When you ask, ask Allah

 

Allah’s kindness is very near to us. He hears all and answers our supplications. It is we who are full of shortcomings, and so we badly need to be persistent in our supplications. Boredom or hopelessness should never cause us to stop invoking Allah, nor should one of us say: I prayed yet I have not been answered. Instead, we should press our heads humbly on the ground and beg for help from Allah. The best way to do this is to ask Him by His Perfect Names and Attributes. But until we are answered, we must be persistent in asking Him.

 

(Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret.)                      (Qur’an 7: 55)

 

A writer narrated this story:

A Muslim went to a certain country as a refugee and he implored the authorities there to grant him citizenship. All doors were shut before him. Despite his many efforts at importuning others, all of his contacts failed. One day he met a righteous scholar, and he gave him an account of his predicament. The scholar said to him, ‘Supplicate to your Lord, for He is the One who makes things easy.’  The meaning of this advice is found in the hadith:

 

"If you ask, then ask Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. And know that if the nation were to gather together in order to give you some benefit, they would not bring you any benefit, except with what Allah has written for you.”

 

The refugee later related,

"By Allah, I stopped going to people for help or for intercession, and instead, I began praying to Allah in the last third of the night just as the scholar had told me to do. Just before the break of dawn, I would call to Allah and invoke Him for relief.

 

Only a few days passed, after which, I submitted an application for citizenship without using any person of position to intercede for me. A few days passed and then suddenly, to my astonishment, I was called to pick up my citizenship request papers. They were stamped with ‘Approved."’

 

(Allah is very Gracious and Kind to His slaves)                       (Quran 42: 19)