Past eventOther · The Art of Supplication · Session 9

The Advantages and Benefits of Supplication — Part 5

Saturday, 24 May 2025

A man was being killed on the sands of Karbala, and the Qur'an calls that moment his triumph. "O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing to Him." Many exegetes hold that this verse describes Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, and that it was heard at the very moment of his martyrdom on Ashura. He was entirely content with God's decree, and his stance was entirely pleasing to God — not because he lacked feeling, but because contentment, rida, is not the absence of pain. It is trust that survives it. This session asks what that contentment actually requires. Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: "Whoever is content with God's decree does not ask Him to hasten punishment nor delay blessing." A hadith qudsi goes further, tying contentment to belief in God's lordship itself: "Whoever is not content with My decree and does not show patience in My trials, let him seek a lord other than Me." The evening pairs dua with tasleem, surrender, through Imam Zayn al-Abedeen's words in Dua Abu Hamza al-Thumali: "I ask You for what I do not deserve… for I am an ignorant servant who does not know what is best for me." Can the language of request truly produce a heart that has stopped demanding? What the evening covers What rida actually means. Contentment as trust, not resignation or fatalism. Imam Husayn and the tranquil soul. The verse of the tranquil soul and its connection to Ashura. A hadith qudsi that raises the stakes. Why contentment with God's decree is tied to tawhid itself. Dua and surrender together. How Dua Abu Hamza al-Thumali asks and yields in the same breath. Why what you dislike may be good for you. The Qur'anic principle behind unanswered requests.

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إِلَهِي تَوَلَّ مِنْ أَمْرِي مَا أَنْتَ أَهْلُهُ وَ عُدْ عَلَيَّ بِفَضْلِكَ عَلَى مُذْنِبٍ قَدْ غَمَرَهُ جَهْلُهُ إِلَهِي قَدْ سَتَرْتَ عَلَيَّ ذُنُوبا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَ أَنَا أَحْوَجُ إِلَى سَتْرِهَا عَلَيَّ مِنْكَ فِي الْأُخْرَى [إِلَهِي قَدْ أَحْسَنْتَ إِلَيَ ] إِذْ لَمْ تُظْهِرْهَا لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ فَلا تَفْضَحْنِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَلَى رُءُوسِ الْأَشْهَادِ إِلَهِي جُودُكَ بَسَطَ أَمَلِي وَ عَفْوُكَ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ عَمَلِي إِلَهِي فَسُرَّنِي بِلِقَائِكَ يَوْمَ تَقْضِي فِيهِ بَيْنَ عِبَادِكَ إِلَهِي اعْتِذَارِي إِلَيْكَ اعْتِذَارُ مَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَغْنِ عَنْ قَبُولِ عُذْرِهِ فَاقْبَلْ عُذْرِي يَا أَكْرَمَ مَنِ اعْتَذَرَ إِلَيْهِ الْمُسِيئُونَ .

O Allah! Take charge of my affair as is befitting of You. O Allah! Turn toward me with Your grace—toward a sinner whom ignorance has enveloped entirely. O Allah! You concealed my sins in this world, and I am more in need of their concealment in the Hereafter. You did not reveal my sins in this world to any of Your righteous servants, so do not disgrace me on the Day of Resurrection before the eyes of all people. O Allah! Your generosity has expanded my hopes, and Your pardon has surpassed my deeds. O Lord! On the Day when You judge among Your servants, make me joyful with the meeting of You. O Allah! My plea before You is the plea of one who cannot do without the acceptance of his excuse, so accept my excuse, O Most Generous of those from whom wrongdoers seek pardon.

Mafatih al-Jinan, Acts of the Year, Munajat Sha'baniyyah, Line 3