Du'a and Its Relationship with Destiny*
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Creator: Yasir Qadhi
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Identifier: http://www.khutbah.com/en/allah_angels/dua_destiny.php
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Subject: prayer
Title: Du'a and Its Relationship with Destiny*
Created on: Tue Jan 29 11:01:27 -0500 2008
Updated on: Tue Jan 29 11:01:27 -0500 2008
Version: 1
Abstract: ... that you will ask Allah to cure you of this illness (i.e. both the illness and your asking to cure the illness has been decreed). In a similar manner, a person may be deprived of his sustenance that was decreed for him, since Allah's eternal knowledge encompasses the fact that this person would perform a sinful deed that would cause the deprivation of his sustenance. All of this, then, is from the decree of Allah, all glory and praise be to Him." There are a number of ahadith that clarify this point. For example, Mu'adh ibn Jabal reported that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said: "Caution will be of no benefit against divine decree, but du' a benefits all things, whether they come down or not. I therefore advise you to make du'a, O servants of Allah" (Ahmad, Abu Ya'la and al-Tabarani)! So no matter how cautious a person is, he cannot escape what is written for him, simply because Allah controls everything, and nothing escapes His knowledge or power. However, by turning to Allah through du'a , it is possible to avert something that might have been decreed. Salman al-Farsi narrated that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said: "Nothing repels divine decree except du'a, and nothing increases one's lifespan except good deeds" (Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Hakim). This hadith informs us in no uncertain terms that the only way we can repel some divine decree is through du'a. So it is possible that some unpleasant matter has been preordained for us, but only if we do not make du'a to avert it from us. So if du'a is made, then this matter will not occur or be fulfilled, whereas if du'a is left, the misfortune will occur. Another narration in al-Tirmidhi also supports this. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said: "There is no Muslim on the face of the earth that asks Allah for anything except that Allah gives it to him, or averts from him a similar evil, as long as he does not ask for something evil or for breaking the ties of kinship" (Al-Tirmidhi). From this narration, the benefits of du'a are made clear, and its value is understood. For not only is a person rewarded for making a du'a, but it is also a cause of repelling an evil that was destined for him, and in obtaining the good that he was expecting. Ibn Hajr, commenting on the benefits of du'a, said: "And the benefit of performing du'a is the attainment of reward by obeying the command (of Allah to make du'a), and also by the attainment of what is asked for, for there is a possibility that the request is dependent on the du'a, since Allah is the Creator of both the effort and result of the effort" (Fath Al-Bari)! Therefore, the proper response to the question posed earlier is, in the words of Ibn al-Qayyim, as follows: "The logical consequences of such a reasoning leads to a rejection ... [Full Article...]
