Don't say; 'May Allah make it happen'.. Say 'O Allah make it happen!'

Interesting post.

I think you've got to look at the context. When we are talking to others, we say, "May Allah make xyz happen for you." This is us expressing our desire for such and such nice thing that they want to happen to them.

However, privately we then beseech Allah and start with praise of Allah, salawaat on the Prophet , and then make the du3a. Most people, if they are in a conversation with someone, don't then break it off in front off the person to start praising Allah, sending salwaat on the Prophet and then making du3a in front of the person. The du3a is something we tend to do privately.

Also remember Islamic phrases that the Prophet taught us, such as:

Jazaakallah (may Allah reward you), rather than, "Ya Allah, ajzi so and so (O Allah reward so and so), ameen".

Yar7amukallah (may Allah have mercy on you) rather than, "Ya Allah, ar7am so and so, ameen" .

This implies that there isn't anything wrong with such forms of expression for good things for people (and also possibly that it maybe counted as a form of du3a), as, according to the book Du'a, Weapon of the Believer, even praising Allah, or pronouncing a phrase such as laa howla wa laa quwwata illah billah, is counted as a form of du3a.

And Allah knows best in all matters, and may He forgive me if I said anything wrong.

I loved the two above posts very much.. Jazakoum Allah khyran.. it is nice to have two sides presented so well..

taqabbal Allahu minna wa minkum

format_quote Originally Posted by - Qatada -

Don't say; 'May Allah make it happen'.. Say 'O Allah make it happen!'Asalaamu alaykum waRahmatullahi waBarakaatuhOne thing i've noticed with majority of us Muslims is that when we want to make a du'a to Allah, we say; 'may Allah make us successful [or insert whatever wish you have]'This makes me extremely sad, since when is this du'a?Did you know that most of us only say this because of our laziness in our connection with Allah? Do we really beg Allah for something every day, when He has commanded us to ask Him for things?When we say 'may Allah do this' - are you really begging Allah for what you want? It's shocking because you're not even asking Allah, you're just hoping He has written it in your destiny. When it's du'a that changes your destiny, not just hoping.Shaytaan tries to tell us that it is exhausting to make proper du'a to Allah, or he makes us feel a false sense of pride (which we find hard to admit to) - which prevents us from saying; 'O Allah, please help us in -so and so- situation. Ameen ya Rabb!'Do it, it is your only way for success. It is your begging Allah which makes Him want to answer you. Your humbleness to Him will strengthen you and He will raise you in nobility and honour, and you will have defeated shaytaan's favourite tool: arrogance against Allah.So please, next time - no more 'may Allah guide us', but 'O Allah, guide us and love us, and make our good wishes come true! Ameen ya Rabb!'

Now you mentioned it!!

I remember when I started posting in English forums 4 years ago I noticed that every one use the word "May" and I was wondering why is that because in Arabic we make the Du'aa directly without using the word "may" because it will be as if we are not sure of what we are asking Allah to grant us. Its like we are saying he might do this for us or might not!
I think this is a very common mistake in the majority of Islamic translated books from Arabic to English.

JazakumAllah khair for this reminder

format_quote Originally Posted by arachnide

I read "Zero Limits" and there was stated that prayers who said to their God "not my own will but Yours be done" is likely to manifest than "please make it happen God!". the first sentence stating a tawakkal, and vibrates a more positive energy.

Sister, read the book "Du'a, Weapon of the Believer" (link below), or have a look at the contents then go to the pages that interest you. It's all about du'a, the different types, it's benefits, how to make it, factors that aid/prevent a person's du'a being answered, why a du'a may not be answered, it's relationship with destiny, some mistakes that people make in du'a etc. It is all based on Qur'an and Sunnah, and you'll find it a much more reliable source about du'a than a book based on Hawaiian mysticism.

http://www.dhikrullah.com/knowledge/...20Believer.pdf

format_quote Originally Posted by Danah

I remember when I started posting in English forums 4 years ago I noticed that every one use the word "May" and I was wondering why is that because in Arabic we make the Du'aa directly without using the word "may" because it will be as if we are not sure of what we are asking Allah to grant us. Its like we are saying he might do this for us or might not!
I think this is a very common mistake in the majority of Islamic translated books from Arabic to English.

I can see where you're coming from dear sister.

May in this context isn't in the sense that "He may or may not", which is the context indicating possibility.

It is used in it's following usage:

"Used to express a desire or fervent wish: Long may he live!"
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/May

"(used to express wish or prayer): May you live to an old age. "
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/may

"used in auxiliary function to express a wish or desire especially in prayer, imprecation, or benediction <may the best man win>"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/may

So the usage of "may" here is to express a wish, prayer, or desire.

So jazaakallah would be translated in English as, "may Allah reward you", rather than, "Allah rewarded you." You could say, "Allah reward you" without the word "may" too, though by using it you just emphasise that that is your wish or desire for that to happen, i.e. for Allah to reward that person.

And Allah knows best in all matters, and may He forgive me if I said anything wrong. (Just realised I used may here too, and in English, without the may, it wouldn't make sense, if I just said, "He forgive me".)

salam,i agree with the last post of insaanah.when we make dua for our own we never use may.instead we just beg beg .but wen dua is done for others ernestly in english we just add that word may as an usage.make dua in ur mothertongue for some one and see wether may is popping in ur dua.i doubt.make the same doa again in english there is a chance u,ll be adding "may".

and another version one can take it for may "we r helpless only Allah can help u.