Comment on the publication “Thirty supplications (du‘aa’s) for the thirty days of Ramadan”
Question On some websites there has appeared a well-known publication entitled “Thirty supplications for the thirty days of Ramadan”. The supplication (du‘aa’) for the first day is: “O Allah, make my fast during it (Ramadan) the fast of those who fast; make my qiyaam (voluntary prayers at night) during it the qiyaam of those who…
Question
What is the ruling on using this publication, distributing it and publishing it? And what is the ruling on reciting the supplications in it during Ramadan?
Praise be to Allah.
“Supplication is worship,” as the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said; narrated by at-Tirmidhi and
others with a saheeh isnaad. The basic principle with regard to acts of
worship is tawqeef (i.e.,
it is not permissible to worship Allah, may He be exalted, through any act
of worship unless this act of worship is proven in the shar‘i texts (Qur’aan
and Sunnah) to be an act of worship that was prescribed by Allah)
and disallowance (of anything that is not expressly prescribed). Therefore
it is not permissible to invent acts of worship or to limit them to a
particular time or occasion, unless the Islamic teachings indicate that.
So it is not permissible for anyone to
prescribe for the people supplications to be said at specific times.
For more information, please see the answers
to questions no. 21902 and 27237.
Supplication (du‘aa’) during Ramadan is
encouraged, but this encouragement does not make it permissible for anyone
to make up supplications by himself and say that they are to be recited at
specific times, as if they are Prophetic supplications. Rather the Muslim
may offer supplication for whatever he likes of good in this world and in
the Hereafter, in whatever words are easy for him, at any time.
An example of that is something that the
scholars have warned against doing, but it is widespread among the common
folk, namely reciting specific supplications in each circuit of tawaaf
(circumambulation of the Ka‘bah) or lap of sa‘i (going between as-Safa and
al-Marwah) during Hajj and ‘Umrah.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah
have mercy on him) said:
It is not permissible in this tawaaf, or any
other tawaaf, or in sa‘i, to recite a specific dhikr or a specific du‘aa’.
As for what some people have invented of reciting specific dhikrs or du‘aa’s
in each circuit of tawaaf and each lap of sa‘i, there is no basis for that;
rather whatever one is able to say of dhikr and du‘aa’ is sufficient.
Fataawa ash-Shaykh Ibn Baaz
(16/61, 62)
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:
There is no specific du‘aa’ for each circuit
(of tawaaf); rather specifying a particular du‘aa’ for each circuit is a
kind of innovation (bid‘ah), because that was not narrated from the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). All that has been narrated is to
say takbeer when touching the Black Stone, and to say “Rabbana aatina
fi’d-dunya hasanatan wa fi’l-aakhirati hasanah wa qina ‘adhaab an-naar (Our
Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that
which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire)”
[al-Baqarah 2:201] between
ar-Rukn al-Yamaani (the Yemeni Corner) and the Black Stone. As for the rest,
it is dhikr, recitation of Qur’an and du‘aa’ in general terms, and there is
nothing specific to be recited in one circuit and not another.
Majmoo‘ Fataawa ash-Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen
(22/336)
And another thing:
In the supplication for the last day, there
is something that is reprehensible and contrary to Islamic teaching: namely
tawassul (seeking to draw closer to Allah) in the supplication by virtue of
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and by virtue of the
members of his household.
We have previously explained that this kind
of tawassul in supplication is bid‘ah (an innovation), and we have quoted
the words of the scholars concerning it, in the answer to question no.
125339.
The Muslim should not participate in the
propagation of this publication; rather he should warn against it to the
best of his ability. The Muslim should understand that there is nothing good
in innovations by means of which he seeks to draw closer to his Lord, for
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Every
innovation is a going astray.” Narrated by Muslim (867).
See the hadeeths which confirm the
prohibition on introducing innovations into religion, and the words of the
scholars warning against innovation, in the answers to questions no.
118225 and 864.
And Allah knows best.
