The Responsive, a beautiful name of Allah
First Sermon
All praise is due to Allah Who responds to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls upon Him, gives whoever asks Him and honours whoever seeks His favour. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his family and all of his companions and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
As to what follows,
I urge you, O servants of Allah, and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him the Most Exalted, in line with His orders, “and fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly.” (Al-Baqara: 281).
Dear Muslims,
We are drawing closer to welcoming the holy month of Ramadan, a sacred month in which Allah the Almighty responds to the invocations of the fasting believers. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “There are three whose supplication is not rejected,” and of them he mentioned: “The fasting person when he breaks his fast.” Thus, you are urged to show agility in supplicating to Him, for the Most Exalted is near and responds to the supplications. Throughout the holy Quran, the Almighty shows us the manifestations of this fact. For instance, through His Prophet Saleh pbuh, He says, “indeed, my Lord is near and responsive.” (Hood: 61).
Al Mujeeb (the Responsive) is one of the ninety nine Beautiful Names of Allah. It means the One Who answers the prayers and gives the supplicants what they asked for; the One Who hears their invocations and responds to them. The Most Exalted answers their sincere prayers by responding to them positively and giving them generously. By His grace, he also removes their adversity. The Almighty says, “is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil?” (An-Naml: 62).
Accentuating His “Responsive” attribute, Allah the Almighty tells in the stories of the Prophets pbut that they have always turned to Him and that He has answered their prayers. In one place in the Quran, the Most High says, “and Noah had certainly called Us, and [We are] the best of responders.” (As-Saffat: 75). In another, the Most Exalted says about Ayoob (Job) pbuh, “and [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord, ‘Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’ So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity.” (Al-Anbiyaa: 83-84).
The holy Quran also tells us about Yunus pbuh and how he called out His Lord saying, “there is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers. So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.” (Al-Anbiyaa: 87-88). Furthermore, Allah the Almighty has responded to the prayers of His Prophet Zakariya (Zechariah) pbuh, for He says, “and [mention] Zechariah, when he called to his Lord, ‘My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no heir], while you are the best of inheritors.’ So We responded to him, and We gave to him John, and amended for him his wife. Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and supplicate Us in hope and fear, and they were to Us humbly submissive.” (Al-Anbiyaa: 89-90).
Indeed, Exalted is Allah the Responsive Who heard the Prophets’ calls, knew their conditions and responded to their prayers.
In like manner, Allah the Most Merciful, also answers the invocations of His righteous Servants. The Almighty has urged for this as He says, “and your Lord says, ‘Call upon Me; I will respond to you’.” (Ghafir: 60). So, responding to the believers’ prayers is a promise from Allah the Almighty that He will definitely fulfil. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “Allah has ordered you to supplicate Him and has promised that He will answer your prayer.”
In another Hadith, Allah the Most Exalted says, “O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all to stand together in one place and ask of Me, and I were to give everyone what he requested, then that would not decrease what I Possess, except what is decreased of the ocean when a needle is dipped into it.”
So, supplication is the key to all that which is good. Allah the Almighty has ordered us to call upon Him and promised us to answer our calls.
For this reason, the Messenger of Allah pbuh used to encourage his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, to perform Duaa (supplication) often, saying, “The most incapable of people is the one who is the most incapable of supplication.” He also taught them to only ask their Lord, the Responsive, and invoke Him using the supplications that are comprehensive and include all that which is good.
On this account, it was narrated that Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that Allah’s Messenger pbuh visited a person from amongst the Muslims who had grown feeble of illness. He pbuh said to him, “Did you supplicate for anything or asked of Him about that?” The man said, “Yes. I used to utter (these words): ‘O Allah! Impose upon me earlier in this world the punishment that You are going to impose upon me in the Hereafter.” Thereupon the Prophet pbuh said, “Exalted is Allah, you have neither the power nor forbearance to take upon yourself (the burden of His Punishment). Why do you not say this: ‘O Allah, grant us that which is good in this world and that which is good in the Hereafter, and save us from the torment of Fire.” Anas said the Prophet pbuh prayed to Allah (for him) and he was all right.
More to the point, the Messenger of Allah pbuh has also taught us the causes for the supplications to be answered. Amongst such causes is that the supplicant should be sincere while invoking Allah the Almighty, humbly submissive while begging Him in a tranquil manner. The supplicant is also recommended to repeat their Duaa three times. In this regard, Abdullah Ibn Masood, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that when the Messenger of Allah supplicated, he would repeat his supplication three times, and when he asked Allah, he would do that three times.
Another factor for the supplications to be answered is performing righteous actions. Truly, Allah, the Exalted is He, responds to the prayers of His Servants who draw nearer to Him by performing good deeds. The Most Sublime says, “and their Lord responded to them, ‘Never will I allow to be lost the work of [any] worker amongst you, whether male or female’.” (Al Imran: 195). Thus, Allah never allows the good work to be lost. He rather recompenses the workers and increases them in His favours.
One other important cause for the supplication to be granted is that the Muslim should show patience. The Prophet pbuh said, “The invocation of anyone of you is granted (by Allah) if he does not show impatience (by saying, ‘I invoked Allah but my request has not been granted’).”
On another level, in addition to advocating Muslims on the causes why prayers will be answered, the Messenger of Allah pbuh has also guided us to the times at which supplications were most likely to be answered. One such time is the last third of the night. He pbuh said, “When half of the night or two-third of it is over, Allah, the Blessed and the Exalted, descends to the lowest heaven and says, ‘Is there any beggar, so that he be given? Is there any supplicant so that he be answered? Is there any seeker of forgiveness so that he be forgiven? (And Allah continues saying it) till it is daybreak.”
It is really such a success, therefore, to make best use of the response times by invoking Allah the Almighty. This is part of the guidance of our Master Muhammad as he said, “There is an hour (opportune time) in the night and if a Muslim gets it while praying and asking something from Allah, then Allah will definitely meet his demand. And it is in every night.”
Moreover, the Messenger of Allah pbuh also taught us that Allah, the Responsive, knows about His Servants more than they know about themselves. Thus, He is wise in answering the supplications and chooses that which is best for them. On this matter, the Prophet pbuh said, “There is not a man who calls upon Allah with a supplication, except that he is answered. Either it shall be granted to him in the world, or reserved for him in the Hereafter, or, his sins shall be expiated for it according to the extent that he supplicated - as long as he does not supplicate for some sin, or for the severing of the ties of kinship.” The people said, “Then we shall supplicate plenty.” The Prophet pbuh said, “Allah is more plentiful (in responding).”
Bearing this in mind, let us pray to Allah, the Responsive for supplications, to answer our prayers.
May Allah guide us all to obey Him and obey His trustworthy Messenger Muhammad and obey those He has commanded us to obey in line with His orders: “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.” (An-Nisaa: 59).
May Allah direct us all to the blessings of the Glorious Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger pbuh.
I say this and ask Allah for forgiveness for me and you, so invoke Him for forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Second Sermon
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. He was sent with the truth, guidance and clear proofs. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon ou¬¬r Master Muhammad, his pure family, companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
I urge you, O Servants of Allah, and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him, the Most Exalted and Sublime.
Dear Muslims,
It is good time to advise each other on the lessons that we can draw from the beautiful name of Allah; “The Responsive”. The first thing we can learn from this beautiful name is that it indicates that Allah the Almighty is close to His servants; He hears their calls and prayers. The companions, may Allah be pleased with them, once asked the Messenger of Allah pbuh, “Is our Lord near so that we can talk privately to Him, or far so that we should call upon him?” Thereupon, Allah the Almighty revealed this Aya, “and when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.” (Al-Baqara: 186).
Therefore, Muslims should not be worried about Allah’s response, they should rather strive in supplicating to Him often. This is because Allah is so close that He hears the supplicant’s prayers and responds to them. As such, by trusting that Allah is “the Responsive”, the Muslim’s heart becomes assured and they will turn to Him in supplication while being hopeful of His positive response. The Messenger of Allah pbuh urged for this as he said, “O people! When you ask Allah, the Exalted is He, do that while trusting that He will answer your call.”
That is said, please bear in mind that you are instructed to invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet pbuh. Allah, the Most Sublime, says, “indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.” (Al-Ahzab: 56).
On the same matter, the Prophet pbuh said, “For everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah.”
O Allah, please confer Your blessings and grant peace upon our Prophet Muhammad pbuh, his family and all of the companions.
May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and all of the noble Companions.
O Allah, we seek Your grace to make us amongst those who remember you much and are steadfast on performing acts of worship. O Allah, please forgive us all.
O Allah, we seek refuge in Your perfect words from the evil of that which descend from the sky and from the evil of that which ascends in it, and from the evil of what is created in the earth and the evil of that which comes out of it. O Allah we seek refuge in You from the trials of the night and the day, and from the visitations of the night and day, except for one that knocks with good. Indeed, You are the Most Merciful.
O Lord, we beseech You to bless all of the Muslim countries and the whole world with stability, cure from any illness and peace.
May Allah grant success and continued health and care to all of us, Muslims and all the world.
O Allah, please forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead.
O Lord, forgive and show mercy on them and bless them with Your kindness and satisfaction. O Lord, forgive and show mercy on our parents, relatives and whoever has done a favour to us.
We pray to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, to continue blessing our country with stability and welfare and bless its provisions. O Allah, please continue blessing our country with safety and security.
O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, give us from the blessings of the sky and grow for us from the blessings of the earth.
Remember Allah and He will remember you. Be grateful of His benevolence and He will increase His blessings to you.
O Allah, please confer Your blessings and grant peace upon our Prophet Muhammad pbuh, his family and all of the companions.
