This is because one who is not faithful to his pledge with respect to Allah (s.

This is because one who is not faithful to his pledge with respect to Allah (s.w.t.), should likewise not expect Allah's (s.w.t.) promise of answering a supplicant to be true for him too. A person once, complaining to the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) about his prayers not being answered, said: Despite the fact that Allah (s.w.t.) has said “Call upon Me, I will answer you”, why is it that when we supplicate to him, He does not answer our prayers?

The Imam (a.s.) replied: إِنَّ قُلُوبَبُکُمْ خَانٍ بِثَمٌنِيَةِ خِصاَلٍ. “Your hearts (and thoughts) have been unfaithful with respect to eight things (and this is the reason your prayers go unanswered).” You have acquired the cognizance of Allah (s.w.t.) but you do not fulfill what is due to Him; consequently your cognizance of Him has not benefited your state! You have brought faith upon His Messenger but (later) went on to oppose his customs; where then is the yield of your faith?

You have read His book but have not acted upon it; you stated: “We have heard and we obey”, but then rose up in opposition to it! You say: “We fear Allah's punishment”, but perpetually perform acts that lead you closer to it. You claim to be covetous of Allah's reward however you continue to perform acts that lead you away from it. You consume Allah's bounties but do not extend thanksgivings to Him.

You have been ordered to be Shaytan's enemy (whereas you sketch plans to befriend him); you claim to be his enemy but, in practice, you do not oppose him. You place into great scrutiny the faults of others but conveniently disregard your own; with such a state of affairs, how do you expect your prayers to be answered when you yourself have shut its doors?

Be pious, rectify your deeds and enjoin the good and forbid the evil so that your prayers are answered.”[^4] This meaningful tradition explicitly states: “Allah's promise to answer the invocations of a supplicant is not absolute, but conditional - the condition being that you should fulfill your own pledges and covenants; however the reality is that you have broken your pledge in eight ways.

If you were to put an end to these, your prayers would be answered.” Another condition for the acceptance of one's prayers is to adjoin it with efforts and hard work. In one of the short sayings of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) we read: أَلدَّاعِي بِلاَ عَمَلٍ كَالرَّامِي بِلاَ وَتَرٍ.

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