He is asking about a du’aa’ to bless his business

Question

Praise be to Allah.

There is nothing in the
Sunnah to indicate that it is mustahabb to say a particular dhikr or du’aa’
for help in business or earning a living, except that which was narrated
from Umm Salamah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to say after Fajr prayer: “Allaahumma inni as’aluka rizqan
tayyiban, wa ‘ilman naafi’an, wa ‘amalan mutaqabbalan (O Allaah, I ask
you for good (halaal) provision, beneficial knowledge and accepted good
deeds).”

Narrated by Ahmad in
al-Musnad (6/294_ and Ibn Majaah in al-Sunan (66).

Al-Haythani said in
Majma’ al-Zawaa’id (10/146): Its men are thiqaat (trustworthy). End
quote. And it was classed as hasan by al-Haafiz ibn Hajar as it says in
al-Futoohaat al-Rabbaaniyyah (3/70). It was classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Majaah.

As you can see, it is a
du’aa’ that is general in meaning and includes earnings from business as
well as from farming, employment or manufacturing. This is how the Sunnah is
in du’aa’s that are concise in wording and comprehensive in meaning.

But it is mustahabb for you
to ask Allaah for what you need by name, using whatever simple words and
phrases Allaah enables you to say. So you may say for example: O Allaah,
help me in my business, or O Allaah, bless me in my business, or O Allaah,
make me independent of means so that I have no need of that which is haraam,
or decree for me therein that which is good and makes me independent of
means… and so on.

More important than the
wording of the du’aa’ is sincerity in du’aa’, focusing properly and turning
to Allaah fully, for Allaah does not look at the eloquence of the words,
rather He looks at what is in the heart of sincerity, humility and longing
for His mercy. From this you may know that saying du’aa’ in languages other
than Arabic is also permissible, if the du’aa’ is general in meaning and was
not narrated in specific words in the Qur’aan or Sunnah.

You should also note that
fearing Allaah (taqwa) is a means to attain all success, and that the
business by means of which a person seeks to attain the pleasure of Allaah
and in which he pays heed to His command and prohibitions, is a business
that will be blessed and helped, if Allaah wills, and that haraam things
erase all blessings, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah will destroy
Riba and will give increase for Sadaqaat (deeds of charity, alms). And
Allaah likes not the disbelievers, sinners”

[al-Baqarah 2:276]

And the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Even if riba increases a thing,
its consequences lead to loss.”

Narrated by Ahmad (1/395);
classed as hasan by Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Baari (4/369); classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’ (3542).

Yahya ibn Mu’aadh al-Raazi
(258 AH) – who was one of the best of the salaf –said:

Obedience will be stored in
the stores of Allaah, and the key (to obedience) is du’aa’, and it becomes
effective by means of halaal earnings.

Imam al-Ghazali (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said, when discussing what should be paid attention to
when doing business, in Ihya’ ‘Uloom al-Deen (2/103):

It us essential to have a
good intention and sound belief when starting out in business, so a man
should intend to make himself independent of means so that has no need of
what is haraam and he does not need to ask of people or seek what they have,
as halaal income makes him independent of others and help him to carry out
his religious duties and sponsor his children, so that he will become like
those who strive for the sake of Allaah. He should be sincere with the
Muslims and love for all people what he loves for himself, and he should
intend to follow the path of justice and good conduct in his dealings, and
intend to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil in everything that he
sees in the marketplace. If he has all these sound beliefs and intentions in
his heart, he will be striving in the path of the Hereafter. And if he earns
money then this is something extra, and if he loses in this world he will
prosper in the Hereafter. End quote.

And Allaah knows best.