The Perfection of Worship

Finally, one of the greatest benefits and wisdoms of a delayed response is that it perfects a person's worship and Iman of Allah. And this is the very purpose of creation! So when  a person's  du'a is  not responded  to, let him  ponder  over the  ways that this increases his Iman, and sharpens his servitude to Allah, and perfects his humbleness  to the  Creator.  Some of the ways that this is done are as follows:

i. Waiting for a Response:

When a person eagerly and anxiously awaits a response to his du’a, this necessitates a strong hope in Allah, and an optimism of Allah's Mercy and Blessings. This feeling is, in and of itself, an act of worship, and the longer that the response is delayed, the stronger these feelings become if the person wishes to continue in his du’a. In this way his Iman is strengthened without him even realising it!

ii. Showing One's Need to Allah:

The essence of worship  is to humble  one's  self before  Allah,  and,  realise  one's  extreme  need  of Allah's  Help  and  Mercy. And when the response  to a du’a  is delayed,  this increases  this awareness,  and a person  realises  that  there  is no  one  besides  Allah  that  can  help him,  or respond  to his du’a,  so his Iman in Allah  increases  in this manner.     Simultaneous,    with  this  realisation   comes  the  awe  and meekness  that  is required   in Allah's  presence, as  also humility  and humbleness, for a person  realises his own weak and  fragile nature.

Had every du'a of a person been answered   immediately, this would lead to arrogance, and cultivate a feeling of self-sufficiency and conceit!  It would  cause  the  person  to forget  the  relationship that he should  have with Allah, and, in fact, might  even lead to him to think  that  he has a right upon  Allah  to answer  his prayers.  If a person were to become  so arrogant,   then  there  would  be no hope for him  in the Hereafter,  for no person  will enter  Paradise  with  an ounce  of arrogance  in his heart.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "So the servant is always in need of his Lord, from every perspective. This because He is the object of his worship, and the source of all of his help.  So no one can  bring  him  any good  except  Him,  and  nothing   can better  the situation   of the servant  except His  worship.  And on top of all this, the servant is sinning, and there is no way that he can avoid this. So he  is always in need, sinning, and he  is in need  of the  One  who always Forgives, the One who  is Ever-Merciful  The  One who  always Forgives (al-Ghafur) will forgive his sins, and  the Ever-Merciful (al-Rahim)  will show him mercy and bless him  and be kind to him.  So the servant is eternally between the blessings of his Lord and the sins of his soul.”[1]

iii. Pleasure at Allah's Decree:

One of the most important pillars of Iman is to be content with Allah's Decree.  This because the slave realises and appreciates that whatever Allah has chosen for him is for his own good, whether he can see this good or not. So there is a blind faith in whatever Allah decrees, and a total satisfaction with whatever occurs.

Therefore, the delay in responding to a du’a is one of the opportunities in which a believer must display his contentment at the decree of Allah, and not show anger or annoyance. The  one who is pleased with Allah as his Lord, and with the Decrees of Allah in his life, will attain  the pleasure of Allah  in this world  and in the Hereafter, but the one who is displeased  and angry, will only attain Allah's displeasure  and anger.

iv. Humility in Front of Allah:

When the response of a du’a is delayed, the believer becomes even more humiliated and humble in front of the All-Mighty.  And this humility   is one of the primary pillars of worship, for ‘ibadah, is defined as the height of humility along with the height of love. The  three  pillars  upon  which  a Muslim  worships  Allah are: love, fear and  hope;  and  humility   is one  of the ways in which  this  fear and love is displayed.

So this delay in response is in fact a means to draw out the servant’s meekness   and humility from his heart. Had the du’a been responded to, the servant would not feel such sincere humility, nor would he feel a need of being humble in the presence of the Divine One.

v. Enjoying a Private Conversation with Allah:

Amongst the many benefits of du'a is that  du' a opens  up a private  channel   between   the  servant  and  his  Lord,  as has  been  discussed previously.  So the longer the response of the du’a is delayed, the stronger and more powerful this relationship and channel becomes. Finally, a stage is reached, by a very select and blessed few, in which the pleasures of this communication become more pleasing to the soul than the actual response of the du’a would be! So, a person  actually  wishes for a delay  in response  to his du’a, since  he knows that  this relationship   that  he has with  his Lord will not  continue  when  his du' a is responded  to. And the longer the delay, the longer his conversation and relationship will continue.

vi. Combating the Plots of Shaytan:

Without a doubt, Shaytan stoops to all levels, and tries all plots so that a person will turn away from worship of Allah. And is there any opportunity   greater for him to seize than when a servant's du’a is not answered? For here is the servant, weak and humble in front of Allah, calling and crying out to him, 'O my Lord, O my Lord!'  Yet, there is no response! So Shaytan seizes this opportunity, and plants his whispers and seeds of doubt in the son of Adam, until he thinks every evil thought   about his Lord!

But the true believer, the one who is ever-aware and cautious of Shaytan's plots, sees the dangers of this situation, and, instead of letting it be a cause of him going away from worship of Allah, seizes it as an opportunity to attack Shaytan and increase in his worship of Allah!  So he turns  to Allah,  again  and again, and seeks refuge from Shaytan, for he realises that his only hope for safety is through Allah, and  his only  refuge and  haven  is in Allah's  Protection!   So in this intense  battle  between  Shaytan and  the  son of Adam, the weapon that  is used is du'a to Allah,  and the armour  that  is worn  is seeking refuge  in Allah.