Section: Manners Of Du'a

1. Praising the name of Allah and praying for the Prophet (ﷺ)On the authority of Fudalah (Ra), "The Prophet (ﷺ) heard a man supplicating Allah in his prayer, but did not pray for salutation on the Prophet (ﷺ)."The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "This man hastened his prayer." Then he called him and said to him and to another, should anyone of you pray, let him start his prayer with praising the name of Allah, then supplicating for the Prophet (ﷺ) then asking Allah for whatever he wants." [Bukhari and Muslim]2. Thinking of Allah's te mercy being all-encompassingAllah said,وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِTranslation: And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. [Al Baqarah: 186]On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (Ra), the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Ask Allah with conviction that He will respond to your Du'a."Ibn Al-Qayyim (RA) said:"Whoever contemplates this matter will know that hoping for the best from Allah is nothing but performing one's deeds in the best way. That is because performing deeds in the best way encourages the servant to hope for the best from Allah, that Allah will reward him and accept his deeds. Thus, the more the servant thinks the best of Allah, the better his deeds will be".3. Admitting one's sinsThe best one can say in this respect is to recite the worthiest manner of asking forgiveness of Allah,اَللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنِيْ وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِيْ فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَTransliteration: Allaahumma anta rabbee laa ilaaha illaa anta, khalaqtanee wa-ana ‘abduka, wa-ana ‘alaa ‘ahdika wawa‘dika mas-tata‘tu, a‘oothu bika min sharri maa sana‘tu, aboo-o laka bini‘matika ‘alayya, wa-aboo-o bithanbee, faghfir lee fa-innahu laa yaghfirudh dhunooba illaa anta.Translation: O Allah, You are my Lord, none has the right to be worshipped except You, You created me and I am Your servant and I abide to Your covenant and promise as best I can, I take refuge in You from the evil of which I have committed. I acknowledge Your favour upon me and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for verily none can forgive sin except You.4. Asking Allah with firm will and seriousnessOn the authority of Anas ibn Malik (Ra), the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:"When any of you supplicates to Allah, he should do it with firm will and should not say, 'O Allah! Grant me if you will. For Allah does what He wills and no one can force Him."5. Repeating one's supplication three timesOn the authority of Ibn Mas'ud (Ra), the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to order him to repeat his supplication three times and to ask for forgiveness three times."6. Supplicating with Jawami'ul-Kalim (short, concise du'a)'Aishah (Ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to supplicate with these short du'a and also with other du'a.7. During du'a, one should start with himselfAllah said,قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِأَخِي وَأَدْخِلْنَا فِي رَحْمَتِكَ ۖ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ ﴿١٥١﴾Translation: [Moses] said, "My Lord, forgive me and my brother and admit us into Your mercy, for You are the most merciful of the merciful." [Al A'raf: 151]Abbas reported from Ubai Ibn Ka'b who said when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) mentioned someone in his du'a, he would start by supplicating for himself first."8. Observing humbleness and humility during du'aAllah said,ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَخُفْيَةً ۚ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ ﴿٥٥﴾ وَلَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بَعْدَ إِصْلَاحِهَا وَادْعُوهُ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا ۚ إِنَّ رَحْمَتَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ مِّنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿٥٦﴾Translation: (55) Call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors. (56) And cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. And invoke Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good. [Al A'raf: 55-56]9. The tone of the supplicant should neither be excessively loud nor dictatorial, for one must be humble, and must beg before AllahAbu Musa Al-Ash'ari (Ra) reported:"We were going along with Allah's Prophet (ﷺ) on a journey when the people began to pronounce Allah is the Greatest in a loud voice".Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said,"O people, have mercy upon yourselves for you are not calling One Who is deaf or absent. Verily you are calling One Who is All-Hearing, the Ever-Beholding, (and) nearer to you than the neck of your camel to you."10. The supplicant should end his du'a with saying AmeenAbu Muslih Al-Qarani (R.A. reported from Zuhair Al-Numirili (Ra), "Once we went out along with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) during the night. We passed by a man who was earnestly invoking Allah ".Thereupon, the Prophet (ﷺ) stopped to hear what he was saying and said:"His du'a will be answered when he completes it properly."The Companions asked, "With which should it be ended O Messenger of Allah?"The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "With saying Ameen. The people said to that man, "Say Ameen and receive glad tidings." [Abu Dawud]