Great stories on praying

وَاجْعَلْ لِسانى بِذِكْرِكَ لَهِجَاً وَقَلْبي بِحُبِّكَ مُتَيَّماً وَمُنَّ عَلَيَّ بِحُسْنِ إِجابَتِكَ، وَأَقِلْني عَثْرَتي وَاغْفِرْ زَلَّتي، فَإِنَّكَ قَضَيْتَ عَلى عِبادِكَ بِعِبادَتِكَ، وَأَمَرْتَهُمْ بِدُعائِكَ، وَضَمِنْتَ لَهُمُ الاِْجابَةَ، فَإِلَيْكَ يا رَبِّ نَصَبْتُ وَجْهي وَإِلَيْكَ يا رَبِّ مَدَدْتُ يَدي، فَبِعِزَّتِكَ اسْتَجِبْ لي دُعائي وَبَلِّغْني مُنايَ وَلا تَقْطَعْ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ رَجائي، وَاكْفِني شَرَّ الْجِنِّ وَالاِْنْسِ مِنْ أَعْدائي

And Make my tongue remember You constantly and my heart enthralled by Your love! Be gracious to me by answering me favorably, nullify my slips and forgive my lapses! For You have decreed Your worship for Your servants, commanded them to supplicate You and assured them that they would be answered. So toward You, my Lord, I have turned my face; and toward You, my Lord, I have extended my hand. So by Your Might, comply with my supplication and make me attain my desires! Do not, if it pleases You, sever my hopes, and spare me the evil of my enemies from among the jinn and men!

The Tongue

One of the greatest blessings of Allah to human beings is the tongue, by which he can talk, express whatever he thinks, and declare his goals and viewpoints.

Just as its virtue and goodness are great, the tongue’s vices are heavy. The wise men have said about this organ: “The weight of the tongue is little, but its sin is great.”

As the great narrator, philosopher, and ascetic scholar has said, the tongue can commit nearly twenty major sins, such as backbiting, accusation, tale telling, ridiculing, spreading rumor, telling lie, using abusive language, belittling others, etc.[2]

The Holy Qur’¡n has permitted only ten types of speaking. If one uses his tongue in one of these ten ways, it is as if he has worshipped Allah. If, on the other hand, he speaks in ways other than these, he has polluted his tongue with sin and, in fact, has worshipped Satan. They are 1. Good speaking, 2. Better speaking, 3. Just speaking, 4. Honorable mention, 5. Generous speaking, 6. Gentle speaking, 7. Speaking of belief, 8. Right speaking, 9. Honest advice and 10. Effectual speaking.

Good speaking is speaking to people with good temper. (2:83) Better speaking is inviting people to Allah. (41:33) Just speaking is giving testimony in a court of law. (6:152) Honorable mention is speaking well of the latest generations of the believers. (26:84) Generous speaking is speaking well to one’s parents. (17:23) Gentle speaking is speaking for enjoining good and forbidding evil. (20:43) Speaking of belief is confessing to Allah’s Unity and the prophethood of His messenger. (2:136) Right speaking is speaking truthfully in every circumstance. (94:9) Honest advice is speaking to the orphans and one’s family. (40:5) Effectual speaking is an influential speaking consisted of advice, logic, and wise speech. (4:63)

Benefiting from these ten speaking ways, one can begin a business whose profit is known by no one but Allah. A complete explanation of these ten methods requires a separate book. Here we only explain about the reward of better speaking that is guiding and inviting people to Allah.

When sending Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s) for guiding the people of Yemen, the Messenger of Allah (s.a) told him:

يَا عَلِيُّ! لاَ تُقَاتِلْ أحَداً حَتَّى تَدْعُوهُ. وَأيْمُ اللهِ لَئِنْ يَهْدِي اللهُ عَلَى يَدِكَ رَجُلاً خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِمَّا طَلَعَتْ عَلَيْهِ الشَّمْسُ وَغَرَبَتْ.

O `Al¢! Do not fight anyone before you invite him to the truth. By Allah, if you guide someone to Allah, it is better for you than all the things above which the sun shines and sets.[3]

Performing prayers is remembering Allah; reciting Qur’¡n is remembering Allah; specific supplications recommended by the Imams (a.s) for certain times and places are remembering Allah; speaking in accord with the methods cited in the Holy Qur’¡n is remembering Allah; but above all, using the tongue for guiding people to Allah is the greatest most valuable remembrance of Allah.

Forgiveness of the Prostitute Woman

Thiqat Al-Islam Kulayni in the final section of his valuable book ‘Rawzat al-K¡fi’ has narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s) that a pious man defeated Satan’s temptations after much worship. So Satan called his army and told them: “Which of you can get this pious man out of the worshippers’ circle?” Every one of them mentioned his trick but none was accepted. One of them said: “I deceive him by prayers.” So Satan liked his deceit and appointed him as the agent for misguiding the mentioned pious man!

Satan’s agent went to the pious man’s temple and began worshipping very eagerly. He was so much engaged in enthusiastic worship that the pious man could not ask him the reason for his rarely willing worship. When he finally asked the reason from the agent, he answered: “I have committed a sin and now I am regretful. My regretfullness has set me in eager worshipping, without getting tired!” The pious man wanted to experience the same state of worshipping after regret from a sin! And he did not think of the consequences if he would die while committing sin and could not regret and repent! So he asked Satan’s agent to help him. The agent recommended he do adultery with a famous prostitute woman. The pious man rushed to her. The woman was astonished at seeing the pious man, with his divine countenance, in that ignominious quarter of the city and thought that he has been deceived. So she told him: “One can never reach the nearness position by wrongdoing. The one who has encouraged you to do so has intended to deceive and misguide you. Committing sins brings human down, not promoting him. Now turn back to your temple, and if you did not find your encourager know for certain that he has been Satan!”

Awakened, the pious man returned but did not see the evil agent there anymore. He was very thankful to the woman who had saved him from wrongdoing. On the other hand, the woman passed away on that very night. The Almighty addressed the prophet of that age: “Accompany other people in burying her body; I forgave all her sins because of her guiding one of My servants!”

Guarantee of Acceptance of Prayer

The Holy Qur’¡n has stated:

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِي إِذَا دَعَانِِ.

And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then I am near, I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he calls on Me. (2:186)

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمْ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ.

And your Lord says: Call upon Me, I will answer you. (40:60)

However, it should be kept in mind that not any prayer is being guaranteed to be accepted; rather only the prayer of a supplicant whose features are mentioned in the Holy Qur’¡n and the traditions.

Someone might call upon Allah weepingly and ask Him all the world’s wealth, kingdom over everywhere, an everlasting life, a beauty more than that of Josef’s, a voice nicer than that of David’s, or a bravery more than that of Imam `Al¢ (a.s). He might even ask Allah to fulfill any good or evil prayer he says about other people!

Such supplications are void of necessary features so they are not guaranteed to be accepted by the Almighty. The knower, righteous, and lover servants have the necessary conditions and their prayers are based on the goodness of this world and the Hereafter. If their prayer is answered in the world, they thank Allah, and if it is not answered here, they do not become upset; rather they are patient and wait until the suitable time for the acceptance of their prayer comes.

It has been narrated that prayer is the weapon of the prophets (s.a) and the believer. Prayer changes a strong inescapable fate, removes the calamities, and cures any diseases.

The necessary conditions for the acceptance of prayers have been mentioned in the Imam’s traditions as: sincerity in deeds, knowing that everything is in Allah’s Hands, performing the obligatory deeds, having a purified heart, telling the truth, eating lawful meal, paying people’s right, presence and tenderness of the heart, beginning the prayer with ‘bismill¡hir-ra¦m¡nir-ra¦¢m (In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful),’ confessing to the sins, beseeching and weeping, putting the face unto the ground, performing two units of prayer, having certainty of acceptance, praying for others before oneself, avoiding indecent prayers, praying among a congregation, praying in privacy, and having hope of the acceptance of prayer.

If the supplication and the supplicant have the necessary conditions the prayer would most surely be answered.

Prayer of the Entangled

J¡bir al-Ju`f¢, a reliable tradition narrator of Imam al-B¡qir and Imam Sadiq (a.s) narrates from the Prophet (s.a) that three travelers reached a mountain while traveling. They saw a cave on top of the mountain, entered it and began worshipping. Suddenly a piece of rock fell down the mountain and blocked the opening of the cave, as if it had been made for being its door!

The travelers told each other: “By Allah that there is no way out, unless we represent to Allah some of our righteous, sincere deeds or avoiding a sin.”

The first one said: “O Allah! You know better than anyone else that I went to a beautiful woman and gave her a lot of money, but when I came near her I remembered the Fire and left her alone. Solve our problem for this and show us a way out!” So part of the rock was removed.

The second one said: “O Allah! I hired some workers in my farm and set a wage of half a drachma for every one of them. At the end of the day, one of them came to me and said: ‘I have worked as much as two workers. Give me one drachma!’ I refused to do so and he went away. Then I planted some seeds as much as a drachma in a corner of my farm and they grew abundantly. One day that worker came to me again and asked for his wage. I gave him eighteen thousand drachmas that was the benefit of some years of farming with that little amount of seed. I did it only for Your sake, so rescue us!” Therefore, the rock moved a little more.

The third person said: “O Allah! One night my parents were sleeping when I brought a bowl of milk for them. I did not wake them up and did not put the bowl down not to wake them up. I kept the bowl until they woke up intentionally. You know I tolerated that pain for Your sake, so rescue us!” Afterwards the rock moved away completely and the three of them escaped the cave in full health.[4]

Prayer of the Black Slave

It is narrated that the Israelites were affected by famine for seven years. Seventy thousand of them went to a desert to pray for rain. There came a divine address: “O Moses! Say to them: ‘How should I accept your prayer while your sins have embraced you and your hearts has gotten evil? Do you call upon Me while you do not believe in Me. Go to one of My servants named Burkh so that he would ask Me, and I would accept it.’”

Moses looked for Burkh but did not find him. One day he was passing a place where he saw a black slave on whose forehead was the sign of prostitution and who had hung something on his neck. Moses (a.s) thought that he was Burkh so asked him of his name. He answered: “I am Burkh.” Moses (a.s) said: “I have been looking for you for a while. Pray for rain!” Burkh went to the desert and said in his litany: “O Allah! Withholding the rain from your servants is below Your dignity; there is no stinginess in Your presence; is it that Your Mercy is weakened; or that the winds has disobeyed You; or Your resources has terminated; or Your wrath to the sinners has increased; were not You the Forgiver before creating the sinners?!” He had not moved from his place when it rained to an extent that all the Israelites’ thirst was removed.[5]

Prayer of Imam al-Sajj¡d’s Slave

Sa’id Ibn Musayyib was one of the scholars of medina and praised by Imam al-Sajj¡d (a.s) and Imam M£s¡ Ibn Ja’far (a.s).

`Abd al-Malik ibn Marw¡n sent a deputy to Medina to ask Sa’id’s daughter who was beautiful and knowledgeable to marry him. Sa’id told the deputy: “I don’t want my daughter to marry the ruler of the country!”

One day Sa’id said to one of his students: “Why have you been absent from the class for several days?” He answered: “My wife had passed away so I was busy and could not come.” Sa’id told him: “Take a wife for yourself!” The cleric student said: “I have nothing except two drachmas.” So Sa’id told him: “Do you want to marry my daughter?” He answered: “As you wish!” So Sa’id made his daughter the wife of his student.

It was for forty years that Sa’id had gone to no one’s home. His student says: “That night Sa’id Ibn Musayyib came to my house along with his daughter. He left her with me and went.” I asked her daughter: “What do you have?” She said: “I know Qur’¡n by heart.” I asked her again: “What do you want as your marriage portion?” She replied: “A tradition suffices me.” So I told her this tradition:

جِهَادُ المَرْأةِ حُسْنُ التَّبَعُّلِ.

A woman’s Jihad is performing her duties to her husband.[6]

This pious, righteous, and sincere Sa’id Ibn Musayyib says: There was once an extreme famine in Medina. People went to the desert to pray for rain and I went with them too, but I saw no one worthy of being accepted by Allah among them. I saw a black slave who had put his face on the earth beside a hill and was praying. His prayer was accepted and it rained a lot. Then I followed him to see that he went to Imam Al-Sajj¡d’s house. I asked Imam (a.s) to give him to me. Imam Zayn Al-Abidin (a.s) presented all his servants but the mentioned one was not among them. I found out that there is another servant in the stable. So Imam told him: “I granted you to Sa’id.” The servant wept excessively and told me: “O Sa’id! Do not separate me from Imam!” Seeing this, I left him and exited Imam’s home. After my leaving there, the servant, whose secret of being pious had been disclosed, had put his head on the ground and asked Allah for his death and his prayer was accepted at once. Imam Al-Sajj¡d (a.s) sent for me to take part in the servant’s funeral!

Imam al-°usayn’s Prayer

It is narrated in “Man¡qib” of Ibn Shahr ªshub from the worthy book “Tahdh¢b” of Shaykh ±£s¢ that a woman was circumambulating around Kaaba and a man was in the same row. The man stretched his hand toward the woman with an evil intention when suddenly his hand stuck firmly to the woman’s body. As a result, both of them stopped their circumambulation. The law forces brought them to Mecca’s governor and he called on the jurisprudents to issue a verdict in this odd case. All of them ordered to cut the man’s hand because of the great sin he had committed beside Kaaba. Then someone suggested asking the opinion of Imam °usayn (a.s), before cutting the sinner’s hand. Imam °usayn (a.s) came toward ka’ba and began beseeching to the Almighty until the man’s hand was separated from the woman’s body. Then Imam (a.s) was asked: “Should the sinner be penalized?” Imam (a.s) stated: “Why should you punish him while Allah has forgiven him?!”[7]

Nightly Prayer of the Prisoner

In the ruling period of `Abdull¡h Ibn ±¡hir, some roads got unsafe for the people and the caravans. `Abdull¡h appointed a group of soldiers to guard in the roads. Then ten thieves were arrested in one of the roads. They were sent to the government headquarters, but one of them escaped at the darkness of night. The head of the guards thought that `Abdull¡h Ibn ±¡hir might punish him for the prisoner’s escape. Therefore he took an innocent cotton-carder who was going to another city to work instead, so that the number of prisoners was true. The ten captives were brought to `Abdull¡h who ordered to imprison them all.

One night, two of the prisoners, including the innocent cotton-carder, were chosen to be executed. The innocent prisoner thought: “My children think that I am working in another city and don’t know that an oppressor governor has seized me unjustly.” In the middle of the night, he performed two units of prayer, and then he put his head one earth and prayed to the Almighty.

On the same night, `Abdull¡h Ibn ±¡hir dreamed that four strong black snakes attacked him and collapsed his government. He was startled from sleep, called the soldiers, and said: “An oppressed one is beseeching to Allah at this time of the night.” After much search, they entered the prison and saw cotton-carder in the strange state that he was. They brought him to the ruler. When everything was clear, the ruler ordered to give the innocent prisoner ten thousand gold coins. Then he told the cotton-carder: “I have three requests from you; forgive me, accept this gift from me, and come to me whenever you had a request.”

The cotton-carder said: “I accept two of your three requests; I forgave you and accepted your gift, but not the third one. Because it is ungrateful to leave the Lord who collapsed your government for my prayer, and come to the presence of a weak creature of Him!”

O Lord! I wish You forgive my sins, help me avoid sins in the future, prepare the conditions for my sincere worship, use my limbs in serving You and Your servants, fill my heart with Your love, cure my mental and physical illnesses, and grant me the intercession and accompaniment of Your favorite servants in the Hereafter. This is my wish, my Lord! Do not despair me of your Mercy and Blessings!

It is narrated that Messenger of Allah (s.a) told a person who was approaching death: “How do you see your state?” He said: “I fear my sins and hope for Allah’s Mercy.” The Prophet (s.a) said: “No one thinks this way except that Allah saves him from what he fears and grants him what he hopes for.”

O Lord! My hope and my wish are not in vein. You have called Yourself, in the Holy Qur’¡n, the Forgiver, the Generous, the Acknowledger of thanks, and the most Merciful of the Merciful. While I am afraid of the excess of my sins, I am quite hopeful of You. If I have come to Your presence with du`¡’ kumayl, Your own Mercy has made me come toward You. I know for certain that no beggar returns bare-handedly from Your presence; no hopeful becomes hopeless, and no one is rejected. O Lord! You accepted and forgave °urr Ibn Ziy¡d, with his great sin, Asiya, after her belief, Fu¤ayl Ayyaz, after his repentance, as well as thousands of other sinners and You rewarded them all. How can I be hopeless, while You have considered hopelessness of Your Mercy as disbelief, in Your Qur’¡n?!

وَلاَ تَيْئَسُوا مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لاَ يَيْئَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلاَّ الْقَوْمُ الكَافِرُونَ.

And despair not of Allah’s Mercy; surely none despairs of Allah’s Mercy except the unbelieving people. (12:87)