ان الساعة لاتية لا ريب فيها ولكن اكثر الناس لا يؤمنون

إِنَّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ لَـَٔاتِيَةٌ لَّا رَيْبَ فِيهَا وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

I want to look at two verses in which Allah speaks about responding to du’a. The first which is often quoted is ayah 186 in Suratul Baqarah, the other is found in Surah Ghafir ayah 60.

When My servants ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about Me: I am truly near. I respond to one’s prayer when they call upon Me. So let them respond ˹with obedience˺ to Me and believe in Me, perhaps they will be guided ˹to the Right Way˺. 2:186

Your Lord has proclaimed, 'Call upon Me, I will respond to you. Surely those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell, fully humbled.' 40:60

Context


Both of these verses start with the conjuction 'waw' which tie them to the verses preceding them. In Suratul Baqarah, the preceding verse addresses the believers regarding the observaation of the month of the Quran.

Ramaḍân is the month in which the Quran was revealed as a guide for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and the decisive authority. So whoever is present this month, let them fast. But whoever is ill or on a journey, then ˹let them fast˺ an equal number of days ˹after Ramaḍân˺. Allah intends ease for you, not hardship, so that you may complete the prescribed period and proclaim the greatness of Allah for guiding you, and perhaps you will be grateful. 2:185

By contrast, Surah Ghafir the preceding verse issues a warning about the coming of the hour.

The Hour is certainly coming, there is no doubt about it. But most people do not believe. 40:59

Though Allah states in both verse he responds to the caller, in the first verse He addresses His servants directly. ' When my servants ask… I am near. I respond…' This uses first person and does not ask the Prophet to communicate the response, though the Prophet is the one whom they asked.

In the second ayah, Allah does not mention his nearness. The people receiving warning are not being addressed directly, rather they are told 'And your Lord said…'

Dua = Worship


Allah says 'make du’a to me…' Indeed, those who are too arrogant to worship me…' Here du’a is equated with worship, those who do not call on Allah do not worship Him. 

Worship requires humility 


Allah states that some people don’t call on Him out of istakbir, the inward form of arrogance. 

In, the verse preceding Allah telling the believers He is near. He says…' and that you might magnify Allah', Takbir is from the same root as istakbir Kaf ba ra; however the believers are those who recognize and declare Allah’s greatness and their need of Him rather than thinking of themselves as great.

Arrogance is pointed to as the reason that people do not call, when a person sees themselves as self-sufficient, the 'Master of their own destiny' they don’t see a need to call on Allah. By contrast, the believer calls upon Allah because we recognize our own weakness and our extreme need.

The most humble position is sajdah

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ra) the Messenger of Allah (saws)said: 'The closes a servant can become to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so make a lot of du’a (when prostrating). - Sahih Muslim

Those who are humble in this life are elevated in the akhira those who refuse to be humble in this life will be humiliated in the akhira.

The etiquettes of du’a

In Surah al-Baqarah prior to mentioning those that make du’a Allah after discussing fasting and the exceptions for fasting Allah ends the verse with '…and so you magnify Allah for having guided you and so you that you maybe greatful.'  Followed by, 'And when they ask…'

These things that precede Allah mentioning 'the caller' are among the etiquette we should observe WHEN we call.

The Prophet (saw) said, ‘When any one of you have performed Salah (prayer) and wants to supplicate, let him begin with praising His Lord (swt) and glorifying Him, then send prayers upon the Prophet (saw). Then he may supplicate for whatever he wishes’. [Tirmidhi]

When we call on Allah we should magnify and praise Him using his beautiful names, we should express gratitude for our blessings and our guidance before asking. 

Ramadan is the time to increase du’a


The mention of Allah’s answering du’a is situated within verses that speak about the month of Ramadan.  We can understand that in addition to fasting, glorifying and showing gratitude to Allah by calling on Him is an important aspect of observing this month. 


Reflections: Ghafir 40:59