Salaam,
Im struggling to grasp something, so really this post is just me thinking out loud.
Based on your life experience what would you say is the Dua vs Work ratio for GETTING something tangible/material in dunya (not Akhirah, strictly Dunya) ?
How much of it is prayer and how much of it is Work ?
I used to think being a Muslim means Allah will generally help you (in dunya), give you shortcuts to success, i used to think its 80% Dua and 20% Work.
Now as i get older i think there are no shortcuts to getting Dunya things, because Islam teaches us throughout the Quran that Allah does not even care about Dunya,
its worthless to Allah.
And Allah says in Surah najm:verse 39... "Man Gets NOTHING..>Except what He STRIVES for"
So i think its more like 80% Work and 20% Dua.
The Dua just seems to be a formality/appeal to Allah (swt) so that your work is not spoilt or sabotaged by events outside your control.
Example, you want a New Car.
1. You have to go to Work hard and SAVE many months [Material]
2. You have to find many hours of your time to research the specifications make/models [Material]
3. You have to search through many different adverts [Material]
4. You have to make many calls and shortlist some for viewings [Material]
5. You have to physically go view the cars you shortlisted [Material]
6. You have to check the physical condition of the car [Material]
7. You have to check the documents of the Car [Material]
8. You have to drive it home and insure it etc [Material]
9. You make Dua to Allah to give you a new car abdunantly [Spiritual]
10. You ask Allah to put Barakah so you dont lose your money in one of many different ways [Spiritual]
So steps 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 = 80% Dunya/ Material meaning Work/Hustle/Grind and steps 9,10 are Spiritual or in other words 20% = Dua.
Now i used to think it was like this...
You want a new Car....
1. You Do all your fards, sunnah, nafl etc [Spiritual]
2. You make Lots of Dua, your doing Qayam al Layl [Spiritual]
3. You keep praying for it over and over and over again for many weeks/months [Spiritual]
4. Eventually you will get a call out of the blue and your Uncle will ring you and say
"Eid Mubarak" i thought since youve turned 21 now you should have a Car so i bought
you a new car. [Material]
Thats not how it works in my experience!
Finally, i think Dua can help you like this...
Pretend you worked for months and months and saved money to buy the Car, and your ready to move
onto step 2 (of the Blue post above) but then one day you fell off a ladder at work and broke your spine.
Now you cant drive.
So maybe Dua serves a dunya purpose in preventing a major calamity that would have otherwise hit you.
Because you was praying for the Car, and Allah accepted your Dua, so Allah made it so you dont fall off the ladder
that day, and hence be able to go ahead with your plan (in blue).
Conclusion: Dua in Dunya is like a Cushion/Safety Bracket you put your WORK into to get what you want from Material world.
On its own, i dont think its ever enough to help you get what you want in Dunya (Akhirah however is a whole different story, maybe you
ask for a House in dunya, get nothing, and get many Mansions over there who knows)... but we talking here about Dunya.
Tangible cause & effect that we can measure.
Allah (swt) made even the Prophets to WORK... Maryam (as) at her weakest had to shake the tree that, Musa (as) at his most vunerable had to
hit the sea with the stick. If these are Prophets, then we are laymen, if you want something in Dunya... the only Dua worth making is asking
Allah to grant you tawfeek and making the path easy towards the goal (car, house, marriage, job etc).
Praying too much for a material object will result in disapointment. For every 1 Day you spend praying for it you need to spend at least 4 days doing nothing
but work towards it.
These are all mental notes to myself. I would be happy if someone can refute or correct my understanding.
Lastly: Allah says I am as my slave thinks I Am, but this has been my harsh experience in Dunya, perhaps you brothers/sisters have had more success getting
easily ?
Im struggling to grasp something, so really this post is just me thinking out loud.
Based on your life experience what would you say is the Dua vs Work ratio for GETTING something tangible/material in dunya (not Akhirah, strictly Dunya) ?
How much of it is prayer and how much of it is Work ?
I used to think being a Muslim means Allah will generally help you (in dunya), give you shortcuts to success, i used to think its 80% Dua and 20% Work.
Now as i get older i think there are no shortcuts to getting Dunya things, because Islam teaches us throughout the Quran that Allah does not even care about Dunya,
its worthless to Allah.
And Allah says in Surah najm:verse 39... "Man Gets NOTHING..>Except what He STRIVES for"
So i think its more like 80% Work and 20% Dua.
The Dua just seems to be a formality/appeal to Allah (swt) so that your work is not spoilt or sabotaged by events outside your control.
Example, you want a New Car.
1. You have to go to Work hard and SAVE many months [Material]
2. You have to find many hours of your time to research the specifications make/models [Material]
3. You have to search through many different adverts [Material]
4. You have to make many calls and shortlist some for viewings [Material]
5. You have to physically go view the cars you shortlisted [Material]
6. You have to check the physical condition of the car [Material]
7. You have to check the documents of the Car [Material]
8. You have to drive it home and insure it etc [Material]
9. You make Dua to Allah to give you a new car abdunantly [Spiritual]
10. You ask Allah to put Barakah so you dont lose your money in one of many different ways [Spiritual]
So steps 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 = 80% Dunya/ Material meaning Work/Hustle/Grind and steps 9,10 are Spiritual or in other words 20% = Dua.
Now i used to think it was like this...
You want a new Car....
1. You Do all your fards, sunnah, nafl etc [Spiritual]
2. You make Lots of Dua, your doing Qayam al Layl [Spiritual]
3. You keep praying for it over and over and over again for many weeks/months [Spiritual]
4. Eventually you will get a call out of the blue and your Uncle will ring you and say
"Eid Mubarak" i thought since youve turned 21 now you should have a Car so i bought
you a new car. [Material]
Thats not how it works in my experience!
Finally, i think Dua can help you like this...
Pretend you worked for months and months and saved money to buy the Car, and your ready to move
onto step 2 (of the Blue post above) but then one day you fell off a ladder at work and broke your spine.
Now you cant drive.
So maybe Dua serves a dunya purpose in preventing a major calamity that would have otherwise hit you.
Because you was praying for the Car, and Allah accepted your Dua, so Allah made it so you dont fall off the ladder
that day, and hence be able to go ahead with your plan (in blue).
Conclusion: Dua in Dunya is like a Cushion/Safety Bracket you put your WORK into to get what you want from Material world.
On its own, i dont think its ever enough to help you get what you want in Dunya (Akhirah however is a whole different story, maybe you
ask for a House in dunya, get nothing, and get many Mansions over there who knows)... but we talking here about Dunya.
Tangible cause & effect that we can measure.
Allah (swt) made even the Prophets to WORK... Maryam (as) at her weakest had to shake the tree that, Musa (as) at his most vunerable had to
hit the sea with the stick. If these are Prophets, then we are laymen, if you want something in Dunya... the only Dua worth making is asking
Allah to grant you tawfeek and making the path easy towards the goal (car, house, marriage, job etc).
Praying too much for a material object will result in disapointment. For every 1 Day you spend praying for it you need to spend at least 4 days doing nothing
but work towards it.
These are all mental notes to myself. I would be happy if someone can refute or correct my understanding.
Lastly: Allah says I am as my slave thinks I Am, but this has been my harsh experience in Dunya, perhaps you brothers/sisters have had more success getting
easily ?
