How can my supplication be answered?.

    Our Lord says: "call upon your Lord in humility and privately, indeed, He does not like transgressors, 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 (Ala'araf 55,56). Here Allah Azza wa Galla says that He doesn't like transgressors, and our prophet said: "there will come some people who transgress in supplication and purification, that's means that Allah doesn't like those who cross the limits.

    Crossing the limits in supplication (dua'a) may take several forms, firstly, that literal formalities such as rhyming and other stylistic devices, are employ in dua'a which may spoil its essential ingredients of humility and submission, secondly, that unnecessary restrictions as it appears in Hadith that Sayyidna Abdullah Ibn Mughaffal saw that his son was making dua'a in the following words: "O Allah, I seek from you the palace in paradise which is white in colour, and located on the right hand side, he stopped him and said: making such restriction in dua'a is crossing the limits which has been prohibited in the Quran and Hadith, the third form of crossing the limits is that someone makes dua'a wishing ill of Muslims in general, or asks from Allah something which is harmful for them.

    Similarly, it is also a form of crossing the limits that dua'a be made in a raised voice without the need to do so, for our prophet said to His friends when their voices used to raise during Hajj: O people! be merciful to yourselves (i.e. don't raise your voice) for you are not calling a deaf or an absent one, but one who is with you, no doubt He is all-hearer, ever near to all things.

 

  

    The fourth form of crossing the limits of dua'a is that someone asks from Allah to reach the grade of the prophets, in addition to that, our prophet mentioned the case of a man who having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying "O Lord, O Lord, while his food is unlawful (Haram), his drink is Haram, his clothing is Haram, and he has been nourished with Haram, so how can his supplication be answered?, and He (PBUH) also said: "the supplication of every one of you will be granted if he doesn't get impatient and say for example, I supplicated my Lord but my prayer hasn't been granted.

    And in the narration of Muslim: the supplication of a slave continues to be granted as long he doesn't supplicate for a sinful thing or for something that would cut off the ties of kinship and he doesn't grow impatient, it was said: O Messenger of Allah, what does growing impatient mean?, He (PBUH)said: it's one's saying I supplicated again and again but I don't think that my prayer supplication will be answered, then he becomes frustrated in such circumstances and gives up supplication altogether.

    Our prophet said: "don't invoke curses on yourself or in your children or on your possessions lest you should happen to do it at a moment when the supplications are accepted and your prayer (supplication) might be granted, and when He (PBUH) was asked at what time does the supplication find the greatest response?, He replied, a supplication made during the middle of the last part of the night, and after the conclusion of the obligatory prayers.

    And in another Hadith He (PBUH) said: the nearest a servant come to his Lord is when he is prostrating himself, so increase supplication in prostration, and said: "and as to prostration, make supplication with exertion in it, that is worthy of being accepted".

    Finally, our prophet used to say: O Allah, I seek refuge in you from prayer (supplication) which is not answered "Allahumma ini a'auzu beka min da'watin la yustajabu laha".