Dua

The Qur'an says: “Your Lord said: Call to Me, and I will answer you” ^[1] . In this regard, in the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad there are many examples of how and in which cases it is desirable to turn to Allah to deserve his mercy, blessing and protection.

Turning to Allah with a prayer, a Muslim can ask him for help in some business or for Him to avert some kind of trouble; he can also express love during his prayer for his Creator.

In order for the dua to be accepted, a person must: direct him exclusively to Allah; perform du'a in accordance with Sharia ; Believe in Allah and be confident in the answer, make sure that the heart is “present” during the dua; to be decisive and persistent ^[2] .

Dua is made for himself, for his family and friends, as well as for all Muslim believers. It usually begins with the exaltation of Allah and the direction of blessings to the Prophet Muhammad ( salavat ). It is advisable to do it persistently, repeating many times. When reading the dua, Muslims turn to Mecca ( qiblah ), raise their hands at shoulder level, palms up, and in a lowered voice say prayers in Arabic or another language that is clear to the conversing. It is recommended to pray to Allah while in a state of ritual purity ( taharat ) ^[2] .

One of the forms of appeal to Allah is the dua through the prophets, the righteous ( Australia ), good deeds, beautiful names of Allah, etc., which is called tawassul . The form of the tavvasul is approximately the following: “ O Allah! I appeal to You through our good deeds "or" ... through Your beautiful names ", etc. ^[3]

When reading prayers, Muslims usually raise their hands to shoulder level with their palms up ^[4] .

Although the terms “dua” and “ namaz ” ( as-salat ) are often translated into Russian with the same word “prayer,” from the point of view of religious canons, there are fundamental differences between them:

1. Namaz is read only in the classical Arabic language ( al-Fusha ), and the dua can be pronounced in any language of the world. However, the classical dua are read in Arabic and are quite long. Usually these duas are confined to special days and occasions, mourning and festive dates.
2. All actions and words in prayer are strictly regulated by the Sunna , and any retreat or unauthorized addition of any words and actions makes the prayer invalid ^[5] . The dua is pronounced in a more arbitrary form.
3. To perform namaz, it is necessary to perform a ritual bath ( voodoo , taharat ), otherwise the namaz will be invalid; in addition, a person should not be in the state of janabat , that is, he should perform a full ablution ( gusl ) after intercourse with penetration, and only then read the prayer ^[6] . A woman is also forbidden to perform namaz during menstruation , after her completion she must also perform a ghusl, and only after that she can begin to perform the prescribed namaz ^[7] . But these rules related to cleanliness do not apply to the dua, and a person who does not have large and small ablutions has the right to read them. The only prohibition is related to touching the text with the names of Allah , the Prophet Muhammad and Ahl al-Beit .
4. There are five obligatory ( wajib ) prayers - morning ( fajr ), midday ( zuhr ), afternoon ( asr ), evening (maghrib) and night (isha) ^[8] . However, there are no duas that are equally required; the reading of any dua is desirable (mustahabb), although some duas are very, very recommended for reading, and without this the ritual practice of the believer cannot be considered complete.

1. Dua, recited after prayer, - usually the believer thus lifts his hands to heaven.
2. Dua pronounced in kunut - an integral part of prayer, which is part of the second rak'ah of obligatory prayers.
3. Dua, recited in the eleventh rak'ah of the night prayer (al-leil salad) - vitr ^[9] .
4. Dua for each day of the week.
5. Short dua for each day of the month of Ramadan.
6. Dua recited in Leilat al-frame ( Night of Power ).
7. Dua, timed to mourning dates (such as, for example, Ziyarat Ashura ).
8. Dua read during the holidays.
9. Dua, ascended on special occasions (such as: a prayer for recovery, a successful marriage, the birth of offspring, the sending of rain, etc.).
10. Dua from evil eye and witchcraft.

• Ali-zade, A.A. Dua // Islamic Encyclopedic Dictionary . - M .: Ansar , 2007.
• Duʿāʾ // Encyclopaedia of Islam .2 ed . - Leiden: EJ Brill , 1960-2005. (paid)

• How to strengthen our du'a? (unopened) (inaccessible link) . AskImam.ru. Date of treatment August 30, 2013. Archived August 17, 2013.