Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 91
91 The other aspect of this give and take relationship is expressed in the following verse: 1 ْ اُدْعُوْنِيْٓ اَسْتَجِبْ لَكُم Pray unto Me; I will answer your prayer. This is not a contradiction. When the situation at hand is different, there is no question of contradiction. In this particular instance, Allah the Exalted accepts the will of His servant. A Condition for the Acceptance of Prayer Bear well in mind that a person’s prayer is accepted when they abandon heedless- ness, sin and transgression for the sake of Allah Almighty. The more an individual grows in divine nearness, the greater they will partake of the fruits of the accept- ance of prayer. This is why Allah the Exalted states: 2 َ َرْشُدُوْن ی ْ بِيْ لَعَلَّهُم لِيْ وَ لْيُؤْمِنُوْا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيْـبُوْا ْبٌ اُجِيْبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ اِذَا ی ِ سَاَلَكَ عِبَادِيْ عَنِّيْ فَاِنِّيْ قَر وَ اِذَا And when My servants ask thee about Me, say: ‘I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. So they should heark- en to Me and believe in Me, that they may follow the right way. ’ At another place, Allah the Exalted states: 3 ٍ لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِنْ مَّكَانٍۭ بَعِيْد ی ّٰ وَ اَن But how can the attaining of faith be possible to them from a position so far-off. In other words, why should I listen to the prayer of one who is distant from Me? A lesson has been given here based on what we generally observe in the law of nature. This does not mean that God cannot hear, for He is privy to the most hid- den desires buried in our hearts. In fact, He is aware of even those desires which have not yet come into existence. However, in this verse, Allah the Exalted has directed man’s attention to attaining divine nearness and explains that just as a distant voice cannot be clearly heard, in the same manner, an individual who is plunged in heedlessness, sin and transgression, becomes distant from God. The further away a person grows from God, the more obstructed and improbable the 1 al-Mu’min, 40:61 2 al-Baqarah, 2:187 3 Saba, 34:53