Things which may prevent Duas from being answered
And Mistakes made during Supplication
Supplicating to someone other than Allah
“Whatever of mercy, Allah may grant to mankind none can withhold it, and whatever He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter. Verily Allah is able to do all things.” (Surah Fatir 35: 2)
“O mankind! It is you who stand in need of Allah. But Allah is Rich, Worthy of all Praise.” (Surah Fatir 35: 15)
“Is not He Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth, generation after generation. Is there any god with Allah? Little is that you remember.”(Surah An-Naml 27: 62).
“Verily, those whom you call upon besides Allah are slaves like you. So call upon them and let them answer you if you are truthful.” (Surah Al-A’raf 7: 194)
Invoking Allah thru forbidden types of Tawassul (getting closer to Allah). For example going to the grave of the Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) or any righteous person and saying: “O so and so, please invoke Allah on my behalf for such and such…………..” The legal types of Tawassul are
a. Invoking Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala by His Most Beautiful Names and Attributes …… “Ya Allah, Ya Rahman, Ya Malik, I beseech you for…………….”
b. Invoking Allah by one’s good deeds, (There is a long Hadith in both Al-Bukhari and Muslim regarding the men in the cave who supplicated Allah by their deeds)
c. Asking a righteous living person to supplicate to Allah on your behalf.
d. Asking family members and friends to remember us in their Duas.
Consuming Haram wealth. This is one of the major reasons why Duas are not answered. Abu Hurayrah (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said: the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) said:
“O people, Allah is Good and only accepts that which is good. Allah commanded the pious to follow the same commandments as He gave to the Messengers. He says:
‘O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibaat [all kinds of Halal (lawful) foods which Allah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables, fruits)] and do righteous deeds. Verily, I am Well-Acquainted with what you do’ (Surah Al-Mu’minun 23: 51)
‘O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allah — Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with’ (Surah Al-Baqarah 2: 172)
Then he mentioned a man who has travelled on a long journey and is dishevelled and covered with dust; he stretches forth his hands to the heaven, (saying) “O Lord, O Lord”, but his food is Haram, his drink is Haram, all his nourishment is Haram, so how can he Dua be accepted?” (Muslim.)
The man described by the Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) had some of the characteristics which help Duas to be answered – he was travelling and he was in need of Allah, may He be exalted and glorified – but the fact that he consumed Haram wealth prevented his Dua from being answered. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound.
Making the Dua conditional, such as saying, “O Allah, forgive me if You will” or “O Allah, have mercy upon me if You will.” The person who makes Dua has to be resolute in his supplication, striving hard and earnestly repeating his Dua. The Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) said:
“Let not any one of you say, ‘O Allah, forgive me if You will, O Allah, have mercy on me if You will.’ Let him be resolute in the matter, whilst knowing that no one can compel Allah to do anything.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
When the Dua is weak in itself, because it involves something inappropriate, or involves bad manners towards Allah, may He be exalted, or it is inappropriate, which means asking Allah for something which it is not permitted to ask, e.g. when a man asks to live forever in this world, or he asks for a sin or something Haram, or he prays that he will die, and so on.
Abu Hurayrah (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said: The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) said: “A person's Duas will continue to be answered so long as he does not pray for something sinful or for the breaking of family ties.” (Muslim).
When the person who is making Dua is weak in himself, because he is faint-hearted in his turning towards Allah. This may be either because of bad manners towards Allah, may He be exalted – such as raising his voice in Dua or making Dua in the manner of one who thinks he has no need of Allah; or because he pays too much attention to the wording and tries to come up with unnecessarily ornate phrases, without paying attention to the meaning; or because he tries too hard to weep or shout without really feeling it, or he goes to extremes in that, or he neglects the obligatory acts.
Supplicating
for death.
Narrated Anas (Radhi Allahu Anhu) Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) said: “None of you should long for death because of a calamity that had befallen him, and if he cannot, but long for death, then he should say, ‘O Allah! Let me live as long as life is better for me, and take my life if death is better for me.’” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Using prose when supplicating
Ibn Abbas (Radhi Allahu Anhu) (while advising his students) said:
“Beware of poetry and rhyming in your Dua for verily I encountered the Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) and his Companions avoiding this.” (Al-Bukhari)
Transgressing when making Dua
It was reported by Abi Nu’mah that Abdullah bin Mughaffal (Radhi Allahu Anhu) heard his son saying (in invocation), “O Allah! I ask for a white palace on the right side of Paradise if I were to enter it.” So he said: “Dear son, ask Allah Ta’ala for Paradise and seek refuge from the Hell-Fire for I heard the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam), ‘There will come in this nation people who will transgress (or exceed) in Ablution and Dua.’” (Abu Dawud)
Asking Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala to hasten one’s punishment in this world so that the one is not punished in the Hereafter.
Invoke for something forbidden or invoking evil on someone. For example asking Allah to give you wealth so that you can spend it on extravagant luxuries not on His Way or invoking Allah to sow discord between a husband and his wife or two brothers etc.
Invoking Allah to severing ties of kinship.
Abu Hurayrah (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said: The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) said: “A person's Duas will continue to be answered so long as he does not pray for something sinful or for the breaking of family ties.” (Muslim).
The Dua should not interfere with something more important. If the Adhan is called one should stop making Dua and respond to the Adhan. Similar if one’s parents; children, neighbours etc need any type of assistance one should stop making Dua and attend to their needs. This takes precedence over supplicating.
Invoking Allah against yourself, your children or wealth.
The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) said: “Do not pray against yourselves, do not pray against your children, do not pray against your wealth, for your prayer may coincide with a time of response from Allah and Allah will respond to you.” (Abu Dawud)
Abandonment of obligatory acts and good deeds:
“So We answered his call an We bestowed upon him Yahya and cured his wife (to bear a child) for him. Verily, they used to hasten on to do good deeds, and they used to call on Us with hope and fear, and used to humble themselves before us.”(Surah Al-Anbiya’ 21: 90).
Hudaifah (Radhi Allahu Anhu) said that the Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam) said: “By Him in whose hands is my soul, you should enjoin good and forbid evil or else it is likely that Allah will send a punishment upon you and then you will invoke Him, and you will not be answered. (At-Tirmidhi)
When making supplication for others start with yourself first then include others. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said:
“ My Lord, forgive me and my parents and him who enters my home as a believer, and all the believing men and women..”(Surah Nuh 71: 28).
“O my Lord! Make me one who performs As-Salat and from my offspring, our Lord! And accept my invocation. Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and (all) the believers on the Day when the reckoning will be established.”