:Question<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does Allah (SWT) grant all our prayers? Is it possible that Allah (SWT)\ndoes not grant our prayers? How can we become confident that our prayer will be\ngranted? May Allah (SWT) bless you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
:Answer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you may be aware, prayers\nhave an esteemed position in our religion, and are considered as one of the\nbest deeds. Its importance is to the extent that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP)\nintroduces prayers as the weapon of the faithful, the basis of religion, and\nthe light of the heavens and the earth. (1) Thus, Allah (SWT) has referred to\nprayer in various verses of the Holy Quran, and Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) who are the\ntrue interpreters of the Holy Quran have elaborated further on this issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the course of this answer, we will touch upon the two main\nrequirements necessary for our prayers to be granted, the barriers that prevent\nour prayers from being granted, how to resolve these barriers, and finally the\nreason that some of our prayers are not granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Granting, a divine promise<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As certain verses in Quran present, Allah (SWT) has promised to grant\nprayers: “And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then (say) surely I\nam very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they\nshould answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way\n(and reach the target).”(2) In another verse (3), He clearly commands us\nto call Him so that He would answer us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in browsing our daily lives, we may come to certain cases in\nwhich our request from Allah (SWT) has not been granted. What may be the\nreasons? Do these cases contradict the aforementioned verses of the Holy Quran?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Two Main Requirements<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former verse mentioned above (And your Lord says: “Call upon Me,\nI will answer you “\u2026) can be divided into two parts. In the first, Allah\n(SWT) commands us to call him and pray; in the second, He immediately\nsays:” Those who scorn My worship shall soon enter the hell, in\nhumiliation.”(4) By following one part after the other, one can conclude\nthat a request from Allah (SWT) is actually a kind of worship and obedience\ntowards Allah (SWT). In fact according to a saying of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP),\nprayer is known as the reality and the core of worship. (5) Thus just as all\ndeeds and worship have certain procedures and requirements; the same rule\napplies to prayers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two main requirements for a prayer to be granted can be extracted\nfrom the Holy Quran and the various narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT). The\nfirst condition, as the Quran puts it, is to call upon Allah (SWT) without\nhaving the slightest hope from others. The second requirement is to make sure\nour prayer involves a true request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only Allah (SWT), a true prayer\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes when we call upon Allah (SWT) and request something, a slight\nhope from the people prevents us from purely asking Allah (SWT). We believe\nthat they too can grant our requests. In these cases, it is obvious that our\nprayer will not be effective, because we have hope in things that have no\ninfluence. Even while having recourse (Tawassul) to the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT), we\nhave to be conscious that our true hope must be solely in Allah (SWT), for it\nwas Him who introduced the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) as means of proximity towards\nHimself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, we may have experienced situations in which we have\nhad hope solely in Allah (SWT), believing that everything is in His hands. By\npracticing this situation we can make sure to reach the first condition for\ngranting a prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the fact that we must have our hopes only in Allah (SWT),\nour prayer should involve a true request and our words should be consistent\nwith our inner feelings. In other words, we should not ask for something\nverbally, without really wanting it from the heart. Therefore, it is clear that\none’s intention plays the most important role in granting a prayer. That is why\nAmir al-Mu’minin (PBUH), in a letter addressing Imam Hassan (PBUH), states that:\n“the grant of prayers rests with the true purpose and intention of the\nimplorer” (6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sins, the Major Barrier<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having fulfilled the two requirements discussed above, we must now try to\nresolve the barriers that prevent our requests from being granted. As the\nInfallible Imams (PBUT) have cautioned us, some of the sins are major barriers\nthat prevent our prayers from being granted. \nIn the supplication of Kumayl, Amir al-Mu’minin (PBUH) has taught us to\nsupplicate to Allah (SWT) through the following phrase: “O Allah! Forgive\nme for those sins that would hinder my supplication.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the teachings of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT), there are several sins\nwhich prevent our prayers from being granted. Of these sins include hurting\none’s parents resulting in their immense dissatisfaction (7), oppressing people\n(8), eating food that was provided illegally (i.e through stealing, etc.)(9),\ndelaying the offering of prayers till its prescribed time passes (it becomes\nQada)(10)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can we resolve these barriers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is that Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) have also taught us how to\nresolve these barriers, so that our requests are granted. If we remember to\ncall our Lord humbly and meekly, earnestly request from Him, maintain our hope,\nremain humble and insist on our request, and finally remember to pray for\nothers before our own, then our prayer is more likely to be granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another thing that helps us in this way is to send Salawat – salutations\nto Prophet Muhammad and to his Progeny (PBUT) – before and after our request.\nAccording to several narrations, Salawat is a granted prayer. Certainly Allah\n(SWT) is far more generous than to grant the former and latter prayer, but\nneglect the request in between. (11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special times and places<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Certain time intervals are more blessed than the rest, and thus praying\nin those times can have more impact than the rest. Times like the final part of\nnight, the moments before dawn, Thursday nights, after performing each Salat\n(daily prayer), while reciting the Holy Quran, when breaking fast in the\nevening, and many more are also useful for removing the barriers that prevent\nthe granting of our prayers. In addition to that, praying in specific places\nlike in Masjid al-Haram of Mecca, shrine of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) in\nMedina, in the shrines the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT), and in general all mosques are\neffective in removing the barriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, provided that we resolve the barriers and fulfill the two\nbasic requirements, our prayer will certainly be granted and our Lord will pay\nus attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our expedient\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we have explained above sometimes our prayers are not granted due to\nthe fact that one of our sins has become a barrier, however, at other times we\nmay feel that we have accomplished all requirements, but our request has still\nnot been granted. It is necessary to know that sometimes what we may have\nrequested is not to our best. In better words, granting that request, as we\ndesire, will lead to our detriment, either corporeally or spiritually.\nAccording to several narrations, instead of granting our prayer in the fashion\nthat we asked for, Allah (SWT) will recompense in another respect, such as\nelevate our position in the hereafter, and forgive our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even in some cases, when Allah (SWT) has just granted our prayer in delay,\nHe however will also recompense for this delay on the resurrection day, and\ntreat us with blessing and kindness. On this basis Imam Sadiq (PBUH) has said:\n“When a servant encounters such blessings on the resurrection day, he\nwishes that none of his prayers had been granted in this world.”(12)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
:Question Does Allah (SWT) grant all our prayers? Is it possible that Allah (SWT) does not grant our prayers? How can we become confident that our prayer will be granted? May Allah (SWT) bless you. :Answer As you may be aware, prayers have an esteemed position in our religion, and are considered as one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28250],"tags":[17778,18199,18206,17978,17990,18207,17874,18041],"class_list":["post-3899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-questions","tag-allah","tag-general-questions","tag-granting-a-praye","tag-lord","tag-muhammad","tag-prayer","tag-promise","tag-questions"],"yoast_head":"\n