The difference between du’aa’ for asking and du’aa’ for worship : PART - 3

Subject: The difference between du’aa’ for asking and du’aa’ for worship : PART - 3

With regard to the words of Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) in the verse (interpretation of the meaning):

“ ‘Verily, my Lord is indeed the All Hearer of invocations’” [Ibraaheem 14:39]

what is meant by hearing here is hearing in a specific sense, which is the hearing of response and acceptance, not hearing in the general sense, because Allaah hears all that can be heard. As that is the case, du’aa’ here means the du’aa’ of worship and the du’aa’ of requesting, and the Lord’s hearing of it means that He rewards the praise and answers the request, so He hears both. 

With regard to the words of Zakariya (peace be upon him) in the verse (interpretation of the meaning): 

“ ‘and I have never been unblest in my invocation to You, O my Lord’” [Maryam 19:4], 

it was said that what is meant is the du’aa’ of asking, meaning: You always answered me and never rejected me or deprived me. So he is seeking to draw closer to Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, by means of His previous answers and kindness. This is clear in this case. 

With regard to the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Say (O Muhammad): Invoke Allaah or invoke the Most Gracious (Allaah)…” [al-Isra’ 17:110], 

The well known view is that this is the du’aa’ of asking, and this is the reason for revelation. They said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to call upon his Lord, sometimes saying Ya Allaah and sometimes saying Ya Rahmaan, so the mushrikeen thought that he was calling upon two gods, so Allaah revealed this verse. 

With regard to the verse (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, We used to invoke Him (Alone and none else) before. Verily, He is Al Barr (the Most Subtle, Kind, Courteous, and Generous), the Most Merciful” [al-Toor 52:28],

this is the du’aa’ of worship which includes asking with hope and fear. What it means is: we used to devote our worship sincerely to Him alone, and thus they deserved that Allaah should save them from the punishment of Hell, not just because of asking, which is something that is shared in common between those who are saved and those who are not, because everyone who is in heaven and on earth asks for that. 

“never shall we call upon any ilaah (god) other than Him” [al-Kahf 18:14] 

i.e., we will never worship anyone other than Him. Similarly Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Will you call upon Ba‘l (a well-known idol of his nation whom they used to worship) and forsake the Best of creators?” [al-Saffaat 37:125]. 

With regard to the words (interpretation of the meaning):

“And it will be said (to them): ‘Call upon your (so called) partners (of Allaah)’, and they will call upon them…” [al-Qasas 28:64], 

this is du’aa’ of asking. Allaah will rebuke and humiliate them on the Day of Resurrection, by showing them that their partners (whom they ascribed to Allaah) will not answer their du’aa’s or supplications. But it does not mean worship them. It is similar to the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And (remember) the Day He will say: ‘Call those (so called) partners of Mine whom you pretended.’ Then they will cry unto them, but they will not answer them” [al-Kahf 18:52]. 

End quote. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Taymiyah (15/10-14). 

See other examples in Badaa’i’ al-Fawaa’id by Ibn al-Qayyim (3/513-527). 

And Allaah knows best.