The Power of Dua (Part 1)

Here, Hazrat Shaykh Rahmatallahialay explains the dangers of making certain duas especially in those times when all duas are excepted.

I generally spent the whole of Ramadan in I'tikaaf in Nizamuddin, but half of the Ramadan of 1364 was spent in Saharanpur. At that time, the League followers had a slogan which they were shouting at every procession: "We shall take Pakistan for sure. We shall take it even if we die. We shall take it even if we have to kill. we shall take it with blood." Even in Ramadan after Taraweeh till Sehri these cries were heard.

I tried to advise the people against this, and sent messages repeatedly: " In these blessed nights of Ramadan it is time for making dua. If you have to, then do indeed make dua for your Pakistan. Ask for Pakistan, but do not ask for it through killing and blood-shed."

But no, there was such excitement and enthusiasm that their minds became clouded. in the Hadith there is an instruction not to curse your children and your wealth. For Allah Ta'ala some moments are such that whatever dua is made in it is accepted.

"Fa inna lillaahi saa'aatan laa yuraddo fihin ne saa'ilan"

"For verily Allah has certain times wherein no person who asks is rejected

This hadith has been quoted in many ways.

In Mishkat it is reported by Hazrat Jabir Radhiallahu Anhu: "Do not curse yourselves and do not curse your possessions or your children. Let it not be such, that your dua is made at such a time when Allah accepts your dua.

Interest in Life

Hazrat Maulana Jamiat Ali, the father of Hazrat Nazim Saheb maulana Abdul Lateef, was a teacher at Bhawalpur. Once he was checking something, thus looking into a kitab for an hour. a wood-carver was sitting near him. After about an hour and a half, the wood carver said: "Molvi-ji, you have been starting at this book for all this time. What have you found? Look at me. In all this time I have already cut so many pieces of wood."

Maulana Saheb burst out laughing: "We, each one of us have our own taste and interest. I can also ask you what you have done in this time. Tell me: "What is your interest in life?"

He replied: "Maulana Saheb, now you are talking. I would like to lie down upon a comfortabale charpai with a nice pillow under my head and a huqqa (pipe) nearby, while the voices of people working in the fields float to my ears."

This story has alwayys been an enjoyable one for me. It gives one an indication of the types of interest and longings different people have. I have also seen some people whose greatest desire is to remain in solitude in meditation, while from all around them, the voices of people making zikr reaches them. I have also seen some people whose health depends upon the hearing of the voices of Zikr. This acts like an injection of strength into their bodies, and in the absence thereof illness overtakes them.

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