Why we were created

Allah tells us the reason for our life in one short ayah: I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me¹.

That can sound hard at first. Does it mean we must pray all day? No. Allah does not need our worship. We need it. Worship is how a person stays connected to the One who made them, and it is the way to a calm heart in this life and Jannah in the next.

In Tawhid: Allah is One we learned that Allah alone deserves worship. In Shirk: what breaks tawhid we learned what happens when worship goes to someone else. This chapter answers two questions: what counts as worship, and how to make dua, which Nabi ﷺ called worship itself.

Worship is wider than you think

Allah told Nabi ﷺ to say: my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. He has no partner². So worship covers all of life, not only the masjid.

Scholars describe worship like this: everything Allah loves and is pleased with, of words and deeds, inside and outside. It has three places:

Some poor Companions once felt sad. The rich could give charity, and they could not. Nabi ﷺ told them that every SubhanAllah is charity, every Allahu akbar is charity, telling people to do good is charity, and even a man being with his wife is charity³.

He also said: whatever you spend for Allah's sake is rewarded, even the bite of food you put in your wife's mouth⁴.

Intention turns habits into worship

The very first hadith in Sahih Bukhari says: deeds are judged by their intentions, and each person gets what they intended⁵.

Nabi ﷺ gave an example in the same hadith. Two men made the same journey, the hijrah from Makkah to Madinah. One went for Allah and His Messenger. The other went to marry a woman. On the outside, the same trip. With Allah, two very different deeds⁶.

This works the other way too. A normal, everyday act can become worship with a good intention:

• Work: to feed your family halal food and not ask others for help.
• Sleep: to have strength for Fajr and for your duties tomorrow.
• Eating: to stay healthy so you can serve Allah, starting with Bismillah.
• Study: to benefit people and to be useful to the ummah.
• Family time: to keep family ties strong, which Allah loves.

When does Allah accept a deed?

Scholars explain that an act of worship is accepted when it has two conditions. Both are in one ayah: whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do good deeds, and not make anyone a partner in the worship of his Lord⁷.

1. Sincerity: done for Allah alone

Allah says people were only told to worship Allah, making their religion sincerely for Him⁸. Allah says about a deed shared with someone else: I leave him with his partner⁹. Showing off is the main danger here. See the section on hidden shirk in Shirk: what breaks tawhid.

2. Following the Sunnah: done the way Nabi ﷺ taught

Nabi ﷺ said: whoever does a deed that is not part of our way, it is rejected¹⁰. Allah says: if you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you¹¹.

So a good heart is not enough by itself, and a correct form is not enough by itself. Allah wants both: the right reason and the right way.

Dua: the heart of worship

Dua means calling on Allah: asking Him, praising Him, talking to Him. Nabi ﷺ said: dua is worship. Then he recited: your Lord says: call on Me, and I will answer you¹²¹³.

Dua shows the whole of tawhid in one moment. When you raise your hands, you are saying: You hear me, You can do this, and only You can.

Allah is close. He says: when My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me¹⁴. You do not need a middleman. You do not need a special place. You can speak to Him right now, in any language, about anything.

Ask only Allah

Nabi ﷺ told the young Ibn Abbas: when you ask, ask Allah. When you seek help, seek help from Allah. If the whole world gathered to help you, they could only help you with what Allah had already written for you¹⁵.

• Asking people for normal help is fine. Asking a friend to carry a box, a doctor for medicine, or a lawyer for advice is not shirk. They can do it, and Allah made them a means.
• Calling on anyone other than Allah for what only Allah can do is shirk. Asking a dead person, a saint at a grave, or someone far away for a child, a cure, rain, forgiveness or protection is giving them worship. Allah says: do not call, besides Allah, on what can neither help you nor harm you¹⁶.
• Try to need people less. Some Companions promised Nabi ﷺ not to ask people for anything. Later, if a whip fell from one of them while riding, he would climb down to pick it up himself¹⁷.

Ask for everything

No request is too big for Allah, and none is too small. Ask for Jannah, and ask for a parking space. Ask for this world and the next: our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the next, and save us from the Fire¹⁸.

How Allah answers

Sometimes we make dua and nothing seems to happen. Nabi ﷺ explained: a Muslim never makes a dua, except that Allah gives him what he asked, or turns away a harm like it, as long as he does not ask for a sin or for cutting family ties. A man said: then we will make a lot of dua. Nabi ﷺ said: Allah has even more¹⁹.

• Do not give up. Nabi ﷺ said your dua is answered as long as you are not hasty and say: I made dua, but I was not answered²⁰.
• Allah knows best. Sometimes the thing you asked for would have harmed you, and He gives you something better, or keeps a harm away, or keeps it for later.
• Think well of Allah. Allah says: I am as My servant thinks of Me²¹.

The manners of dua

Dua is accepted from anyone, at any time. These manners make it better:

• Start by praising Allah, then send salawat (blessings) on Nabi ﷺ, then ask. Nabi ﷺ heard a man rush straight into his dua and said: he hurried. Then he taught this order²².
• Be sure Allah will answer. Nabi ﷺ said: call on Allah while you are sure of an answer. Allah does not answer a dua from a careless, distracted heart²³.
• Ask firmly. Do not say "forgive me if You want". Ask with determination, because no one can force Allah²⁴.
• Raise your hands. Nabi ﷺ said Allah is too generous to send back empty hands raised to Him²⁵.
• Be humble and quiet. Call on your Lord humbly and in secret²⁶.
• Keep your income halal. Nabi ﷺ spoke of a traveller, dusty and tired, raising his hands: O Lord, O Lord. But his food, drink and clothes were haram. How can he be answered?²⁷.
• Use Allah's names that fit what you ask: Ya Ghafur (the Forgiving) for forgiveness, Ya Razzaq (the Provider) for provision.
• Pray for others. When you make dua for a brother or sister behind their back, an angel says: and for you the same²⁸.

Scholars also recommend having wudu, facing the qibla, and repeating your dua three times. These help, but your dua is still heard without them.

Times when dua is answered

Allah hears every dua. But Nabi ﷺ told us about special times and people:

Do not wait only for these times. Make dua in the car, in the kitchen, before an exam. They are all good times to talk to Allah.

Tawassul: reaching Allah through a means

Tawassul means using a means (wasilah) to bring your dua closer to acceptance. The dua is always to Allah alone. The question is only what you mention to help it.

Three ways all scholars agree on

• By Allah's names and qualities. Allah says: to Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call on Him by them³⁷. When something worried Nabi ﷺ, he said: Ya Hayyu ya Qayyum, bi rahmatika astaghith, O Ever-Living, O Sustainer, by Your mercy I call for help³⁸.
• By your own good deeds and your iman. The believers in the Quran say: our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us³⁹. The story of the three men in the cave, below, is the clearest example.
• By asking a living, righteous person to make dua for you. The Companions asked Nabi ﷺ to pray for rain. After he passed away, in a drought, Umar asked Nabi's ﷺ uncle Al-Abbas to pray for rain, and Allah sent it⁴⁰. Nabi ﷺ even told Umar to ask a man from Yemen named Uways to pray for his forgiveness⁴¹.

Where scholars differ

Some duas ask Allah by the status or the right of Nabi ﷺ or of a righteous person, for example: "O Allah, I ask You by the rank of Your Prophet". Here the Sunni scholars differ. Some allow it, because the dua is still to Allah alone. Others say it was not taught by Nabi ﷺ or the Companions, so it is better to leave it. This is a difference among Ahl al-Sunnah, so do not argue about it or judge people over it. Use the three ways all agree on, and ask a teacher you trust if you want to learn more.

What all of them agree on: you never make dua to anyone but Allah.

Common questions

Can I make dua in my own language?

Yes. Outside salah, talk to Allah in any language. Inside salah the schools have different rules, so learn a few short Arabic duas for salah, and ask a teacher you trust about the rest.

I have made the same dua for years. Why is it not answered?

Do not stop⁴⁴. Your dua is never wasted: Allah gives it, or turns away a harm, or gives something better⁴⁵. Keep asking, and check the manners above, like halal income and starting with praise.

Can I ask a pious person to make dua for me?

Yes, if they are alive. The Companions did it⁴⁶. But also ask Allah yourself. Your own dua matters.

Is my job really worship?

It can be. Work that is halal, done honestly, with the intention to support your family and avoid asking others, is rewarded⁴⁷. Pray on time while you work, and you will be in worship all day.

Can I make dua for a non-Muslim friend?

Yes, you can pray for their guidance and for good things in this life. People asked Nabi ﷺ to curse a tribe that refused Islam. Instead he said: O Allah, guide them⁴⁸.

Can I read my dua from my phone?

Yes. Reading a dua is fine, especially while you learn it. Try to feel the meaning as you read.