مختصر صحيح مسلم
Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim
Supplication for guidance and steadfastness.
Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: Say this, "O Allah! Guide me and make me upright." And he said that when asking for this supplication, keep in mind that guidance means guidance to the path, and uprightness (being straight) means the straightness of an arrow.
Supplicating by means of righteous deeds done for Allah.
‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Three men were traveling when a severe rain overtook them, so they took shelter in a cave of a mountain. Meanwhile, a rock fell from the mountain and blocked the mouth of the cave. They said to one another: Think of your righteous deeds which you have done for Allah’s sake, and supplicate to Him by means of those deeds; perhaps Allah will remove this rock for you.
So one of them said: My parents were old and weak, and I had a wife and small children. I used to graze sheep and goats for them. When I would return in the evening after grazing, I would milk the animals and begin with my parents, giving them to drink before my children. One day, a tree took me far away (i.e., I found pasture very far), so I did not return home until evening, and I found my parents asleep. I milked as usual and stood by their heads with the milk. I disliked to wake them from their sleep, and I disliked to give my children before them. The children were crying at my feet out of hunger. So my and their condition remained like this until morning (i.e., I stood all night with the milk waiting for them to wake, and the children kept crying; neither did I drink nor did I give to the children). O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open a way through this rock so that we may see the sky. So Allah opened it a little, and they saw the sky through it.
The second said: O Allah! The matter is that I had a cousin whom I loved as a man loves a woman (i.e., I was extremely in love with her). I inclined towards her and desired her (i.e., intended to commit fornication). She refused and said: I will not agree unless you give me one hundred dinars. I strove and collected one hundred dinars and brought them to her. When I sat with her for the sexual act (i.e., with the intention of intercourse), she said: O servant of Allah! Fear Allah and do not break the seal unlawfully (i.e., do not take my virginity without marriage). So I got up from her. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open the cave a little more. Allah opened it a little more (i.e., the opening became larger).
The third said: O Allah! I hired a man for a faraq (a vessel that holds sixteen ratl of grain) of rice as wages. When he finished his work, he said: Give me my due. I placed the faraq of rice before him, but he did not take it. I sowed those grains (and there was blessing in it), until I gathered from that wealth cows, oxen, and their shepherds. Then that laborer came to me and said: Fear Allah and do not withhold my right. I said: Go and take the cows, oxen, and their shepherds. He said: Fear Allah (the Compeller) and do not mock me. I said: I am not mocking; take the cows, oxen, and the shepherds. So he took them. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open what remains. So Allah opened the remaining mouth of the cave (and they came out of the cave).
So one of them said: My parents were old and weak, and I had a wife and small children. I used to graze sheep and goats for them. When I would return in the evening after grazing, I would milk the animals and begin with my parents, giving them to drink before my children. One day, a tree took me far away (i.e., I found pasture very far), so I did not return home until evening, and I found my parents asleep. I milked as usual and stood by their heads with the milk. I disliked to wake them from their sleep, and I disliked to give my children before them. The children were crying at my feet out of hunger. So my and their condition remained like this until morning (i.e., I stood all night with the milk waiting for them to wake, and the children kept crying; neither did I drink nor did I give to the children). O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open a way through this rock so that we may see the sky. So Allah opened it a little, and they saw the sky through it.
The second said: O Allah! The matter is that I had a cousin whom I loved as a man loves a woman (i.e., I was extremely in love with her). I inclined towards her and desired her (i.e., intended to commit fornication). She refused and said: I will not agree unless you give me one hundred dinars. I strove and collected one hundred dinars and brought them to her. When I sat with her for the sexual act (i.e., with the intention of intercourse), she said: O servant of Allah! Fear Allah and do not break the seal unlawfully (i.e., do not take my virginity without marriage). So I got up from her. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open the cave a little more. Allah opened it a little more (i.e., the opening became larger).
The third said: O Allah! I hired a man for a faraq (a vessel that holds sixteen ratl of grain) of rice as wages. When he finished his work, he said: Give me my due. I placed the faraq of rice before him, but he did not take it. I sowed those grains (and there was blessing in it), until I gathered from that wealth cows, oxen, and their shepherds. Then that laborer came to me and said: Fear Allah and do not withhold my right. I said: Go and take the cows, oxen, and their shepherds. He said: Fear Allah (the Compeller) and do not mock me. I said: I am not mocking; take the cows, oxen, and the shepherds. So he took them. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open what remains. So Allah opened the remaining mouth of the cave (and they came out of the cave).
Supplication in times of hardship.
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite this supplication at times of hardship (and difficulty): "There is no true deity except Allah, the Great, the Forbearing. There is no true deity except Allah, the Lord of the Great Throne. There is no true deity except Allah, the Lord of the heavens, the Lord of the earth, and the Lord of the Noble Throne."
A servant’s supplication is answered unless he is hasty.
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace be upon him) said: The servant’s supplication is always accepted, as long as he does not supplicate for a sin or for severing ties of kinship, and as long as he does not hasten. The people asked,“O Messenger of Allah! What does it mean to hasten?”He (peace be upon him) said: That he says,“I have supplicated and supplicated, but I do not think it will be accepted,”then he becomes disheartened and abandons supplication. (This displeases the Master, and then He does not accept it. The servant should always have hope in the grace and mercy of his Master, and if the supplication is not accepted in this world, its reward will be given in the Hereafter.)
Certainty and persistence in supplication; do not say“If You will.”
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: None of you should say, "O Allah! If You will, forgive me. O Allah! If You will, have mercy on me." Rather, he should be firm in supplication, for Allah does whatever He wills; there is none to compel Him.
There is a time at night when supplications are accepted.
`Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that I heard the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "There is a moment during the night in which, if any Muslim asks Allah Almighty for goodness of this world or the Hereafter, Allah grants it to him. And this (moment) occurs every night."
Encouragement to supplicate and remember Allah in the last part of the night and its acceptance.
Narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, descends to the lowest heaven every night in the last third of the night and says: Who is there who supplicates to Me, so that I may answer his supplication? Who is there who asks of Me, so that I may give to him? Who is there who seeks forgiveness from Me, so that I may forgive him?
Supplication at the sound of a rooster.
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: When you hear the crowing of a rooster, ask Allah for His bounty, for the rooster sees an angel. And when you hear the braying of a donkey, seek refuge with Allah from Satan (say: "A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim"), for it sees a devil.
Supplicating for a Muslim in his absence.
Safwan (and he was Ibn Abdullah bin Safwan, and Umm al-Darda was in his marriage) said: I came to (the land of) Sham and went to the house of Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him). But I did not find him, and I met Lady Umm al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with her). She said to me: Are you intending to perform Hajj this year? I said: Yes. Umm al-Darda said: Then pray for me, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say that a Muslim's supplication for his brother in his absence is accepted. There is an appointed angel at his head; when he prays for his brother's good, the angel says: Ameen, and the same be for you. Then I went out to the market and met Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him), and he also narrated the same from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
It is disliked to pray for punishment to be hastened in this world.
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) visited a Muslim who had become as weak as a chick due to illness (i.e., he had become very weak and frail). The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him, "Did you used to supplicate or ask Allah for something?" He replied, "Yes! I used to say: O Allah! Whatever punishment You are going to inflict upon me in the Hereafter, inflict it upon me in this world." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Glory be to Allah! How can you bear Allah's punishment in this world? Why did you not say: O Allah! Grant me goodness in this world and goodness in the Hereafter, and save me from the punishment of Hellfire." Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed to Allah the Exalted for him, and Allah Almighty cured him.