Explaining the conditions that must be met for supplication to be answered, the most important of which are sincerity and lawful sustenance

The Shaykh : The other point is that not every supplication is answered, and I am explaining this for two reasons:
First: to clarify the reality.
And second: to prevent the reliance on Allah (tawakkul) that some people may fall into, especially those who go to the trouble of increasing the number of people praying over a funeral. They go to such lengths that they may end up violating the Shari'ah, which commands hastening in preparing the deceased, shrouding him, and placing him in his final resting place, as they say today.
I say that not every supplication is accepted; rather, only the supplication that is pure and comes from the heart of a believer who is confident in Allah (Mighty and Majestic), along with the other conditions I will mention shortly, if Allah wills, is accepted. Therefore, it came in some hadiths that those who pray over a funeral should purify their supplication for him, in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions, who would supplicate for the deceased in the funeral prayer and purify their supplication for him. So here, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) says "and they intercede for him," we must note that this intercession, which means supplication, must be accompanied by sincerity. It is never part of this sincerity for the supplication to come from the tongue of one whose heart is heedless and unaware; this is not of sincerity in any way. Therefore, do not be deceived by the number, for the important thing is the quality, then the number. How many are there whose supplication is not answered? Why? The explanation of this came in one hadith narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), who said: إن الله طيب ولا يقبل إلا طيبا وإن الله أمر المؤمنين بما أمر به المرسلين فقال يا أيها الرسل كلوا من الطيبات واعملوا صالحا إني بما تعملون عليم Indeed, Allah is Pure and does not accept except what is pure. And Allah commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers, saying: "O messengers, eat from the good things and do righteous deeds. Indeed, I am Seeing of what you do." Then Abu Hurayrah said, "Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) mentioned..."
Far from it, far from it. Therefore, the important thing for these hundred people who intercede and supplicate for the deceased, asking for intercession for him, is that their supplication be accompanied by sincerity. And not only that, but their bodies must be purified from what is forbidden in food, drink, clothing, and sustenance. This is the important point that we must observe in such hadiths, so that no one is deceived and says, "By Allah, the task is easy. One of them does the ninety-nine [prayers] and says, 'My brother, tomorrow a hundred people will pray over me.' And if they are not available, we will go to the trouble of taking what is called the 'na'wa' (announcement of death), which we call the announcement of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade and the noble Salaf warned against. Some of them even went so far as to say, like Hudhayfah, who said to his family: "If I die, do not announce my death to anyone" — do not inform anyone of my death, for fear that those who announce it will fall into what the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) did before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent among them, of making public announcements that are hardly mentioned in relation to modern advertising. They claimed that, because their announcements were in the manner of showing off, which was known until recently in this land. Or if a person lost something, a man would stand at the crossroads or in public squares and call out. Similarly, in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), they would announce the death of their deceased by calling out in such gatherings. But now, take whatever means you wish: announcing in newspaper pages, announcing in private flyers, and even on the minarets. And the worst of announcements is to take the mosques, which were built for the worship of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone, with no partner for Him, to make announcements of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). It is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he heard a man in the mosque doing something less severe than the announcement of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah): He cursed him: He was saying, "Whoever finds a lost item such-and-such..." perhaps followed by his saying "such-and-such." So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed him and said: And in another hadith: So today our mosques are used to announce the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), even the largest mosque, the Mosque of Banu Umayyah, with its shouting and clamor that is not befitting the remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and the mu'adhdhin's saying "Allahu Akbar." Yet they announce from there that so-and-so has passed away. I wish the announcement were like that, meaning a simple announcement not accompanied by any words praising the deceased. If that were the case, the evil would be lighter and less. But they have followed an expression we call a cliché, and by Allah, I have not memorized it, but I remember the word that fits our context: they say "and the rest of the righteous predecessors, so-and-so ibn so-and-so."
So this has become "the rest of the righteous predecessors," and he may be one of the most wretched of the wretched. That is because the matter is traditions, ceremonies, and rituals, and perhaps some money and cash is associated with it. And at that point, it does not matter to the speaker whether he is "the rest of the predecessors" or the successors.
All of this is caused by not following the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and holding fast to his Sunnah, which he always and forever called people to and reminded them of in the beginnings and openings of his sermons, like what you hear us say here when we say:
As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).