Central Khutbah: “Invocation as a Fundamental Bond with Allah”

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, who invites us to turn to Him and seek His closeness, forgiveness, and mercy through our invocations. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his noble family, and all who follow him.

Dear brothers and sisters, invocation (du’a) is not merely a call for help; it is a profound connection between the believer and their Lord. Through invocation, we fulfill our desires, calm our souls, improve our condition, and witness Allah’s love for us.

Allah, the Exalted, says in the Quran:

“And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the call of the one who calls upon Me, when they call upon Me. So let them respond to My call and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.” (Al-Baqarah, 186)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Nothing is better or more noble to Allah than invocation.” (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Hakim) and “Whoever does not ask Allah, He becomes displeased with him.” (Tirmidhi)

Invocation is an act of worship that we should often return to, as it draws us closer to Allah. It is especially precious during the month of Ramadan, where there are moments when invocations are not rejected. Invocation is a means to ask Allah for all that we need in this life and in the Hereafter. As reported in a hadith: “Anyone who invokes Allah receives one of three things: either their invocation is granted in this life, or a harm is averted from them through the invocation, or the response is delayed until the Day of Judgment, and they are rewarded for it with good deeds.”

Throughout history, the prophets of Allah turned to Him with their deepest needs. Musa (Moses) invoked, and water flowed from the rock; Ibrahim (Abraham) invoked, and Allah made the fire cool for him; Ayoub (Job) invoked during his illness, and Allah healed him and restored his prosperity. Allah loves when we turn to Him, and it is our duty to invoke Him with complete trust and the conviction that Allah will respond to us.

However, it is important not to rush the response to our invocations. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The invocation will always be answered, as long as one does not ask for something sinful or the breaking of family ties, and as long as they do not become impatient.” When he was asked what “impatience” meant, he replied, “It is when someone says: ‘I invoked and invoked, but my prayer was not answered,’ and then he becomes discouraged and abandons invocation.” (Muslim)

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, eloquently describes the importance of persistence in invocation. He says:

“The example is like a child who has caused trouble in the house, and his mother, upset, has sent him outside. The child keeps knocking and banging on the door, begging to be let back in. He calls to his mother, but she does not answer. What is the solution? It is not to leave and abandon his mother. No! That would be a loss. The solution is to continue calling her, to cry out of sorrow at being sent outside, to keep knocking on the door behind which his mother is, whose heart breaks as she hears her child humbly pleading. And we know,” says Ibn al-Qayyim, “that Allah is more merciful to His servant than a mother is to her child.”

Brothers and sisters, Allah calls us to rely on Him and to invoke with deep faith, knowing that every moment spent in invocation is precious, even if we do not immediately see the results. Allah says: “Your Lord has said: ‘Invoke Me, and I will respond to you.’” (Al-Mu’min, 60)

Let us invoke Allah to make us steadfast in prayer, to open for us the doors of His mercy, to accept our invocations, and to make us inhabitants of the highest Paradise. Ameen!

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, who invites us to turn to Him and seek His closeness, forgiveness, and mercy through our invocations. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his noble family, and all who follow him.

Dear brothers and sisters, invocation (du’a) is not merely a call for help; it is a profound connection between the believer and their Lord. Through invocation, we fulfill our desires, calm our souls, improve our condition, and witness Allah’s love for us.

Allah, the Exalted, says in the Quran:

“And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the call of the one who calls upon Me, when they call upon Me. So let them respond to My call and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.” (Al-Baqarah, 186)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Nothing is better or more noble to Allah than invocation.” (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Hakim) and “Whoever does not ask Allah, He becomes displeased with him.” (Tirmidhi)

Invocation is an act of worship that we should often return to, as it draws us closer to Allah. It is especially precious during the month of Ramadan, where there are moments when invocations are not rejected. Invocation is a means to ask Allah for all that we need in this life and in the Hereafter. As reported in a hadith: “Anyone who invokes Allah receives one of three things: either their invocation is granted in this life, or a harm is averted from them through the invocation, or the response is delayed until the Day of Judgment, and they are rewarded for it with good deeds.”

Throughout history, the prophets of Allah turned to Him with their deepest needs. Musa (Moses) invoked, and water flowed from the rock; Ibrahim (Abraham) invoked, and Allah made the fire cool for him; Ayoub (Job) invoked during his illness, and Allah healed him and restored his prosperity. Allah loves when we turn to Him, and it is our duty to invoke Him with complete trust and the conviction that Allah will respond to us.

However, it is important not to rush the response to our invocations. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The invocation will always be answered, as long as one does not ask for something sinful or the breaking of family ties, and as long as they do not become impatient.” When he was asked what “impatience” meant, he replied, “It is when someone says: ‘I invoked and invoked, but my prayer was not answered,’ and then he becomes discouraged and abandons invocation.” (Muslim)

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, eloquently describes the importance of persistence in invocation. He says:

“The example is like a child who has caused trouble in the house, and his mother, upset, has sent him outside. The child keeps knocking and banging on the door, begging to be let back in. He calls to his mother, but she does not answer. What is the solution? It is not to leave and abandon his mother. No! That would be a loss. The solution is to continue calling her, to cry out of sorrow at being sent outside, to keep knocking on the door behind which his mother is, whose heart breaks as she hears her child humbly pleading. And we know,” says Ibn al-Qayyim, “that Allah is more merciful to His servant than a mother is to her child.”

Brothers and sisters, Allah calls us to rely on Him and to invoke with deep faith, knowing that every moment spent in invocation is precious, even if we do not immediately see the results. Allah says: “Your Lord has said: ‘Invoke Me, and I will respond to you.’” (Al-Mu’min, 60)

Let us invoke Allah to make us steadfast in prayer, to open for us the doors of His mercy, to accept our invocations, and to make us inhabitants of the highest Paradise. Ameen!

(Central khutbah by the religious leader Hafiz Hilmija Redžić on October 25, 2024, at the “Centre Islamique et Culturel Berat” in Esch-sur-Alzette)