From the Secrets of the Prophetic Supplication: The Prophets Are Human, Their Chests Tighten, and They Turn to Allah

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on May 19, 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

We had spoken about the hardship a person endures in his day to earn his provision at the end of his day, and we mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ beautified and completed each one of our days with further supplications.

Did the Prophets Suffer as People Suffer?

Someone may ask: the prophets, did they suffer as the rest of people suffer, or is it not so? The answer is that they were like the rest of creation: they have hearts, souls, minds, tongues, and bodies that bear to the extent that human capacity can endure, and they cry out for help to the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, in what their hands were unable to do. Their tongue turns to Allah and is devoted to Him before every deed, during every deed, and after every deed.

Joseph, Peace Be Upon Him, and His Words "Mention Me to Your Lord"

Look at Joseph, peace be upon him. The Noble Qur'an relates his words to his companion: ﴿اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ﴾ ("Mention me to your lord"), then it says: ﴿فَأَنْسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِ﴾ ("But Satan made him forget the mention of his lord").^[1] And many of our scholars comment on this by saying that it does not befit the station of prophethood, and that it is not proper for a prophet to seek the help of a human being before seeking the help of Allah, or instead of it.

The answer is that Joseph, peace be upon him, was following the means; he was presenting a petition, which is what any person in this world does: Gentlemen, please, look into my case again, and repeat this unjust trial, for perhaps conditions will change and the judgment will alter and the ways of ruling will vary, and perhaps exceptions will be attached to the governing legal articles, and perhaps the case will lapse by prescription, and perhaps the view of those managing this tragedy in which our prophet Joseph, peace and blessings be upon him, found himself will change.

The Tightening of the Chest in the Prophet ﷺ

The point is that the prophets are subject to what the rest of people are subject to: sometimes the soul of one of them tightens, or he turns to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, in alarm. And our Lord, glory be to Him, the Exalted, tells the Prophet ﷺ in the Noble Qur'an that his chest tightens at what they say.^[2] So he, peace and blessings be upon him, is pained by what the disbelievers say about him and about the blessed call, and his Lord, glory be to Him, teaches him to glorify Allah and remember Him morning and evening, after every prayer and following every prostration, so that he treats by that, in his psyche, this tightness that afflicts him as a human being and as a mortal who is subject to what the rest of people are subject to.

Why This Humanity?

And someone may ask: why this humanity, and why this feeling in every prophet just like the rest of people? Was Allah, the Exalted, not able to grant him more strength, endurance, patience, and forbearance to face the words of these people and this sniping from here and there?

We say: then where is the message completed? For the message came out only from a human being who applies it for other people who apply it as he applies it. Allah sends down the message to the Messenger so that he may apply it and practice the features of this call and the laws of this message. ﴿أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ﴾ ("Establish prayer"), so the first to pray is the Messenger, and ﴿آتُوا الزَّكَاةَ﴾ ("Give zakāh"), so the first to give zakāh is the Messenger, and likewise in fasting, and he is the one who said ﷺ: «صلّوا كما رأيتموني أصلّي» ("Pray as you have seen me pray").^[3] Had the Prophet ﷺ had a psyche other than the psyche of human beings, we would not have been able to apply the message as he applied it, because he is higher in rank and loftier in station. So the Messenger of Allah and the prophets before him are like the rest of people.

Had I Stayed in Prison as Long as Joseph Did

And in one narration the Prophet ﷺ related, saying: «لو لبثتُ في السجن ما لبث يوسف لأجبتُ الداعي» ("Had I stayed in prison as long as Joseph stayed, I would have answered the summoner").^[4] And take note: we have "dāʿin" and we have "dāʿiyah"; the dāʿiyah is the woman who desired the indecency, while the dāʿī here is the messenger who came calling him, and Joseph said to him: ﴿ارْجِعْ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَاسْأَلْهُ مَا بَالُ النِّسْوَةِ﴾ ("Return to your lord and ask him what is the case of the women").^[5] And the messenger came saying to him: Come, go out, the king wants you. And the Prophet ﷺ says that, had he been in his place, he would have gone out with him at once.

But Joseph, peace be upon him, was wise; he wanted to go out to the people with a clean white page. Would it be fitting for him to go out directly and take hold of the reins of rule, and then someone would write about him in the newspapers: the man with the old record, who was imprisoned in a case of honor? Would it be fitting that we take our laws from one accused of indecency? So before he went out, and before he sat at the reins of rule or spoke to the people about any laws, he wanted all people to bear witness that this page is white, that this tongue is pure, and that this body is clean, that it did not touch indecency and indecency did not touch it. So if he speaks he is believed, if he commands he is answered, and if he legislates for the people they respond; and their objection would be only about their own capacity to apply these features of the laws or their inability to apply them, but no one would speak about the person of the caller.

Remembrance Is Our Equipment for Striving Through Life

The point is that when Allah, Blessed and Exalted, commanded us to strive in life and journey through it, He commanded us to be resilient for it, to be patient with it, and to equip ourselves for that with strong equipment, which is the remembrance of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted. And when the Prophet ﷺ reminds us of these supplications that we say every morning and every evening, he is only reminding us of the severe state in which Moses, upon our Prophet and upon him be peace, found himself, a stranger in the midst of a people, saying: ﴿رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ﴾ ("My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need").^[6] Glory be to Allah, the Most High, the All-Powerful! My Lord, I am in need of whatever kind of good You send down to me.

The Secret of Placing the Mention of Allah Before the Description of One's State

Note that he put the mention of the Lord of the worlds before the description of his state and his poverty; he did not say: My Lord, I am poor for what You have sent down to me. So what is the secret in that? The secret is that what Allah, Blessed and Exalted, sends down, He sends down only as generosity from Him, the Mighty and Majestic, and not because of the state you are in. So do not say: By Allah, I am exhausted, and our Lord will send me relief because I am exhausted. No; relief will be sent down to you because He wants to send down upon you mercy, tranquility, reassurance, well-being, security, and stability, because He, the Mighty and Majestic, wants to have mercy on His servants. As for the state of those who are in hardship, it is not an argument against Allah, Blessed and Exalted; because Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, either grants well-being, or grants reward, or grants reward and well-being at the same time.

I ask Allah, the Exalted, to mend all our hearts, to make us worthy of His pleasure, and to preserve for us the well-being of faith, the soundness of hearts, the tranquility of souls, and the reassurance of chests. O Allah, make us firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter, and on the Day when the witnesses will stand.

--- ^[1]: Sūrat Yūsuf, verse 42. Editor's documentation: The commentators differed on the referent of the pronoun in "the mention of his lord," and it was not clear from the transcription which view the speaker favored. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The speaker stated that the verse is in Sūrat al-Anʿām, and the wording of the verse as he pronounced it (the tightening of the chest at what they say) agrees with the saying of the Exalted in Sūrat al-Ḥijr, verse 97; the transcription is unsettled here, so the verse was not recorded in its text in the body. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth is in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī; the speaker did not mention its source. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not attribute the narration, and he gave its wording in abridged form; its origin is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs with the wording: «لو لبثتُ في السجن ما لبث يوسف ثم أتاني الداعي لأجبتُه». ^[5]: Sūrat Yūsuf, verse 50. ^[6]: Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ, verse 24.