Repeating the supplication of seeking nearness to Allah before every request and the Greatest Name of Allah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, the questioner asks: Is it valid for a person to repeat the supplication, “O Allah, I ask You by You being Allah, there is no god but You,” before every request? And is al-Hayy al-Qayyum (the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining) among the Greatest Name of Allah?
Answer:
What has been transmitted is that it is repeated before every supplication, but he says this supplication is among the supplications. He says what has been transmitted is that one begins the supplication with praise of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and with sending blessings upon His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in every supplication: praising Allah at the beginning, sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then making the supplication. This is what has been transmitted to be done with every supplication.
As for the Greatest Name of Allah, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has concealed it in His names, just as He concealed the Night of Decree in Ramadan, and just as He concealed the hour of Friday in the day of Friday, in order that the servants strive in seeking good, asking Him by all His names (Blessed and Exalted is He). If they ask Him by the names they know, for the names of Allah are not counted except by Allah, but those known to the servants, it is likely that they will encounter the Greatest Name. Just as if one strives in every Ramadan, it is likely that one will encounter the Night of Decree, and if one strives in supplication on every Friday, it is likely that one will encounter the hour of response. This is the wisdom in concealing these great things, so that the servants do not restrict themselves to one type without another, but rather they increase in the worship of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) until they attain the great reward from Allah.
It has been said that the Greatest Name of Allah is in the beginning of Surah Al-Imran:[Al-Baqarah 2:255], and in the end of the Verse of the Throne: “He is the Most High, the Magnificent,” or the small thing or… [Al-Hashr 59:22-23] al-Hayy al-Qayyum. It has been said that this is the Greatest Name of Allah.
Honorable Shaykh, the questioner asks: Is it valid for a person to repeat the supplication, “O Allah, I ask You by You being Allah, there is no god but You,” before every request? And is al-Hayy al-Qayyum (the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining) among the Greatest Name of Allah?
Answer:
What has been transmitted is that it is repeated before every supplication, but he says this supplication is among the supplications. He says what has been transmitted is that one begins the supplication with praise of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and with sending blessings upon His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in every supplication: praising Allah at the beginning, sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then making the supplication. This is what has been transmitted to be done with every supplication.
As for the Greatest Name of Allah, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has concealed it in His names, just as He concealed the Night of Decree in Ramadan, and just as He concealed the hour of Friday in the day of Friday, in order that the servants strive in seeking good, asking Him by all His names (Blessed and Exalted is He). If they ask Him by the names they know, for the names of Allah are not counted except by Allah, but those known to the servants, it is likely that they will encounter the Greatest Name. Just as if one strives in every Ramadan, it is likely that one will encounter the Night of Decree, and if one strives in supplication on every Friday, it is likely that one will encounter the hour of response. This is the wisdom in concealing these great things, so that the servants do not restrict themselves to one type without another, but rather they increase in the worship of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) until they attain the great reward from Allah.
It has been said that the Greatest Name of Allah is in the beginning of Surah Al-Imran:
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence.
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ(22) He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. (23) He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him.
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، تتمة باب الذكر والدعاء — islamhouse.com (1:10:01)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.