From the Secrets of the Prophetic Supplication

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 9 June 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Dr. Ahmed Abouseif opened the khatira with a supplication in which he asked Allah for His good pleasure and Paradise, for steadfastness through the firm word in this worldly life and in the Hereafter, for pardon and well-being in religion, in this world and in the Hereafter, and that He turn away from us the causes of punishment through His mercy and good pleasure. Then he continued what he had begun yesterday.

Supplication Is Seeking the Rain of the Creator's Mercy

Yesterday we said that the Prophet ﷺ was only seeking the rain of Allah's mercies, Mighty and Majestic, through supplication, and we mentioned that supplication and connection with Allah, Glorified is He, is an entirely direct means in curing illnesses and in treating the conditions of creation in all their affairs. That is because the one who supplicates is only seeking the rain of the Creator's mercy, and the Creator is the One who created, fashioned, decreed and guided, and who knows the affairs of His creation. And He is, in the first place, the One who tried people with what they complain of, and He is the One able to rescue them from what He, Glorified is He, tried them with. So you are calling upon the One who made and ordained, the One who established and raised and lowered, the One who extends and withholds, glory be to the Most High, the Omnipotent.

The Story of the Companions and the Ruqyah with al-Fātiḥa

Yet here there is a question. Yesterday we mentioned an engaging story that the people of ḥadīth relate: that some of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ were on a journey, and they stopped in a valley at the place of a people, and asked them for food, that is, asked them for something to eat, but they did not feed them. While they were so, the chief of that tribe fell ill, so they came to them and said: Do you have anything you can do for our companion? One of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ said: I have something with which I can perform ruqyah for him, but I will not perform it unless you set a reward for us, that is, you assign us some payment. They said: We will give you so many sheep. So he went to him and recited over him Sūrat al-Fātiḥa.

While they were taking what they had been promised, and the sheep had arrived, that reciter said: By Allah, none of us will draw a share until we return to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he tells us whether what we did is lawful or unlawful. And the matter is perfectly logical: we exercised our own judgement and performed this ruqyah for this man, and this is food we do not know whether it is lawful for us or not. Had they been fed out of sheer generosity, that would have been lawful, but now they had earned money, so is this earning from what is lawful or from what is not?

So they returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he asked them: And how did you know that it is a ruqyah? Then he ﷺ took a share together with them in order to confirm for them the lawfulness of what they had taken from those people.

A question remains: did al-Fātiḥa fall upon a Muslim so that he might benefit from it, or upon a disbeliever? And is the benefit in the words themselves, or in the relationship of the one treating with the words recited over the patient? The point is that the blessing of the words of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, goes wherever He, Glorified is He, wills among His creation, and that the intention, if it is not connected with the patient's own self, is connected with the self of the one treating, who here is the noble Companion, may Allah be pleased with them all.

Not Every Supplicant Is Answered: It Is a Matter of Certainty

But a point remains in the matter, namely that not every supplicant is answered; the matter is tied to certainty. And I give an example I often mention: one of the people speaks to me and says: You say "Zamzam is for whatever it is drunk for," don't you? And it is reported from the Prophet ﷺ: «ماء زمزم لما شُرب له».^[1] (The water of Zamzam is for whatever it is drunk for.) So whoever drinks Zamzam for the cure of a sickness or disease or anything else, Allah, the Exalted, causes its blessing to take effect in that body, in that mind, and in everything. So what is the matter with me, that I return to Zamzam every year and supplicate Allah with the same supplication and am not answered? Why have I not been healed until now? Should I believe this report that you speak of, is it true and sound, or where is the problem?

So I said to him: The problem is with you. There may be someone afflicted with cancer, we seek refuge in Allah, who drinks from Zamzam and the Lord of the worlds, Glorified is He, heals him. And there may be someone afflicted with cancer who supplicates Allah after drinking from Zamzam and the Lord of the worlds responds to him. And another goes who has only a cold, and drinks from Zamzam, and is not healed of it. So where is the flaw? With the drinker. I said to him: The promise of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, is not dealt with by the logic of experiment. He said: I go to try it, for it is one of the tools put before me to be healed. So I said to him: No; experiment is not suitable with Allah, Glorified is He. Either you are certain of what the Prophet ﷺ promised, or you are doubtful of what the Prophet ﷺ promised.

So we say: not every supplicant is answered. Why? Because people's souls differ in faith and in attachment to Allah, Glorified is He.

An instance of this is that a man came to stand with his sword over the head of the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Muhammad, who will save you from me now?" And the Prophet ﷺ looked at him and at the sword in his hand. Imagine: the Prophet ﷺ is sitting under a tree with no weapon and nothing beside him, then suddenly someone comes out to him and says: I am right in front of you, one blow and we are done with this whole story, the story of Islam. He says: "Who will rescue you from me now?" And the Prophet ﷺ says: "Allah." And the sword falls from the man's hand. From where did this power come, and from where did this effect come? From the certainty of the supplicant, the rememberer, in what he is speaking.

For many a man puts his hand on his stomach or on his head and says: «اللهم رب الناس أذهب البأس، اشفِ أنت الشافي، لا شفاء إلا شفاؤك» (O Allah, Lord of the people, remove the affliction; heal, for You are the Healer; there is no healing except Your healing), and what he had departs by the power of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. And many a man recites the whole Qur'an seeking blessing and it avails him nothing. The matter relates to the heart of the supplicant, his state of mind, and his certainty in the good that is in his hands.

When the Answer Is Delayed: More Trial

The other point is that supplication is sometimes postponed because Allah wants more trial from this servant. And in the reports from those of experience and those with knowledge of it, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, loves to hear the call of His servant, so He lengthens the duration of his trial or its measure. Trial increases either in quantity or in quality: quantity, for example, by more time; quality, by more effect, so that a person is wearied with more hardship. And the Prophet ﷺ tells us about this in his words: «أشد الناس بلاءً الأنبياء، ثم الأمثل فالأمثل».^[2] (The people most severely tried are the prophets, then the next best, and the next best.)

So how are the prophets tried when they supplicate Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and Allah hears their supplication and their call? How are they tried? Because Allah, the Exalted, loves to see that supplication from this supplicant. So you say: Well, does Allah not hear supplication from people except with affliction? Then one of us says: If millions were sent to me, I too would keep supplicating a lot. My master, our lord, if a pile of money came to me I would be fine, and I would supplicate night and day. But it is said to you: No; you are not assured of the effects of blessing on souls, for souls are turned about by an increase of blessings. And whenever the servant is in a test he is purer and more likely to be accepted, because he is nearer to the Lord of Might, Glorified and Exalted.

And not everyone tried with blessing is grateful, and we have seen that everyone tried with hardship or calamity is rewarded with Allah, Blessed and Exalted, except those on whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has mercy.

Not Everyone Who Complains Is Afflicted: Imagined Pains

For this reason the talk today was divided into two parts: not every supplicant is answered, and not everyone who complains is afflicted. That is, sometimes there is no illness in the body at all, but only imagined pains. And what is the story of these imagined pains? From too much pressure, from the pressure of work. A headache came to me, and I am asked: what is in this headache of yours? And how many times do you see a person go to the doctor, and he asks him: What is the matter? Is there such and such? No. Do you have such and such? No. So the doctor becomes suspicious and says to him: Excuse me, would you have this X-ray and this scan and this test done for me? Until he sends you for very deep specialised tests. Then the results all come back saying: negative, we have nothing. So what is the story of this man? He says to him: This colic that you have is psychological. So there is a feeling of pain, and there is real pain, but where did this imagined pain come from? From too much pressure, and from the servant being perplexed over a matter, or doubtful about something.

And here, with psychological pains: what do medications do with them? Someone is distressed, so he has a headache; for this distress we put a capsule, and these medications do not suit it. So what does suit it? Supplication to the Lord of the worlds, Glorified and Exalted, for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, heals the souls of creation as He heals their bodies, glory to Him, exalted in His highness.

Summary of the Words

These are words in haste, from which we conclude that as long as the illness remains with the servant, that is, according to the people of knowledge, an indication that Allah loves to hear your voice, so do not cut off your voice in supplication in the presence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. And as long as there is an illness together with supplication without an answer, know that there is a deficiency in faith and a need for more knowledge of Allah, Glorified and Exalted.

And let us know that what we have is never evil, because it is from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, but is wholly good, because Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as our Shaykh recited to us: ﴿اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ﴾.^[3] (Allah knows best where to place His message.) People look at the word "message" as the place of the message in prophethood and elsewhere, but the point is that Allah knows best where He places whatever He wills and intends: He places in one person pain, and in another joy, and in another the gaining of wealth, and in another a need for wealth. Allah knows best how He tests His servants with whatever He wills.

I ask Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, to establish faith firmly in our hearts, to expand our chests for more obedience to Him, to prepare our souls for supplicating Him, Glorified and Exalted, and to make us a place where supplication is accepted. O Allah, amen. May Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and Companions.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth in this wording was recorded by Aḥmad and Ibn Mājah from the ḥadīth of Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him), and scholars have discussion about its authenticity; some graded it sound and others weak, and for that reason it is introduced in the form of a report. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth is in al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah from the ḥadīth of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (may Allah be pleased with him) in this wording: «أشد الناس بلاءً الأنبياء ثم الأمثل فالأمثل». The transcript had «ثم الأولياء» (then the saints) between the prophets and the next best, and I did not find it in the wordings of the ḥadīth, so it was removed from the body. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Anʿām, verse 124. The speaker limited himself to this portion of it.