A Glimpse into the Life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) – Incidents of Acceptance of Prayers in the Life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa)

God was a hidden treasure. He wished to be recognised, so He created man and endowed him with the knowledge of His attributes and entity. One important attribute out of these attributes, which is a strong proof of His existence, is His being the One Who grants prayers. He Himself declares it as a proof of His existence and says, ‘Who answers the distressed person when he calls upon Him and removes the evil and makes you successors in the earth. Little is that you reflect. Is there a God, besides Allah?’[1]

Similarly God says, ‘I am near, I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. So they should hearken to Me and believe in Me, that they may follow the right way.’[2]

The real philosophy of prayer is, that a person’s prayers are heard and accepted to the degree of his adhering to God’s commandments. The lives of one hundred and twenty four thousand prophets bear witness to this fact that each and every moment of their lives depended on prayers. This was the basis of their successes and achievements. There is one champion among this large group of honourable prophets, who annihilated himself in obedience to God to such an extent that God’s will became his will. That ‘pride of mankind’ who raised the slogan, ‘My prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are for the sake of Allah Who is the Creator of the universe.’ Then God inclined toward him with compassion and granted him all his aspirations.

On the day of Judgement all the prophets would be requested by their followers to intercede on their behalf. When all the prophets would put forward an excuse, this Champion of God would advance and prostate before his Lord and seek permission to intercede for his ummah. He would be given the glad tiding سَلْ تُعْطَهُ ‘Today whatever you beseech shall be granted.’

At this, a large number of his followers who had weaknesses in their record of good deeds, would be forgiven. Surely, this would be the grand accepted prayer, regarding which our master the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) used to say, ‘Every prophet has been given the promise of acceptance of prayers and I have reserved this promise of God for my ummah [nation]. On the day of judgment I will offer this prayer.’ Thousand upon thousand durud [salutations] for this great benefactor who cared for his ummah so much.

In reality our Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) taught us the real essence of prayers. He instructed us to pray even for the most insignificant thing like a shoe string. Every moment of his life was spent in prayer. His pure life is full of hundreds of incidents of acceptance of prayers. Some of these events are mentioned here to instil belief and certainty of the prayers in the hearts. This would enhance our enthusiasm for prayer as it did in Hazrat Zakariyyah’s (as) case. On seeing fruits near Hazrat Maryam (as), he prayed and his prayer was accepted. We should pray to God with full certainty and confidence and He will treat us accordingly. Here are some of the incidents of accepted prayers from the life of Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa).

Muhamma (sa)– The Perfect Man (Qadian, India: Nazarat Isha’at, 2015), 144-145.

ENDNOTES

[1] The Holy Qur’an, 27:63.

[2] The Holy Qur’an, 2:187.