What is your opinion on the supplication, “May Allah prolong your life”?

The questioner : They disliked the supplication, “May Allah prolong your life.” Have you looked into some of this? When this supplication was made for them, they would say that this is something decreed and they disliked it?

The Shaykh : I have not looked into this, and even if I had, I would not have adopted it, because it contradicts what is authentic from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him).

The questioner : (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) supplicated for Anas ibn Malik for abundant provision and long life in some of the authentic narrations. Therefore, I do not see any issue with the supplication for long life, even though this is not practiced in most Arab countries except in this country. However, the truth is that the Sunnah is with them. And when I hear the supplication of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for long life for his servant Anas, there is no doubt that he meant by that long life accompanied by righteous deeds. He (may Allah’s prayer and peace be upon him) said: So the first hadith we mentioned, contains an encouragement to engage in the lawful means that are the cause of two things: the first is long life, and the second is abundant provision. So the interpretation of some scholars of this hadith that its apparent meaning is not intended is similar to the denial of some of the verses and hadiths of the attributes, because what drives them is their assumption that if we take the apparent meaning of this hadith, we would contradict what is certain among Muslims, namely that both provision and long life are limited in the Preserved Tablet and confirmed when the soul is breathed into the fetus in the womb of its mother. But this does not mean that there are no causes for these outcomes of long life and abundant provision, such as happiness and misery. Just as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made a cause for both happiness and misery—the cause of happiness is faith in Allah, and the cause of misery is disbelief in Him (Blessed and Exalted is He)—so He made causes for long life and abundant provision. But this does not mean that this is not decreed. Everything is by decree, as he (may Allah’s prayer and peace be upon him) said: So just as it is obligatory for Muslims to take the paths that lead them to happiness and avoid the paths that lead them to misery, so they must take...