If your dua got accepted, you should be aware of 3 things.

First: You should not become surprise and say or think, 'I'm a righteous and worthy person; of course my prayers will get accepted.' Shaitan will try to use this arrogant feeling against you and make you fall into sinning.

Second: Thank Allah for accepting your prayers and making them come true! It's recommended to perform 2 raka'at to thank Allah (swt).

Third: When your dua gets accepted, do not stop praying. And knock on the door of Allah's mercy & ask what you want/need again!

If your duas didn't get accepted! meaning you didn't get what you prayed and asked Allah (swt) for, be aware of 3 things:

First: Don't feel hopeless towards Allah's endless Mercy. The reason behind your prayers not being accepted can be your sins that has created an obstacle. Therefore, beg for forgiveness to Allah and pray again.

Second: Don't stop praying to Allah.

Third: Be content with what Allah wants for you since he knows what's right for you. Leave it to Allah (swt).

e.g I pray for something I'm not sure of. Therefore, I say, "o Allah you know whats best for me. You know everything. Please help me achieve what is right for me. And not what I ask for without knowing the truth."

By Dua, which is the act of supplication, I mean talking to Allah (swt) and asking him what you want or need. That is what the information below is about.

How to make Dua?

First: Admit to your sins & beg for forgiveness.

Second: Thank Allah for all the blessings.

Third: Say Salawat.

Fourth: Pray and ask Allah what you want/need.

Fifth: At the end say Salawat again.

The best times to make Dua?

1. After your daily prayers.

2. Friday Nights.

3. At Dawn.

4. Before Sunrise and Sunset.

5. At midnight until 2:00am. Praying at this time while everyone else is asleep is very effective.

6. When it's raining.

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The Hadith is regarding the meaning of Salawat, something that we every day offer many times. However, many of us may not know enough if any about the significance of it.

Sheikh Sadouq one of our distinguishing Olama' who was living in the 4th century AH has written a book named ‘Oyoun-Akhbarul-Ridha’' meaning ‘the fountains of the wisdom words of Imam Ridha’'. I quote the Hadith under consideration from this book.

Imam Ridha’ (a.s.): “O Allah! send your blessings onto the one that Daily Prayers is honored with having the Salawat on him'.

Salam and Salawat on the Prophet is an established fact in the Quran. In Surah 33 Ayah 56 we recite:

“Allah and His Angels send Salat on the Prophet, O you who believe! send Salat on him, and solute him a thorough salutation”. (33:56)

As far as I know sending Salam and Salawat to the prophet of Islam, is one of the distinguishing characteristics of our Prophet, of which the previous prophets were deprived. Muslims across the world from the time the above Ayah has been revealed up to the Day of Great Judgment are bound to send their Salawat onto the Prophet of Islam. Muslims five times a day when they call for Adhan and Eqama and even in their daily Prayers send their Salawat onto the Prophet of Islam. This is due to the Divine Promise

“And We raised high for you your esteem” (94:4)

When you are in the presence of a highly respected person you use high titles, like: His Eminence, Dr. Sh. etc. However, when he is absent and we are talking about him we may not bother about those titles. In Islamic Erfan the abpve expression is used firstly for Allah (s.w.t) and then for the 14 Infallible. Muslim Gnostics believe they are and they should always be at the presence of Allah and the 14 infallible, and hence, they always mention those name with high respect. I don't ever remember that Imam Khomeini (r.a.) ever mentioned the name of Allah (s.w.t) without any of His Divine Attributes.

Salawat on the Prophet and his pure progeny comes in this regards.

“Whoever, can not make an atonement for his sins, then he should repeatedly send Salawat on the Prophet and his Ahlul-Bait, for it destroys the sins thoroughly.”

There are many Hadiths stating that in order to have your supplication granted start your supplication with Salawat and end it with Salawat. Because, Salawat is an absolutely granted supplication and Allah (swt) is more merciful than to accept the beginning of your supplication and the end of it , but does not grant the one in the middle.

“Whoever remembers God will receive 10 rewards, and whoever remembers the Prophet will receive 10 rewards, for Allah has joined His Messenger to Himself.”

According to a Hadith from Imam Ridha’ (a.s.) Salawat is equal to Tasbih, Tahlil and Takbir.

Someone came to Imam Sadiq (a.s.) and said to him that he visited the Holy Mosque in Mecca. During his rituals he could not remember any other supplication except Salawat. The Imam replied you had remembered the best supplication.

It is practically proven that Salawat will treat the forgetfulness.

All of the Maraje' agree that Salawat in Tashahod is compulsory and on the condition it is not mentioned intentionally then the Prayers is invalid. Also, Shafe' and Hanbali hold the same opinion for the second Tashahod.

The entire universe is asking for blessings for the Prophet. ‘Allah and His Angels are sending blessings to the Prophet'. This is why the Prophet is ‘the blessings for the universe'. Following this natural process the believers are recommended to send the blessings onto the Prophet.

As a matter of fact, all of the Islamic rules are harmonious with the natural laws. That's why Islam is called the religion of nature (Fetrat). The universe is constantly asking the blessings for the ‘blessing of the world' and therefore the believers are also recommended to follow this natural law.

P1: Salawat is the plural form of Salat which simply means ‘to call' (Du'a). The reality of calling is that the person who calls tries to attract the attention of the one who is called upon.

This type of attracting attention, if it comes from a higher source it is called Rahmat (blessing) and if it comes from a lower it is called Du'a (pray).

P2: It is an established fact in Islamic Irfan that the existence of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) is the first existent came from Allah. In other words, his existence is on the peak of the cone of the creation. That means the blessing of existence which contains all other blessings comes to the prophet first and then goes to others.

The prayer of people to Allah does not reach Him unless through His Messenger, as the blessings of Allah does not reach His creatures unless through His Messenger.

Therefore, the Salawat of Allah to the Prophet since it comes from Allah the Omnipotent, He is sending the constant blessings to His Messenger and hence, the Prophet becomes ‘Rahmatun-lelalamin' (blessing for the universe). As, the Salawat of people to the Prophet is to pray to God to send His blessings to them through the Prophet who is Rahmatun-Lelalamin.

Salawat of the Angels: As the Imam (a.s.) stated in the above Hadith, the Salawat of the angels is ‘Tazkeiah'. Tazkeiah means to exonerate and immaculate.

What does it mean?

Each one of the angels is the resemblance of one of the beautiful attributes of God.

No angel can ever resemble all Divine beautiful attributes. Whereas, the Prophet, being the most perfect man, held all of the Divine beautiful attributes. This is why his statue is higher than the angels.

To this end, the angels are constantly exonerating and immaculating the Prophet in the sense that he is free from their efficiency.

This is the meaning of prostration of the angels before Adam. That means the angels are the servants of the Prophet and his Ahlul-Bait.