Dua # 5

Dua Al-Karb – Supplication during calamities

Abu Bakratah (rAa) said that Allah’s messenger (sAws) said,

“The supplications of the afflicted are: O Allah I seek Your mercy, so please don’t entrust me to myself –not even for the blinking of an eye- and please resolve all of my problems.  There is no god besides You.” Sunan Abi Dawud; shaykh Al-Albani declares the hadith hasan.

Allahumma rahmetuka arjoo, falaa tekilnee elaa nefsee tarfete ayn, wa aslih lee shenee kullahu.  Laa ilaaha illaa Anta.

O Allah I seek Your mercy, so please don’t entrust me to myself –not even for the blinking of an eye- and please resolve all of my problems.  There is no god besides You.

In this amazing and wonderful dua Allah’s messenger (sAws) reinforces for us what our aqidah should be –tawhid of Allah (swt).  He redirects us to complete hope, faith and trust in Allah (swt) during calamities, afflictions and problems.  And the main thing we should be seeking from Allah (swt) is His mercy during these life tribulations. Allah’s mercy alleviates troubles, replaces despair with hope, darkness with light, loneliness with company, pain with comfort, fear with safety, mistrust with trust, abuse with protection, exploitation with guardianship, insecurity with faith confusion with clarity and questions with answers.

Furthermore, the prophet (sAws) so subtly directs our attention to our own inability, and that’s why he asked Allah (swt) to not leave him to his own ability, knowledge, resources; to his own self to overcome the test at hand.  SubhanAllah, not even for a split second, the time it takes for the eye to blink.  This is true knowledge and iman of who Allah truly is and who we humans really are!  True faith is to recognize that without Allah (swt) we aren’t anything and can’t accomplish a thing; we are in absolute need of Him yet He is the Absolutely Independent (Al-Ghaniy).  One more reason why we should love, serve and worship Him and Him alone.

Lastly, we should remember that Alah (swt) is the Only One who can make things happen.  He is the One who can remedy any and all of our ailments, predicaments and situations, so why not ask Him to fix them all.  This is what the prophet (sAws) did, and thereby taught us.  And the ending is a reaffirmation that Allah is One God, the Only True God (swt); thereby the Only One who does hear your prayers and has the ability to answer them and respond to you.  This knowledge is soothing comfort for the heart, mind and soul!