Saturday, March 17, 2018

Supercharge your prayer and dua with gratitude

  Sehrish Khan       Saturday, March 17, 2018
Most of the times an ordinary Muslim sees that their prayers and duas are not answered by Allah even thought they are aware of a Quran verse that and this eventually causes them to get further and further away from the Creator and they even stop taking interest in making supplications any more. 

Today, there is ample scientific evidence in psychology circles that gratitude is the most powerful healing force at humans' disposal. Without going into the technicalities and the mechanics of how and why gratitude works like magic, we will look at this subject from a religious or a philosophical perspective.

Why is gratitude so powerful?


Gratitude is the highest form of surrender and let's not forget that Islam is all about surrendering to God's will and His attributes. When we are thankful to Allah for a blessing, we let Him know that we acknowledge Him and His attributes (power, mercy, intelligence, generosity, forgiveness). We also convince Him that we are totally helpless and powerless in making this gift/blessing happen and we also let Him know that we love and appreciate His workings, intelligence, power and mercy. When we are not grateful, we end up associating that blessing to things other than Allah (for example our own self, material things and other created things).

Gratitude fastens manifestation of dua/prayer


God loves His appreciation and praise. So start your dua by first thanking Allah for keeping you alive and giving you a chance to make dua to Him. What if you never had a chance to come to Allah for your desires and prayers? What if He blocked your mind and made you so ill that it would be impossible for you to even think of making dua? This could have happened and even worse could have happened. Right now, you are reading this post because you are alive breathing fresh air. You are healthy. Electricity is active, the internet is working, the Earth gravity is intact and that is why you are sitting on your chair reading this post about gratitude and dua. Things could have completely gone out of our hands. When we start looking at things from this perspective (of worse possible things could have happened), we actually attach importance to Allah for His works and this makes Him happy and He starts appreciating us in return (remember a name of Allah - Shakur - which means The Appreciative)


Allah says in Quran about gratitude


"If you are grateful, I will give you more, and if you are ungrateful, My punishment is severe" Surah Ibharihm (14:7)



Thank Allah in advance and see your dua answered


When we thank Allah in advance for a desire or dua, He makes it happen for us. This is how dua works. This can be done by imagining your desire having been fulfilled by Allah and feeling thankfulness for this coming favour. This is so exciting. Apply it to any dua and you will be shocked to see how much Allah loves His appreciation and praise. 


How to thank Allah in advance for my dua 


You might wonder, at this stage, how I can be thankful for something that has not been given to me yet? At first it might not make sense to be thankful for something that Allah has not given me yet. But you will come to realise that it is logical to thank Allah in advance for things that are not in our hands right now. You will see how it works.


Steps to thanking Allah in advance for your dua



  1. Sit in a quite place where nobody can distract your attention and focus. 
  2. Close your eyes.
  3. Imagine that Allah has answered your dua/prayer. Imagine that you are seeing your desire fulfilled right in front of your eyes. 
  4. Create the feeling of some deep and genuine thankfulness for Allah for making your dua come true. 


Do this dua session for at least five minutes daily and see a miracle ! 



Humans are, by default, ungrateful, impatient and selfish 


Allah often expresses His concern about humans being ungrateful, impatient and selfish. When we start incorporating thankfulness in every area of our life and in every prayer/dua, Allah intelligently and powerfully rearranges events for us to get us closer and closer to our desires and goals. As opposed to this, when we don't acknowledge Allah for His workings, favours, blessings and relief, He makes is harder and harder for us to be in harmony with Him.


Let's recall 


Allah is shakur (The Appreciative). He loves His praise and appreciation (but a genuine one - not a false one without any real feelings and though process). And when we thank Him for something in advance, He acts on His own promise (see the Quranic verse above) to answer our prayers. 


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