have we to speak our du'a individually? I know there are books and within these are written du'as. It is really okay to read from that books? I mean in that case your are du'aing (:-D making du'a) the du'as of "others".
What are rulings on du'a? What can you ask; are there limitations? What is going to be shameless? Will it effect your du'a when your sentences when saying it do not has any "grammatical" structure, what is a sign that your du'a has not structure in your mind?
I want to profit more to du'a to Allah but I think always I am doing it wrong. I think your are gonna to say me, you cannot du'a wrong, but it feels so.
I am sure there are rulings on du'as somewhere, but let me help you with the general outline:
Reciting du'a from books, when they are for praising or asking from Allah has no restrictions, unless it be for something bad for yourself, someone else, or for something that is vain and useless. Ex. better to ask for financial relief from Allah, but asking for a Playstation 3 would be vain and useless, since that would potentially keep you away from Allah.
As for doing du'a in general, when you raise your hands, recite Surah Al-Fatihah, then recite the Durood Sharif, and afterwards say what you need to say. When you ask from Allah, make sure to try and not leave anyone out. Personally, I pray for everyone, Muslims first, including family, friends, relatives, anyone connected, etc., then for non-Muslims, that Allah forgives them, and that they be guided, In sha' Allah. Then I pray for the dead, first starting with relatives and family, then for all other Muslims, and forgiveness for the non-Muslims, then I pray for the future generations, that they be guided and sometimes for world peace and Islamic domination of the world.
The reason why you MUST ABSOLUTELY recite Durood Sharif, is because your du'a is hanging midway towards acceptance, until you recite Durood sharif. It just hangs there, and can only be accepted with blessing and sending Salaam on the Holy Prophet (saw). This is in a Hadith. It is also why whenever you do a wazifa, there is always Durood Sharif attached to it. I wondered for a long time myself as to this reason, and when I learned of this phenomenon with prayer, then it made sense. It is something of the unseen which the Holy Prophet (saw) has communicated to us, so we must observe it. As for the importance of Surah Al-Fatihah, no one can deny that your Salat for each Rak'ah is not accepted unless you recite Surah Al-Fatihah, so imagine how important it is for regular du'as. Saying it is very important, but I don't know to what exact extent like the Durood Sharif. There may be a better explanation than this written somewhere.
Anyways, I hope that helped you a bit. I am sure others will help you with other details you need. Just Google whatever rulings there are about du'as and you should find something. I don't think there is any huge differences of opinion on this. So finding the right information won't be hard.
Last edited by Insaanah; 11-04-2013 at 12:36 PM.
Reason: corrected typo in absolutely, to remove the stars
The beauty of du'a is that it can be done at anytime (almost). As what you said, there are books written on du'a and some are extracts from the Quran itself and some are from our prophet and others.
There are some matters which over time I have come across that details the 'nature' (for the lack of a better word) of dua.
It 'must' be expressed using the tongue. (I guess this is to make sure that bad thoughts are not considered as dua and if spoken, it is then considered 'expressed').
It must be specific. I relate a sketch from a children program I watched when I was a kid. A man dying of thirst in a dessert came across a drinks counter. The genie behind the counter tells him "I grant you one wish" to which the man replies as he sits on the stool, "Make me a milkshake" and 'poof' he becomes one! First thing I thought was how stupid! He should have asked for more wishes! (and of course it got me thinking about what would I have said to make sure I would not become a milkshake if I had wishes granted to me). I realised then how important it is to have the spoken word reflect what it is I want.
Further to what Ahmad H has said, Allah will answer your dua in 3 ways. 1) Immediately or later 2) Replace it with something better 3) Give it in the hereafter (Only He knows best).
It is important to remember what you ask for as you may just get it years after you asked and you may have forgotten and not be thankful or worst, you are angry that it came so so late, therefore totally ungrateful!
For me, I learn short common dua covering what Ahmad H said and from time to time, add specific things that are current to the happenings in my life.
It has been said the best time to dua will be during prayer (during the last sujud or after the tahiyat before the salaams - but this time without spoken words as it would nullify the prayer I am told). After prayer, it should be preceded by praises to Allah, followed by blessings to our Prophet s.a.w. his family and companions, dua for our parents, family, muslimin/an, mukminin/an, our children etc. Then for for ourselves extracted from the book of dua and more specific requests.
I am a born muslim and I really cannot mention the source of everything I have 'learnt' or 'pick up' in the course of my life. This I learnt from a relative young age. Whether it must be, or should be or ought to be or any other form of conjecture relating to it I cannot be certain. But many things indirectly reinforced this that I accepted it. Here's some ..
An example on the importance of the tongue in stating intentions is like the shahada. It cannot be said in the heart or mind, it has to be spoken otherwise it is not accepted, or in getting married and divorce. Why if said three times then the divorce is or remarrying has a different condition to it?
On a different perspective, often what is in the head and what is on the heart are not the same thing. Easiest put, I do find myself thinking about something else when I am doing my solat. I find I cannot control where my mind goes sometimes but I have to catch it and try to bring it back to where my heart and tongue are... (if I am really honest, when my mind goes a-wondering, perhaps my heart is not really there(?)) so perhaps I try to align my mind to what my tongue is saying and wake up my heart(?) to feel for what it is I am doing. The same for dua, I guess. Better if what you think and what you say are the same thing.
Really, spoken words are your conscious effort to articulate your thoughts which if left in the mind is not thoroughly defined unless it is learnt by heart then perhaps you may not have to think about what you are saying.
Coming back to prayer, is it good enough to to recite everything only in the heart? Or do we have to say it (although not really heard by others).
I don't know whether the same is said where you are but may times I have heard people say when an angry mother scolds her kids by saying 'you are stupid' or such like is like a dua for that kid to be stupid. Or when you always say you don't have money for this or that is like a dua hence you will never have money. So it is better to say things like, I don't have enough money now to ....' So, articulation of words play a huge role in our daily lives, more than we possibly know it. Hence, I feel that it should be using the tongue.
Anyway, I am not saying I am correct hence I did put 'must' in inverted commas to say I am not certain for sure, but in the meantime I will try to source for it if I can....
have we to speak our du'a individually? I know there are books and within these are written du'as. It is really okay to read from that books? I mean in that case your are du'aing (:-D making du'a) the du'as of "others".
A du'a personal to you, that comes from your heart, in whatever language, is better. Your needs and wants for this world and the hereafter. The best of du'as written in books, are du'as from the sunnah, i.e. the du'as the Prophet made and taught us. You can get books with such du'as for various occasions in, such as Hisnul Muslim (The Fortress of the Muslim). It has a hadeeth reference for every du'a at the back, so you know they are indeed authentically from the sunnah of the Prophet . And as mentioned, there are Qur'anic du'as too, such as this comprehensive one: Rabbanaa aatinaa fiddunyaa hasanatan wa fil aakhirati hasanatan wa qinaa adhaab an naar, translating as: "Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire!" (Surah al Baqarah, verse 201)
format_quote Originally Posted by new2010
What are rulings on du'a? What can you ask; are there limitations? What is going to be shameless? Will it effect your du'a when your sentences when saying it do not has any "grammatical" structure, what is a sign that your du'a has not structure in your mind?
I want to profit more to du'a to Allah but I think always I am doing it wrong. I think your are gonna to say me, you cannot du'a wrong, but it feels so.
I would strongly recommend that you read the book, Du'a, The Weapon of the Believer by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It covers most things a person might want to know on the status and etiquette of du'a in Islam.
Just to give you a feel, the main chapter headings, (there are more subsections and headings and details in each chapter) are:
The Basics
The types of du'a
The excellence and benefits of du'a
The pre-conditions of du'a
The etiquette of du'a
Discouraged acts during du'a
The recommended times for du'a
Conditions during which du'a is answered
Factors that aid a persons du'a being answered
Factors that prevent du'as being answered
The wisdom behind a delayed response
Permissible acts of du'a
etc
etc
Have a look through the contents and further subsections, and see which part interests you and go straight there. It is a really good resource to have and dip into as and when required, or indeed to read straight through.
Sorry may be a stupid question but what is Durood Sharif?
Sending salawaat/prayers/blessings on the Prophet . e.g. Allaahumma salli 'alaa Muhammadin wa 'alaa aale Muhammadin kamaa sallayta 'alaa Ibraheema.... to the end.
I think darood sharif may be the Urdu/Persian word for it, like salaat tends to be referred to as namaaz by people in the subcontinent. I am not sure how these words came about.
Stunningly beautiful adhaan from the Dome of the Rock in Masjid ul Aqsa Download (right click and choose "save target/link as").
This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that those of understanding may take heed (14:52)
Indeed Allah knows, and you know not (16: 74, part)
I have searched for some writings on the subject, but mostly written in my language and it is brain twisting to translate..., but I have found these verses from the Quran -
Sahih International And remember your Lord within yourself in humility and in fear without being apparent in speech - in the mornings and the evenings. And do not be among the heedless. (7:205)
Say, "Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful. Whichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names." And do not recite [too] loudly in your prayer or [too] quietly but seek between that an [intermediate] way. (17:110)
I would assume that the term 'prayer' here means dua, and not salat.
I pray for everyone, Muslims first, including family, friends, relatives, anyone connected, etc., then for non-Muslims, that Allah forgives them, and that they be guided, In sha' Allah.
I do not know whether I have been understand this sentence correctly - I might be wrong - but just as an insurance policy: Sheikh Al-Utaimin says, humans should not say Insha Allah in their Du'as. He should be determined and swear to his du'a, because Allah is not forced to do something. Allah says: "And your Lord hath said: call Unto Me, and I shall answer your prayer." That he will answer your du'a is a promise and it is not necessary to say Insha Allah. He will answer directly how he get du'a or Allah will repel bad from him or Allah will give him in hereafter.
I tried to translate that as good as I could. When I wrote something wrong, it from myself and shaitan. And when I wrote something right and good it comes from Allah, only.
I do not know whether I have been understand this sentence correctly - I might be wrong - but just as an insurance policy: Sheikh Al-Utaimin says, humans should not say Insha Allah in their Du'as
I believe you misunderstood. What br. Ahmad H meant was that 'in syaa Allah', Allah will accept his prayers for all the people he mentions.
Hope you get my meaning... (hope I am right, Ahmad H)
Yes bro. I thought that too, but was not sure and had a guilty conscience to not write that, in case of misunderstanding on my side. But I think it does not harm that I have written that, perhaps it will help other brothers or sisters.
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. This I learnt from a relative young age. Whether it must be, or should be or ought to be or any other form of conjecture relating to it I cannot be certain. But many things indirectly reinforced this that I accepted it. Here's some ..
made and taught us. You can get books with such du'as for various occasions in, such as Hisnul Muslim (The Fortress of the Muslim). It has a hadeeth reference for every du'a at the back, so you know they are indeed authentically from the sunnah of the Prophet 
, but I have found these verses from the Quran -
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