The Answered Supplications, and the Times in Which the Muslim Seeks to Make Supplication

Q: What is the supplication I should make so that it is answered for me? Is it permissible to make supplications for marriage and other matters during prostration in the obligatory prayer? And what are the times in which the Muslim seeks to make supplication?

A: Allah has prescribed supplication for His servants, so He said : [Ghafir: 60] And He said : [al-Baqarah: 186] Prostration is a place for supplication in both obligatory and voluntary prayers, and the most likely times for supplication to be answered are: the last part of the night, and the middle of the night. Likewise, supplication is answered in prostration during prayer, whether obligatory or voluntary. Likewise, the end of the prayer before the closing salam, after the tashahhud and the sending of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Likewise, supplication on Friday from when the khatib sits on the minbar until the prayer is completed, and after the 'Asr prayer until the sun sets on Friday; it is incumbent upon whoever wants to make supplication to seek these times. Likewise, between the adhan and the iqamah, supplication is not rejected. And the most important of these is the last part of the night; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And in another wording, He says: .
And this is a great time in which the believing man and woman should have a share of tahajjud, supplication, and seeking forgiveness. And this divine descent is a descent befitting Allah , which is not like the descent of His creation. So He descends, Glorified is He, in a manner befitting His Majesty, and no one knows its modality except Allah . And He does not resemble His creation in any of His attributes, such as istiwaa', mercy, anger, and satisfaction, among others; because of His saying, Glorified is He: [al-Shura: 11] And among that is His saying, the Exalted: [Ta-Ha: 5].
Rising above the Throne befits His Majesty (Glorified and Exalted is He), and its meaning is: elevation and rising above the Throne. However, it is a rising that befits Allah, in which He does not resemble His creation, and no one knows its modality except Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), as He the Exalted said: [Surat al-Shura: 11]. And as Umm Salimah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The rising is not unknown, the modality is not conceivable, affirming it is faith, and denying it is disbelief." And Rabi'ah ibn Abi Abd al-Rahman—the Shaykh of Imam Malik, one of the Tabi'un (the generation after the Companions)—when asked about it, said: "The rising is not unknown, the modality is not conceivable, from Allah comes the message, upon the Messenger is the conveyance, and upon us is the affirmation." And when Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him)—the Imam of the City of Migration in his time in the second century—was asked about the rising, he said: "The rising is known, the modality is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation." Then he said to the questioner: "I do not see you as anything but a man of evil," and then he ordered him to be taken out.
And this which Imam Malik, Umm Salama, and Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with them) said is the saying of all the people of the Sunnah and the community. They say regarding the names of Allah and His attributes: that it is obligatory to affirm them for Allah in the manner befitting Him . So faith and affirmation of them is obligatory, and takyif is negated; no one knows their modality except Allah . For this reason, He, Glorified is He, says: [al-Ikhlas: 4] And He, Glorified is He, says: [al-Shura: 11] And He, Glorified is He, says: [al-Nahl: 74] And He, Glorified is He, is angry with the people of His disobedience and disbelief in Him, and He is satisfied with the people of His obedience, and He loves His awliya (close friends of Allah), and He hates His enemies. And this love and hatred and satisfaction and anger, and the rest of His attributes, Glorified is He, are all affirmed for Him, Glorified is He, in the manner befitting His Majesty, Mighty and Majestic. And this is the saying of the people of the Sunnah and the community. So what is obligatory is: adhering to this saying, standing firm upon it, and refuting whoever contradicts it.
And among the evidence for supplication in prostration is: the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): And he said (peace and blessings be upon him): Muslim narrated them in his Sahih.
So if a woman asks for a righteous husband in prostration, or in the last part of the night, or for lawful wealth, and likewise if a man asks his Lord to give him a righteous wife, or lawful wealth, then all of that is good.
And marriage is an act of worship, and it has many benefits for the man and the woman. And likewise the rest of the personal needs, such as saying: "O Allah, make me self-sufficient by Your bounty from other than You. O Allah, make me self-sufficient from asking Your creation. O Allah, provide me with righteous offspring," and the like of that.