The ruling on saying: "I have prayed and made supplication, but I have gained nothing"
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Question:
May Allah reward you with good. The last paragraph in the questioner's letter says: One of my relatives, O Shaykh, always says and repeats, "I have prayed and made supplication, but I have gained nothing." He says this when I remind him and tell him, "If the world becomes narrow for you, then stand up, perform wudu, and pray two rak'ahs, and supplicate to Allah as you wish." It is known that he prays the obligatory prayers in the mosque, except when he is sleeping or very busy. I hope you will advise him.
Answer:
First, he must maintain the prayer and let nothing distract him from it. The prayer is the pillar of Islam and the distinguishing factor between the Muslim and the disbeliever. So he must strive to pray in congregation, strive to pray at its time, and establish it as Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has commanded. As for his saying, "I have prayed, I have supplicated, and I have not gotten anything," this is dangerous speech. We ask Allah for safety from it.
Because it means despairing of the mercy of Allah. Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, said:[Al-Hijr 15:56] [Yusuf 12:87] So the Muslim must not despair of the mercy of Allah, even if his sins are many. He said, Exalted is He: [Az-Zumar 39:53] Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And turn to your Lord and submit to Him. So it is obligatory for the Muslim to have great desire in Allah and hope in Allah, and not to despair of the mercy of Allah.
May Allah reward you with good. The last paragraph in the questioner's letter says: One of my relatives, O Shaykh, always says and repeats, "I have prayed and made supplication, but I have gained nothing." He says this when I remind him and tell him, "If the world becomes narrow for you, then stand up, perform wudu, and pray two rak'ahs, and supplicate to Allah as you wish." It is known that he prays the obligatory prayers in the mosque, except when he is sleeping or very busy. I hope you will advise him.
Answer:
First, he must maintain the prayer and let nothing distract him from it. The prayer is the pillar of Islam and the distinguishing factor between the Muslim and the disbeliever. So he must strive to pray in congregation, strive to pray at its time, and establish it as Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has commanded. As for his saying, "I have prayed, I have supplicated, and I have not gotten anything," this is dangerous speech. We ask Allah for safety from it.
Because it means despairing of the mercy of Allah. Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, said:
He said, "And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except for those astray?"
قَالَ وَمَن يَقْنَطُ مِن رَّحْمَةِ رَبِّهِ إِلَّا الضَّالُّونَIndeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people."
إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِن رَّوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَSay, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah.
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/188 — archive.org (20:05)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.