Tag Archives: du’a
Ramadan and Personal Finance
The corpus of hadith has a lot of transmitted supplications recited every after the daily prayers during the month of Ramadan. One of these supplications is a short yet concise one whose English translation is as follows:
In the Name of Allah; the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
O Allah, gladden the people of the graves,
O Allah, enrich every poor person,
O Allah, satisfy every hungry one,
O Allah, clothe every unclothed one,
O Allah, help every debtor pay his debts,
O Allah, relieve every distressed one,
O Allah, return every traveler (to his home),
O Allah release every prisoner,
O Allah, correct every wrong in the affairs of the Muslims,
O Allah, cure every sick one,
O Allah, ease our poverty by Your wealth,
O Allah, change our evil state to a good one through Your excellent state,
O Allah, relieve us of our debts, and help us against poverty.
Surely You have power over all things.
What draws our attention in this brief supplication is the fact that contrary to the common notion, most of the things asked for have something to do with material or physical welfare. Most interesting to note is the emphasis on the repayment of debt both at the beginning and the end of supplication.
This, once again, shows the multi-dimensional nature of fasting in Ramadan, and among its benefits are the lessons in personal finance that can be derived from it.
Short Supplication – Ya ‘Aziz
Short Supplication – Yā ‘Azīz
Al-‘Azīz
The Mighty and Unconquerable
Yā ‘Azīz
He who repeats this Name 40 times after fajr (morning) prayers for 40 days will be independent of need from others.
Supplication after ‘Isha’ Prayer
“In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful. O Allah! Verily, I lack acquaintance with the place of my sustenance; rather, I am seeking it owing to ideas that come upon my mind. I consequently wander in places searching for it. By doing such, I am as confused as the confounded, since I do not know whether my sustenance lies in a plain, on a mountain, on the ground, in the air, on lands, in seas, at whose hands, or who the source of it is. I have full knowledge that You know all these, the causes of them are in Your Hands, and it is You Who distribute it out of Your compassion and cause it out of Your mercy. O Allah, please send blessings to Muhammad and his Household and make, O Lord, Your sustenance that is provided (by You) to me expansive, my seeking for it easy for me, and its source close to me. Please, do not fatigue me by seeking that which You have not decided for me to take, because You are certainly in no need for tormenting me while I am in full need for Your mercy. [Please] send blessings upon Muhammad and his Household and confer liberally upon me, Your slave, out of Your graciousness. You are surely the Lord of great favor.”
This supplication after the daily ‘Isha’ (night) prayer teaches many things about personal finance:
(1) Seeking sustenance is not merely raising your hands in supplication, but rather a combination of action and prayer.
(2) True knowledge (in personal finance or any field of endeavor) is the acknowledgment of one’s ignorance and affirmation of the All-encompassing knowledge and cognizance of the Self-sufficient Lord and Sustainer.
(3) Your hard work does not necessarily turn into massive income because, after all, the Ultimate Source of sustenance is not your hard work but the Self-sufficient Lord and Sustainer.
(4) The habit of supplication nurtures positive attitude toward earning for a living, which in the parlance of the Law of Attraction, inevitably invites ‘good vibration’.