Al-Mujib · The Responder to Prayer

Many people are close to us but not responsive. A cousin, a friend, even a best friend may say they are busy when you need them. Al-Mujib is near and He responds. My Lord is near and responsive, said the Prophet Salih (11:61). Closeness and response together: that is what makes Him the One to call.

Look at how Allah speaks about prayer in the middle of the verses on fasting. Elsewhere, when people ask the Prophet ﷺ something, Allah says: tell them. Here He says: when My servants ask you about Me, I am near; I respond to the call of the caller when he calls (2:186). There is no tell them in between. He answers directly, and He calls them My servants.

His answer is not like a vending machine. He responds with perfect knowledge and wisdom. The Prophet ﷺ said that whenever a Muslim makes a dua that contains no sin or cutting of family ties, Allah gives him one of three: He answers it soon, saves it for him in the Hereafter, or turns away an equal harm from him (Musnad Ahmad). Nothing sincere is wasted.

Zakariyya was old, his bones weak, his hair white, and his wife had never had children. He called his Lord in a quiet, private voice and said he had never been disappointed in calling Him (19:3-4). Allah answered him and gave him Yahya (21:90). He did not order a result; he poured out his heart.

Nuh called and Allah answered him and saved him from the flood (21:76). Ayyub called in his illness and Allah removed his suffering and gave back his family (21:84). Yunus called from the darkness inside the whale and Allah answered and saved him, and so He saves the believers (21:88). Who else answers the desperate when they call and removes the harm (27:62)?

Ibrahim left his family in a barren valley and asked Allah to turn people's hearts toward them and provide for them (14:37). Every crowd in Makkah today, every fruit in its markets, is part of the answer to one man's prayer.

We sometimes treat dua like online shopping: add to basket, expect delivery in three days, complain when it is late. Treating dua as a transaction makes us give up. The Prophet ﷺ said your dua is answered as long as you are not hasty and say: I prayed but I was not answered (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). Keep asking. The asking itself is worship.

Ask honestly and boldly. Be raw with Him, like Zakariyya. Do not be shy to ask for big things; Sulayman asked for a kingdom like no one after him (38:35). You are asking the One whose treasures never run out.

And when the answer looks like no, remember the three ways He responds. The thing you did not get may have been exchanged for something better, or for a harm you will never know you escaped.

It is the last third of the night. The house is asleep, and you have been asking for the same thing for two years, a child, a job, a cure. You almost did not get up tonight. Al-Mujib has heard every one of those prayers, and none of them was wasted. Raise your hands again, tell Him everything, and ask big.

Imagine a friend who always picks up, at any hour, and never tires of hearing from you. Al-Mujib is more than that. He asks you to call, and He is pleased when you do.

Love grows each time you look back and see a prayer He answered, sometimes years later, sometimes in a form you did not expect, always with care.