Why should you make du'a (prayer)?

Why should you make du'a?

﷽ 

"Supplication is the essence of worship"

(Tirmidhi 3371)

The Hadith

In this Hadith, the Prophet ﷺ mentions two things: supplication; and worship. 

Supplication is the act of calling upon Allah ﷻ in order to request from Him His mercy, whether it be in helping you, forgiving you, or guiding you, among many others.

Worship is an outer action dedicated to Allah ﷻ alone, in order for one to gain His closeness. Its desire, or the act itself, is virtuous and is worthy of reward from the Lord of the heavens as He had promised in eternality. 

Its purpose is the pleasure of Allah ﷻ, as well as eternal bliss in the hereafter, where one will only find the never-ending benefactions of his Lord most High. The manifestation takes form in the outer actions, such as prayer (salat), ritual remembrance (dhikr), or fasting (siyaam). 

The secret behind the outer actions is that there is no benefit in the movements themselves, for an insincere act of worship is not accepted, and could be a path towards sin. Instead, movements are beneficial for the effect they have on the inner soul, such as humility when prostrating in front of the Lord most, or building the trait of patience when one fasts.

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The touching of the forehead upon the ground, or the pangs of hunger, are not the true virtues of outer actions, but rather the humility brought on by prostration, and the perseverance brought on by fasting. These are the true fruits of realisation, so know that worship is really predicated on the effect it has on the inner soul. It is a means of purification and cleansing from sins and filthy characteristics. 

Imam al-Ghazali رحمه الله writes regarding ablution, an example of outer worship, in his Forty Principles of The Religion: 

“However, it is not farfetched that the shining light of outer purification also has an effect on the heart. Indeed, if you perform ablution well and are conscious of your outer self’s cleanliness, you find an expansion of your heart and a clarity therein that you did not find therein previously.”

 

 Now, you may be asking, where does supplication (du’a) come in?

Allah ﷻ says in the Exalted Quran:

“I have not created Jinn and Mankind except to worship” (51:56)

To this, Ibn Abbas رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ , the leader of the mufassireen - Quranic Exegetes- commented that, here, by ‘worship (me)’, Allah means ‘Know (me)’, meaning that our purpose, really, is to know Allah and that recognition (ma’arifat) of our Lord most High is the genuine quintessence of our worship. 

This is self-evident, for in order for our worship to be sincere, we must first know the Mighty Being to whom we are being sincere in the first place.

Now, we have established that knowledge is the core of worship, but our leader ﷺ has told us that supplication is the core of worship. We know from our shahadah, that we must take the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) words above everyone else’s. So how must we reconcile this?

A Contradiction?

Worry not, Oh Seeker! For there remains an important distinction. When we say, ‘essence’ there are a variety of meanings. In philosophy, especially Neoplatonic thought, it is considered as a metaphysical soul-like thing which all things possess which allows for their existence. It is a characteristic of Ibn Sina's philosophy that he separates existence from essence, holding them to be two separate entities. Al-Suhrawardi, as well, held a principle of 'essence precedes existence' (essentialism), holding illumination to be separate from the thing illuminated.

In theology, however, it is merely the existent thing itself, as either a body or an attribute. So the essence of a bed is the bed itself existing as a body, and the essence of a colour is the colour itself existing as an attribute of another thing. This is called Dhat. Here, the theological definition of essence seems more befitting. 

The actual Arabic word used, is mookh, which generally refers to the brain or the mind. That is to say, it implies such a faculty that if it were absent, the rest of the body is rendered useless. 

A person can beautify his bed all he wants with the most elegant of quills and bedsheets, but if there is no mattress, is it really a bed?

Further, an essence is either described through definition or the use of negative or positive attributes. For example, the essence of a chair is a structure with support intended for one to sit on (or its like). An example of the latter can be found in the theological discussion regarding the essence of Allah. It is first affirmed that Allah most High has an essence, otherwise denying it would be tantamount to disbelief.

Then, since it is impossible to pen a definition of Allah, negative attributes are then stated instead. Such as Allah’s freedom from need or being made up of parts, among many others you shall read in the books of Creed. 

Now, although we have given a short definition of what worship is, it needs to be accurately defined. Since worship is truly an inner, spiritual matter, it cannot be defined the way a physical object, like that of a chair, can be. Thus, we understand it through attributes and manifestations, or in this case, the recognition of Allah. 

Now, remember that outer actions are intended for their spiritual purification, and so understand then, that it works the opposite way as well. With the purification of the inner soul, comes the beauty of character and an abundance of outer worship as a gift from the Lord to become even more worthy of reward. Further, with the corruption of the inner soul comes the filth of character and abundance of despicable actions as a punishment from the Lord to become even more engrossed in the torment of the Flames.

Imam al-Ghazali رحمه الله writes in his summary of the Ihya:

“That is because of the secret relationship between the sensory world and the spiritual realm. The outer body is of the sensory world, yet the heart is primordially of the spiritual realm, and its descent to the sensory world is like the stranger out his element or away from his tribe.”

Know Seeker, that knowledge is the inner essence of worship, its manifestation is that of supplication. Why? Because when a servant drops to his knees with teary eyes and a trembling heart, he begs his Lord, calling upon every Name he knows. 

The slave only asks his Lord Most High because he knows only He is capable. He asks for forgiveness because he knows the vast mercy of the Most-Loving, he asks for favours because he knows the infinite generosity of the Most-Kind, he asks for protection because he knows the might of the Exalted One, may He be glorified. 

Related: What is the point of making Du'a?

Oh Blessed One! Do not take supplication lightly, for it is the means of intimate conversation with Allah, your Merciful Lord. Know that happiness lies only in the remembrance of the One who is closer to you than your jugular veins, and what better remembrance is there than intimate conversation? 

Your Leader (upon him be peace) has told you that “supplication is the weapon of the believer” and indeed, a weapon is only useful when in use. Thus, obey your Lord, for He has commanded you to call upon Him, 

“Call upon Me so that I may answer you” (60:70)

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