is impossible, and Allah loves repentance. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence, and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have pardoned them. [Muslim]

Please see these links as well:

• What Is the Point of Obedience, If Allah Most High May Forgive the Disobedient Person and Both Will Enter Paradise Anyway?
• Four Obstacles to Obedience to Allah
• Are We Condemned to This World Due to the Original Sin?

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.