The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 92
Seal of the Prophets - Volume III 92 I could provide hundreds of examples 1 and prove that our God is not a superficial King, nor is He the slave of His own law, in that He cannot make changes to it. No doubt, as we shall mention ahead, He does not do anything contradictory to His own custom or promise, conversely, He is a living and powerful God, Who listens to the prayers of His servants and arranges for their definite outcome. However, it is obvious that just as He is not the slave of His own law, similarly, He is not the slave of His servants either, and it is not necessary that He accepts every prayer. As a matter of fact, the acceptance of prayer is intertwined to various specific conditions which, God-willing, we shall describe ahead. Following this fundamental note, for the enlightenment of readers we present a few Qur’ānic verses and Aḥādīth relevant to the concept of prayer, so that they may be educated as to the essence of the Islāmic teaching in this regard. Therefore, it should be known that Du‘ā is an Arabic word which means ‘to call’ or ‘to implore’ someone, and in calling or inviting although the predominant sense is of imploring or invoking for something, but in its wider sense, all kinds of invocation are included, whether for the purpose of seeking Divine succour, or for some other purpose. For example, if an individual addresses God merely to express emotions of love and devotion, this is also a form of Du‘ā , even though there is no aspect of imploring or seeking of assistance. However, in addition to its wider meanings, the word Du‘ā has also taken on a specific and precise conventional meaning, which relates to invoking or imploring or seeking assistance. In this context, the latter meaning is implied. Prayer is a Spiritual Means to Success First and foremost, with relevance to the concept of prayer, Islām teaches that it is not only a form of worship but is a kind of pleading and as per the circumstances, Allāh the Exalted accepts this pleading and produces an outcome. Furthermore, Muslims have been instructed to never be negligent of this spiritual weapon, but to constantly employ it. Actually, the Islāmic perspective on prayer is that God has established various means for the acquisition of objectives in this world and it is the desire of God for people to 1 These examples are more or less found in every religion, for in their origin all religions, the foundation of which is laid upon Divine Revelation, are from God. In their eras, they have all witnessed Divine succour, although now, they have gone astray and have been deprived of this succour.