ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Supplication In the Eyes of the (as) Acceptance of the Prayer Prayer is Surrounded by Success and Acceptance A prayer is surrounded by the mercy of Allah from two sides; by success ( tawfiq ) from Allah, and by the response ( istijabah ) from Him. Basically, a servant cannot engage himself in supplication without the tawfiq from Allah. Such a facilitation by Allah is necessary before supplication.

In this case, if a servant calls on Allah, He would indeed answer his prayer: “Call Me, I will answer you.” [^1] Hence, a prayer is preceeded by success from Allah and followed by the response from Him. A prayer is always surrounded by these two elements which are, in fact, two doors from among the doors of Allah’s mercy which are opened for a servant before and after supplication.

It is reported from the Holy Prophet (S) , “For whosoever among you the door of prayer ( du’a’ ) is opened, then the doors of mercy ( rahmah ) shall be opened for him.”[^2] Imam ‘Ali bin al-Husain, Zayn al-’Abidin (‘a), says: “Thus they remembered You by Your benevolence, and thanked You…” The moment a servant remembers his Lord, he comes under the protection of Allah and His grace, and He would, subsequently, deserve to be thanked by his servant.

In the whispered prayer ( munajat ) of al-muti’in (the obedient toward Allah), of the famous fifteen whispered prayers[^3], Imam as-Sajjad (‘a) says: “For we exist through You and belong to You, and we have no means to {reach} You but Yourself.” Thus, a servant does not remember his Lord except after this remembrance has been preceeded by benevolence and grace from Allah, as he has no way to reach Allah but by His grace and mercy.

So if he remembers Allah, it is by His grace; and if he prays to Him, it is through the success He, the Exalted, has granted him; and if he thanks Him, it is through His mercy.

In the supplication of ‘arafah , Imam al-Husayn (‘a) says: “My ignorance and audacity against You did not stop You from guiding me to that which would take me closer to You, and from facilitating for me that which would take me closer to You.” Among the most subtle of prayers is the prayer of man to his Lord, the Exalted, to grant him success to pray to Him.