Du'a is the conversation of the servant with his Lord — called in the tradition the weapon of the believer, the marrow of worship, and the most beloved act in God's sight. It is the admission that we are poor and He is rich, and the door He Himself commanded us to knock: 'Call upon Me, I will respond to you' (40:60).
God is near to the one who calls: 'When My servants ask you about Me — indeed I am near; I answer the call of the caller when he calls upon Me' (2:186). The Imams taught that the worth of du'a is not only in its answer but in the standing itself — the nearness, humility, and love that the asking cultivates in the heart.
Supplication has an etiquette (adab): beginning with the praise of God and blessings upon Muhammad and his family, confessing one's need, asking with certainty of response, choosing the times of acceptance — the last third of the night, after the obligatory prayers, on Fridays, while fasting, and in prostration — and persisting without despair.
The tradition teaches that du'a is answered in one of three ways: it is granted, or it is stored as reward for the Hereafter, or a harm is turned away by it — so no sincere supplication is ever wasted. The treasury of the Ahl al-Bayt — Du'a Kumayl, al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, Du'a Abu Hamza al-Thumali — are the supreme schools of this art.
Key concepts
- dua etiquette
- times of acceptance
- three ways dua is answered
- Imam Ali duas