The Causes of the Answering of Supplication and the Obstacles to Its Answering?
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Question:
You ask: What are the causes of the answering of supplication, and the causes of the non-answering of supplication?
Answer:
This has many causes. The default is that Allah answers supplication. He, the Exalted and Majestic, said:[Al-Baqarah 2:186] And He said: [Ghafir 40:60] In the authentic hadith regarding the descent, it is stated that Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, descends every night when the last third of the night remains to the lowest heaven. He says: "Is there anyone asking, that I may give to him? Is there anyone supplicating, that I may answer him? Is there anyone seeking forgiveness, that I may forgive him?"
So the default is that Allah accepts supplication by virtue of His noble promise. However, supplication may not be answered due to an obstacle from the part of the servant, such as eating what is forbidden. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan ad-Darimi 20:12
So eating what is forbidden prevents the acceptance of supplication. Likewise, among the obstacles to the acceptance of supplication is if one supplicates with a sin or with severing family ties, then his supplication is not answered. Likewise, among the obstacles to the acceptance of supplication is if one supplicates to Allah with a heedless heart, then his supplication is not answered, as it came in the athar that supplication is not answered from a heedless, distracted heart. Yes.
You ask: What are the causes of the answering of supplication, and the causes of the non-answering of supplication?
Answer:
This has many causes. The default is that Allah answers supplication. He, the Exalted and Majestic, said:
And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِAnd your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you."
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْSo the default is that Allah accepts supplication by virtue of His noble promise. However, supplication may not be answered due to an obstacle from the part of the servant, such as eating what is forbidden. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The man who lengthens his journey, disheveled and dusty, stretches his hands to the sky, saying: O my Lord, O my Lord, while his food is forbidden, his clothing is forbidden, his drink is forbidden, and he is nourished with what is forbidden, so how will he be answered?
الرَّجُلَ يُطِيلُ السَّفَرَ أَشْعَثَ أَغْبَرَ يَمُدُّ يَدَيْهِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ يَا رَبِّ يَا رَبِّ وَمَطْعَمُهُ حَرَامٌ وَمَلْبَسُهُ حَرَامٌ وَمَشْرَبُهُ حَرَامٌ وَغُذِّيَ بِالْحَرَامِ فَأَنَّى يُسْتَجَابُ لِذَلِكَ؟So eating what is forbidden prevents the acceptance of supplication. Likewise, among the obstacles to the acceptance of supplication is if one supplicates with a sin or with severing family ties, then his supplication is not answered. Likewise, among the obstacles to the acceptance of supplication is if one supplicates to Allah with a heedless heart, then his supplication is not answered, as it came in the athar that supplication is not answered from a heedless, distracted heart. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5658- أسباب إجابة الدعاء وموانع الإجابة ؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.