The Art of Asking God: Approaching Supplication

This is the fourth in a series of articles on how make dua or supplication from the seminar The Art of Asking from God by shaykh Faraz Rabbani, shaykh Abdullah Misra and shaykh Ahmed El-Azhary.

We all know that we ask Allah for our needs. Even if we have an issue with a shoelace, we ask Allah for it. When we have a need, supplication is the thing that opens the door to that need. The supplication becomes a comfort for people who are stricken with problems and it becomes a refuge for people who are in distress. Allah says:

ٱدْعُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًۭا وَخُفْيَةً ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُعْتَدِينَ

“Call only on your Lord, imploringly, and in a whisper; Verily He loves not transgressors.” [Quran, 7:55; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]

Allah here is telling us to call upon him humbly so supplication is not only an expression from ourselves to Allah, it is the right of Allah upon us to make supplication.

Active Supplication

The Hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) indicates that those people who do not make supplication to Allah, Allah is not pleased with those people. We have been created and commanded to make supplication in our very beings. Allah says:

 ٱدۡعُونِیۤ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ 

“Call on Me and I will answer you” [Quran, 40:60; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]

Allah has guaranteed that when you call, Allah Himself will respond. We do not realize that Allah has used the present tense pre-eternally: Allah is already responding to us when we are making a supplication to Allah. Do not compare asking Allah to asking creation. With creation, we are not sure if they are going to answer or not.

There is the aspect of supplication through speech but also supplication through actions. Both of them have to be there for that is the active supplication. Many people say,  “I just keep asking and asking and nothing’s happening.” Allah has given you a tongue to ask him but Allah has also given you a hand to go and try to take what you need. You have been given a body and a mind. All of these things are part of that act of supplication.

What Do You Make Supplication For?

The average believer supplicates such as, “O Allah, I need this, O Allah, I need that, O Allah, get me this job, O Allah, get me married to this person.” The spiritual traveler, when they start becoming realized, seeks to ask Allah for more than just the things in their life. They start making supplication for states of being such as, “Allah, make me pleasing to you, Allah, forgive my sins, Allah, do not make me dislike this person, O Allah, make me grateful to you.” 

The spiritually elite go beyond that. They make supplication to be with Allah. You are making supplication to be in the presence of Allah. Imagine visiting the greatest king or queen in the world, you had a certain need and you were accepted into the court of that great king. Just ponder on the fact that you actually got into the court of the king. When supplication goes to the highest level, it becomes about Allah. You are making supplication a lot to be with Allah. 

When you are young and you go and ask your parents for candy, you just want the candy. When you get older, you want to be in a good state to your parents. Then, afterwards, you just want to spend time with them. 

This is how the levels are, but, it does not mean that anyone is necessarily higher than the other one. The companions used to ask Allah for things, but it does not mean that you stop asking. They used to ask Allah if they needed a shoelace, but they did it with all those levels combined.

Manifesting Neediness

In reality, the essence of supplication, whether you are asking for stuff or whether you are asking for a certain state, the essence of supplication is one: manifesting the neediness of your servanthood to Allah. You are absolutely needy. 

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Supplication is the very essence of worship.” The word Mukh refers to the marrow in your bones. When you pray, you do so to be with Allah and when you fast. it is to be with Allah. When you are speaking to Allah and when you are in intimate discourse with Him, and no one else can hear, is there anything more direct to bring you in the presence of Allah?

Supplication takes your entire being to do it properly. You are not doing anything else other than immersing yourself in the presence of Allah. People make supplication to be with the one they love. There is a dimension of not only words and not only your actions but also your states. The supplication that is closest to being answered is the supplication by the state of one’s being. 

What is the supplication of the state of one’s being? It is that the person making supplication is desperate and they must have what they are making supplication for. When you feel that you are desperate for something and you feel you must ask for it, is not the way you ask for that thing very different to something you are not too concerned about? Allah says:

أَمَّن یُجِیبُ ٱلۡمُضۡطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَیَكۡشِفُ ٱلسُّوۤءَ 

“Or who answers the direly pressed when he pleads to Him, and lifts all woe.” [Quran, 27:62; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]

When you became desperate, Allah already heard it from your heart.