A Dua or a Daydream?

By His Grace and Mercy, one of the most blessed nights of the year is upon us once again.

The Holy Prophet (saw) has said that during the night of 15th Shaba'an the Almighty takes decisions in the matters of sustenance, life and death and welfare of the people. Next to the “Night of Qadr” the night of 15th Sha’baan is the most auspicious night (also known as “night of Baraat”). Allah swt has promised to fulfill every legitimate desire put forward to Him tonight. During this night Allah (swt) bestows on His people from His bounty & forgives them out of His Grace & Generosity. (Narrations from Imam Muhammad Baqir (as) and Imam Sadiq (as))

"Therefore, stay awake this night in prayer and worship and encourage your Ummah to also keep awake this night in order to get closer to Allah through their actions since this is a noble night.
This is a night in which not a single person supplicates to Allah except that his prayers are accepted.
Nobody asks for a single thing on this night except that it will be given to him.
No one asks Allah for forgiveness except that that his sins are wiped out.
No one turns in repentance to Allah except that He accepts their repentence.
Whoever is deprived of the goodness of this night has definitely been deprived of something great.”
Ahadith in the book Iqbalul A‘mal

Given that it is prime time for the acceptance of prayers, let us prepare in a way that maximizes the blessings of this night.

This blog post talks about our role in manifesting our duas and part two covers repentance and forgiveness.

1. Improve your Connection

Improve your connection by tuning inwards and connecting to Him and to the deep longings of your heart.

Practice silence to improve the signals of your soul

2. Start with gratitude

Noticing and acknowledging what we already have and the bounties that we continually enjoy, draws grace. It puts us in the right frequency to attract more of what we want.

And when your Lord made it known: If you are grateful, I will give you more (Quran: 14:7)

3. Ask
Sometimes we think that He knows all and so we do not need to verbalize our supplications. He does know all AND we need to verbalize our duas. Among other things, verbalizing our duas helps US to get clear on what we really want.

“O Maysar! Supplicate, and do not say the affair has been destined. Surely there are ranks with Allah which cannot be reached except through asking. If the servant (of Allah) closes his mouth and does not ask, he will not be given anything, so ask and you will get. O Maysar, the door that is knocked often is most likely to open”.
6th Imam

4. Be specific
What specifically do you want, how and by when.

The clearer we are, the more likely it is to show up. Being specific also helps us recognize the answer when we get it!

There is some research to suggest that those who are clear in their goals (which is only about 3%) of the population end up achieving more than the other 97% of the population who do not have specified goals.

The ariza is a great way to get specific. We can start the process beforehand in order to get clear.

5. Let go of your attachment
This one might sound a bit contradictory. Although it is vital to be specific about what we want, once we have done that, it is equally important to let go and let God.

What this means is that we need to leave space for Him to work His magic and give us according to ultimate knowledge and wisdom. When we hold on to tightly to HOW our prayers need to be answered, we pretend that we are in control and leave little room for the universe to give us wayyy more than we can even imagine.

6. Believe in Him, have faith

Use this as a daily affirmation. He has promised to answer when you call

Call unto Me, I will answer you. (Quran 40:60)
When My servants ask thee about Me, truly I am near. I answer the call of the call when he calls Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be led aright. (2:186)

7. Believe in yourself, know that you can accomplish what you ask for.

He has given us everything that we need in order to accomplish our purpose and realize our full potential.

The entire universe is synchronistically harmonizing to support us. And that is pretty cool, don’t you think?

Certainly We created man in the best make. (Quran 95:4)
O Allah, the honour of being Your servant is sufficient. I am proud of the fact that You are my Lord. You are just as I want, so make just as You like me to be. (Imam Ali (as))

8. Take action

He is waiting to save us from the rocks. We do need to row the boat, however.

We do not need to have it all figured out before taking action. We do not need to see the entire staircase in order to get on the first step. Start moving and follow the trail of breadcrumbs that will appear guiding you to the next action.

It is okay to have fear and uncertainty. Just don’t let them stop you from taking action.

All you need to figure out is the Next. Tiny. Step.

One who merely supplicates and fails to act is like one who wants to shoot an arrow with a string-less bow
A dua without action towards the goal is ineffective. Dua is not for replacing action but to complement it. Imam Ali (as)

Learn whatever you wish, but God will give you reward for your deeds, not for your knowledge, for the learned men endeavour to utilize what they have learnt but the unwise attempt to collect words and quote them. (6th Imam)

9. Get ready to receive

When we get all that we ask for, our life is likely to get very full and very busy. Are we ready?

a. Create space: You cannot reach for anything new if your hands are full of yesterday’s junk. Louise Smith (more on repentance and forgiveness in the next post)

b. Whenever you recite Dua, assume that what you need is at the door.

10. Align yourself to His friends

The ones closest to Allah are continually receiving Divine Grace and Mercy. When we are close to His beloveds and aligned with their values, we become part of this awesome circle of Grace. By being close to them, we are also showered with drops from the torrents of Grace and Love that is being poured on them.

Surely Allah and His angels bless the Prophet; O you who believe! call for (Divine) blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation. (Quran 33:56)