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WHAT
IS THE BEST KIND OF PETITIONARY PRAYER (DU‘A) OF A
BELIEVER FOR ANOTHER?
It
is one in accordance with the conditions of its
acceptability. A prayer is more or less acceptable in
consideration of certain conditions being met.
For
example, when one prays to God for something, he should
first cleanse himself by asking for forgiveness from God,
and then call God’s blessing on the Prophet Muhammad as
an intercessor before and after the prayer. For calling
God’s blessing on the Prophet is an acceptable prayer
and the prayer said between two acceptable prayers is
usually acceptable also. In addition, such a prayer should
be said in the absence of the believer for whom it is said
and be the kind of the prayers mentioned in the Quran and
Hadith. For example, one should prefer comprehensive
prayers such as: O God, I ask forgiveness of You, for me
and him, and soundness in religion, in this world and in
the Hereafter! Our Lord, grant us in the world good, and
in the Hereafter good, and guard us against the
chastisement of the Fire!
One
should pray with sincerity, from the heart and with a
religious seriousness and solemn reverence. Also, one
should do so after the five daily prayers (salat)
and, particularly, after the dawn prayer and in blessed
times such as Friday - especially during the hour when
prayer is absolutely accepted - the three months of
additional prayer before Ramadan, during Ramadan itself,
and, most particularly, the Night of Power. Further, one
should make one’s petition in the mosque. God is
expected, through His Mercy, to accept a petition made in
observance of such conditions, and He accepts it so that
either it is answered in this world or the one in whose
name it is made will hopefully benefit from it in the
Hereafter. For this reason, if one does not obtain the
result for which he prayed, he should not think that the
prayer has not been accepted, rather, he should consider
that it has received a better acceptance.
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