Du'a (supplication)

Du'a is supplicatory speech expressing request with humility — also called su'al. Al-Khattabi: its essence is the servant's invoking his Lord's care and drawing on His aid, the display of neediness and disavowal of power and strength — the mark of servanthood — together with praise of God and the ascription of generosity to Him. ¹

It occurs as seeking rescue, as worship, as calling out, and as petitioning God — the sense here, as in "when My servants ask you of Me — I am near; I answer the call of the caller when he calls" and "your Lord said: call on Me, I will answer you." ^{1 2}

Every istighfar is du'a, not every du'a istighfar; dhikr in its widest sense includes du'a and more. ²

Al-Nawawi: the chosen doctrine of the jurists, hadith scholars and the mass of the learned is that du'a is recommended; it can be obligatory, like the supplication inside al-Fatiha in prayer and the janaza supplication. ²

The Sheikh recommends the prayer seeking refuge from worry and grief, and that a person not fret about tomorrow, and says that someone in debt should pray to God sincerely in the last third, so that God will settle his debt ⁴. He says that someone afraid of illness and its effects should make three supplications alongside pursuing the means: that God guide the doctor to the diagnosis of the illness, guide him to prescribing the medicine, and place the secret of healing in that medicine ⁵. The Sheikh criticizes what he sees in some government hospitals in some countries of wrong diagnoses and operations on the wrong part of the body, and of medicines that may cause harm even to the point of death (needs_source) ³.

He says that hearts are in God's hand, so whoever has a difficult spouse should turn to God to soften the heart of the other party ⁶.

The Sheikh says that whoever says the greeting of peace upon us and upon the righteous servants of God has his greeting reach millions of souls that have died and millions of living bodies, who in turn pray for him with good, and he describes prayer as a form of connection (needs_source) ⁷.

The Sheikh says that the prayer of a transgressor may be answered before that of an upright person for one of two reasons: either God wants to draw him towards prayer, or He does not want him to keep standing at His door ⁸. He mentions a saying attributed to God to the effect of hastening the need of a servant because He dislikes hearing his voice (needs_source) ⁸. The Sheikh describes mothers whose child falls ill and whose illness worsens, who say, Lord, take what he has and give it to us, and he counts this as emotion in its right place, and then asks God for well-being ⁹.

The Sheikh advises that whoever goes to the doctor, himself or his child, make three supplications: that God guide the doctor to a sound diagnosis, since an unsound diagnosis can lead the patient to harm, and that He guide him to prescribe the suitable medicine ¹⁰. The third supplication is that God not remove the secret of healing from that medicine, and the Sheikh says that God has created no disease without creating a cure for it, except old age ¹¹.