Assalamualaikum my dear,

How are you? How have these past few weeks been for you?

I pray your relationship with dua felt a little bit stronger these last weeks after our reflection on Suran Anbiyah.

I really apologise for disappearing for a while there! I promised I’d share with you 2 other lessons I had on those verses we reflected on last time. But for some reason, it’s been a hectic few weeks, so I never got a chance to get this letter ready for you.

Since it’s been a while since our last letter, I think it might be a good idea to refresh our memory about the verses we were discussing last time

(and if you’re new here, I highly recommend you read my last letter here!)

The verses we reflected on in our last letter was a small passage from Surah Anbiyah.
In Surah Anbiyah, from verses 83 to 90, Allah narrates to us a whole page about three different stories of the Prophets in the context of one thing - dua.

The three prophets were
1. Ayyub (as) about the disease he was afflicted with
2. Yunus (as) about the belly of the whale
3. Zakariyyah (as) about having a child

I told you in my last letter that for each Prophet, Allah quotes to us the dua they pray to Him. And right after sharing that, Allah shares with us His response in the next line.

And what was His response?

‘Fastajabna lahu’, ‘fastajabna lahu’, ‘fastajabna lahu’.

That means ‘We answered him…’, ‘We answered him…’, We answered him…’ This is a powerful lesson where Allah is showing us that any story of dua, any sort of need you have will only end with one response. It can only have one response, and that is — ‘We answer…’

And the second lesson we saw was how beautiful Allah’s response was - how He granted each of them more than they asked for. A beautiful lesson about Allah’s Mercy and Love for His servants - that when they raise their hands to Him, not only does He grant their need but gives them more.

But today, I wanted to actually share a reflection on the duas they made.

So here is…

Lesson 3: An Answer Without A Question

This is actually my favourite lesson. The one I wanted to fangirl about last time, but I held it in because I knew it was going to be a long one!

When you look at the duas of the three Prophets, there is something very profound about them.

I want to share each of those duas with you.

1. Ayyub (as)’s dua:

‫۞ وَأَیُّوبَ إِذۡ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥۤ أَنِّی مَسَّنِیَ ٱلضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرۡحَمُ ٱلرَّ ٰ⁠حِمِینَ﴿ ٨٣ ﴾

Remember Job, when he cried to his Lord, ‘Suffering has truly afflicted me, but you are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’

2. Yunus (as)’s dua:

‫وَذَا ٱلنُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَـٰضِبࣰا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقۡدِرَ عَلَیۡهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِی ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ أَن لَّاۤ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّاۤ أَنتَ سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ إِنِّی كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِینَ﴿ ٨٧ ﴾‬
And remember the man with the whale,when he went off angrily, thinking We could not restrict him, but then he cried out in the deep darkness, ‘There is no God but You, glory be to You, I was wrong.’

3. Zakariyya (as)’s dua:

‫وَزَكَرِیَّاۤ إِذۡ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥ رَبِّ لَا تَذَرۡنِی فَرۡدࣰا وَأَنتَ خَیۡرُ ٱلۡوَ ٰ⁠رِثِینَ﴿ ٨٩ ﴾‬
Remember Zachariah, when he cried to his Lord, ‘My Lord, do not leave me childless, though You are the best of heirs.’

—

What goes through your mind when you see these duas?

When I looked at these duas, the first thought that crossed my mind was - They don’t seem to be really asking Allah for anything.

These aren’t really duas, are they?

Ayub (as) isn't asking Allah 'Oh Allah, please heal me from this adversity.'

Yunus (as) isn’t asking Allah 'Oh Allah, please get me out of this whale.'

So why is Allah saying ‘He answered’? Why does He answer these comments by fulfilling unsaid requests, unvoiced duas for them?

—

A conversation, not a request

What we are really seeing are conversations - conversations between a servant and his Lord.

Ayyub (as) is simply speaking to Allah ‘Ya Rab, I’m in so much difficulty.’

Yunus (as) is simply turning to Allah with regret ‘I was wrong.’

Only Zakariyyah (as)’s dua is slightly more of a request.

And even though they aren't actual duas, even though they are just statements, Allah responds to these statements as though they were duas.

As though they asked for something.

He responds to them by giving them what their hearts want, even though their mouths haven’t yet expressed it.

Isn’t that beautiful?

As these servants converse with Allah about their life and its struggles, Allah responds to those conversations by granting them the unsaid needs they desired from their heart. They didn't even need to explicitly call out to Allah to grant their needs.

It's as though Allah is telling us that even when we just have a conversation with Him, all the wishes and needs in those conversations have only one answer too - 'We answer'.

And that’s a lesson in itself - because how often do we really just speak to Allah? Other than when it’s an urgent need.

How often do we turn to complain to Allah first instead of ranting to others?

So sis, this is a reminder for you to make dua a part of your life. Make conversing with your Lord a habit. Make turning to Him something that happens across your day. As you cut your veggies for dinner, speak to Him about your worry of cooking something not delicious. When you’re walking to work, speak to Him about your freezing toes. When you’re sitting surrounded by your family, speak to Him about how happy and grateful you are.

And see how your days begin to fill with ease and barakah, as He continues to respond to you, again and again and again.

—

Lesson 4: Trust His Timing and Trust His Response

I wanted to end this 2-part post with one last lesson on dua. Because although we’ve learnt from these verses that Allah will answer, even an unsaid wish, and He gives more than we can ever want, there is a question that can plague the back of our minds.

This question comes from that one dua - that dua you’ve been making for weeks, months, maybe even years.

And you can’t help the question - ‘but why is He not answering me?'

And that is a very legitimate question to have. And a question that used to plague my mind too.

But these verses answer that for us too.

Because although we see Allah tell us all the 3 Prophets duas were answered, and they were answered with more, we know that it didn’t happen instantly.

1. Ayyub (as) was afflicted with his disease for around 7 years

2. Yunus (as) was in the belly of the whale for 3 days

3. Zakariyyah (as) was childless for nearly his whole life

What Allah is showing us through these stories is a powerful lesson - He shows us that He will answer, that is for sure. And He will give you more, that is for sure.

But the timing of the answer? Leave that to Him.

And that is where our test lies. Our test to Trust. His. Timing.

To Trust Him.

Allah, Al Mujeeb (The Answering One), Al Wadud (The Loving One) is telling us through these stories to carry on asking. Carry on conversing with Him. Continue in your dua with certainty in a response.

But also trust His timing about when you will receive a response. Remember He, apart from being Al Mujeeb, is also Al Aleem (The Most Knowing), Al Hakim (The Most Wise).

He knows exactly when is the best time for your dua to be answer, and most importantly how it will be answered.

—

So sis,

Open that channel of conversation with your Lord. Make speaking to Him about your highs and lows a habit in your life, and see how that blossoms your relationship with Him.

And continue to have certainty in your duas like our beloved Prophets, Ayyub (as), Yunus (as) and Zakariyyah (as) had. Maybe you’ve been making a specific dua this past week, maybe you’ve been making one for years, but never forget - He will answer and He will grant you more than you can imagine. And you surely, will not be disappointed.

🪴 I pray Allah makes us those who are grounded in our tawakkul (trust) of Him, and of those who never stop asking from Him. Ameen

Until next time,

Thasneema 🌻