The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 97
III - Concept of the Acceptance of Prayer in Islām 97 “When a Muslim makes a prayer to God, on the condition that this prayer is not based on sin or the severing of ties of kinship, God most definitely accepts it in one out of three possible cases. In other words, firstly, He accepts it as such in this very world; secondly, He accumulates it for the supplicant in the hereafter; thirdly if its acceptance is contradictory to a Divine custom or wisdom, He alleviates a similar suffering or evil from the supplicant. ” 1 With the existence of these three possibilities, who can claim that prayers are not accepted? Impatience in Prayer is Destructive Then the Holy Prophet sa states: ْ وَفِی ْ رِوَایَة ٍ مَا لَم 2 یُسْتَجَاب ُ لِاَحَدِكُم ْ مَا لَم ْ یَعْجَل ْ یَقُوْل ُ دَعَوْت ُ فَلَم ْ یُسْتَجِب ْ لِیْ. َ َأر ا ْ یَسْتَعْجِل ْ قِیْل َ یَا رَسُوْل َ اللّٰه ِ مَا الْاِسْتِعْجَال ُ قَال َ يَقُول ُ قَد ْ دَعَوْت ُ وَقَد ْ دَعَوْت ُ فَلَم َ يَسْتَجِيب ُ لِي فَيَسْتَحْسِر ُ عِنْد َ ذَلِك َ وَيَدَع ُ الدُّعَاء “Long lasting patience and steadfastness is required in prayer and an individual who does not show impatience, ultimately receives the fruit of his prayer. However, if he begins to tire and say that, ‘I have prayed much, but Allāh has not heard me’ and then with this thought, he abandons prayer all together, then in actuality, the prayer of such an individual is not accepted. ” 3 1 * Jami'ut-Tirmidhī, Volume 2, p. 201, Kitābud-Da‘awāt, Qadīmī Kutub Khānah, Ārām Bāgh, Karachi * Musnad, By Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, Volume 4, pp. 48-49, Musnadu Abī Sa‘īdin Al-Khudriyyi, Ḥadīth No. 9137, ‘Ālamul-Kutub, Beirut (1998) 2 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābud-Da‘awāt, Bābu Yustajābu Lil-‘Abdi Mā Lam Ya‘jal, Ḥadīth No. 6340 * Musnad, By Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, Volume 3, p. 442, Musnadu Abī Hurairah, Ḥadīth No. 9137, ‘Ālamul-Kutub, Beirut (1998) 3 Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Kitābudh-Dhikri Wad-Du‘ā’i. . . , Bābu Annahū Yustajābu Lid-Dā‘ī Mā Lam Ya‘jal. . . , Ḥadīth No. 6936