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Ramadan Supplication Series: Qualities of a True Servant

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Bismillah

What qualities come to your mind when you think of a servant of Allah? In one of my favorite supplications, the Prophet ﷺ teaches us some of the characteristics of a real worshiper of Allah. This supplication is narrated in many books of hadith, of them: Musnad Imam Ahmad, ibn Majah and Abu Dawud. Ibn Abbass (ranhu) narrated that the Prophet (saw) used to supplicate:


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رَبِّ اجْعَلْنِي لَكَ شَكَّارًا ، لَكَ ذَكَّارًا ، لَكَ رَهَّابًا ، لَكَ مِطْوَاعًا ،لَكَ مُخْبِتًا ،إِلَيْكَ أَوَّاهًا مُنِيبًا

Rabbi ja’alnī laka shakkāra, laka dhakkāra, laka rahhāba, laka miṭwā’a, laka mukhbitan, ilayka awwāhan munība

O my Lord, make me deeply grateful to You, constantly remembering You, in great fear and awe of You, devoted to Your Obedience,  humble, penitent and ever-turning to You in repentance.

Audio

Listen to the duaa:

[audio:http://muslimmatters.org/audio/dua/shakkara.mp3]

Download it here.

Selected Word Analysis

Shakkāran: From the root shakara, which was explained here linguistically.  This word is intensified, known as mubalaghah in the Arabic language. The word is on the structure of fa’āl, meaning someone who does something over and over, again and again. An example of this is the nickname given to Musaylimah, Al-Kath-thāb, not just someone who lies, but lies all the time. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) did not ask Allah to make him a shākir, someone who is thankful and grateful, but rather shakkāran, someone who is always thanking Allah on a regular basis.

Dhakkāran: From the root dhakara, or dhikr. Dhikr literally means a reminder or a mention. Again, this word is intensified on the structure of fa’āl, so not just someone who remembers Allah but someone who is always in the remembrance of Allah azza wa jal. Dhikr can refer to remembrances like saying “subhanAllah” (Glorified is Allah), or supplications, or prayer or any other act of worship.

Rahhāban: From the root rahb, rahb is a type of fear that makes you very alert, very careful and does not let you relax. This is the type of fear that students feel during exam time: restless, careful, and concern for passing. It is also fear that you are afraid that you will disappoint the one you love. The believers have both rahbah (fear) and raghbah (hope) in Allah azza wa jal. This word is on the structure of fa’āl, one who is very fearful of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.

Miṭwā’an: From the root ṭā’ah, which means obedience. From this root comes the meaning of obeying willingly, out of happiness and full acceptance of the command. This word is on the structure of mif’āl (mubalaghah) which means to do something so much that it becomes a habit. Miṭwā’an is someone who habitually obeys Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.

Mukhbitan: From the root khabata, which literally means to  be hidden. When in reference to people, it means to have khushu’ (humility in the heart that manifests itself in the limbs). It is also means to have iṭmi’nān, to be in a complete state of satisfaction. When someone is mukhbit, they are humble to Allah and satisfied with Him.

Awwāhan: From the root awaha, which literally means to sigh – we still use this today when we say, “aaah”. It is used to describe when someone is sad or shocked. It is also used for someone who cries a lot due to a soft heart. In this duaa, it takes the meaning of someone is lowly, very humble, compassionate and soft-hearted. The structure of this word is fa’āl.

Munīban: From the word anāba, which literally means to return or turn back. Inābah is sometimes used interchangebly with tawbah, returning and repenting to Allah. Munīb is someone who continually turns back to Allah in repentance.

Points of Benefit

Always aim high when making duaa to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) taught us here to ask Allah to make us the BEST slaves to Him, with the most beautiful qualities of a true believer. Don’t ask Allah to just make you “shaakir”, but ask Him to make you shakkara!

Let’s look at how these qualities appear in the Qur’an and Sunnah:

Shakkāran: Read a detailed explanation of Shukr here.

Dhakkāran: Whenever Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala mentions remembering Him in the Qur’an, it follows with “katheera”, a lot. The believer remembers Allah a lot. When we think of constant remembrance, it doesn’t mean that we are always making tasbih (saying subhanAllah) or always praying, but rather you can easily be in constant remembrance by learning and saying the supplications from the Sunnah for various actions. We have supplications for waking up, going to sleep, going to the bathroom, before praying, before eating, after eating, going up the stairs, traveling, and many more! Dhikr is the cleansing agent of the heart. The best dhikr is prayer, then reading Qur’an outside of prayer. Dhikr is one of the easiest deeds and it is one of the most rewarding. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us about someone who turns away from His Remembrance: “And whoever is blinded from remembrance of the Most Merciful – We appoint for him a devil, and he is to him a companion.” (43:36) When we leave the dhikr of Allah, we are exposed to the whispers of the Devil.

Rahhāban: Allah azza wa jal describes Zakariyah and his family (alayhim salaam): “(and they used to) supplicate to Us in hope and fear.” (21:90) Having the fear and awe of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala helps us to worship Him better. When Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala reminds us of His Oneness, He says: “And Allah said (O mankind!): “Take not two gods in worship. Verily, Allah is the only One Deity. Then, fear Me (rahbah) much.” (16:51) Fear has somewhat of a negative connotation in our use of the word but when we talk about fear of Allah, it is a positive fear that leads to good deeds. How can we learn to fear and be in awe of Allah? By learning His Names and Attributes. Know that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is Al-Qahhar (The One who subdues His creation as He pleases), Al-‘Azeez (The Most Powerful and Honorable in His Might), Al-‘Adheem (The Magnificent).

People are different and reminders affect people differently. Some people are motivated by the Love of Allah, while others are pushed to action by the Fear of Allah. Allah azza wa jal says,

فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ

“And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful.” (3:185) “Zuhziha” here means to be removed from something with force, and “adkhil” means made to enter. There are people who are pushed away forcefully from the fire and are made to be led to Paradise by the fear of Allah and through His continual forgiveness of our sins.

Mukhbitan: Allah azza wa jal says, “And give good news to the Mukhbitoon!” (22:34) Shaykh Muhammad al-Shanqiti explains who these people are in his tafsir Adhwa’ al-Bayan: “they are those who humble themselves to Allah and are at peace in their hearts with Him (as their Lord). They are those who when they hear Allah being mentioned or remembered, their hearts fill with fear and awe of Him.” Being humble is internalizing the fact that without Allah we could not have done any good. It is remembering your lowly beginning. When making supplication, it is important to call upon Allah as a humble slave who is in real need of Him. Unfortunately, in today’s society, being humble means you are a weak person. Humility only makes the believer better, as the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) told us, “whoever humbles himself to Allah, Allah will raise him.” (Muslim)

Awwāhan: Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala describes Ibrahim (alayhi salaam) as Awwāhan in two places in the Qur’an, (9:114) and (13:18). Imam Sa’di (rahimahullah) explains that this description means that he (alayhi salaam) was continually returning and turning back to Allah in all of his affairs and he was one who supplicated to Allah, remembered Him, repented to Him and sought forgiveness a lot.

Munīban: Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala also describes Ibrahim (alayhi salaam) as munīb, one is always turning back and repenting to Allah. It is beautiful that this duaa, after asking Allah to instill in us such beautiful qualities, ends with two words that point to being repentant. We learn from this that repentance isn’t only for those who commit major sins, but we must always be repentant to Allah.

we ask Allah to bless us with these qualities and to make us true servants to Him. Ameen.

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Amatullah is a student of the Qur'an and its language. She completed the 2007 Ta'leem program at Al-Huda Institute in Canada and studied Qur'an, Tajwid (science of recitation) and Arabic in Cairo. Through her writings, she hopes to share the practical guidance taught to us by Allah and His Messenger and how to make spirituality an active part of our lives. She has a Bachelors in Social Work and will be completing the Masters program in 2014 inshaAllah. Her experience includes working with immigrant seniors, refugee settlement and accessibility for people with disabilities.

19 Comments

19 Comments

  1. Momal

    August 12, 2011 at 5:20 PM

    bismi Allaahi maa shaa Allaah!

    this is one of my favourite ad’iyah!
    jazaaki Allaahu khayran ahsan’l jazaa for the concise breakdown =)

    If I may ask a question, usually when two terms that are similar in meaning are used separately, their meanings are interchangeable. When the terms are used together, however, the meanings are different and distinct. Is there such an instance for inabah and tawbah?

    • Amatullah

      August 12, 2011 at 5:37 PM

      wa iyyaki! That’s a good question, InshaAllah I will research. I put this post together very quickly actually, I wasn’t able to go as deep as I wanted with the word analysis.

    • Abu Maryam

      August 13, 2011 at 3:38 AM

      Inaabah (الإنابة) has the meaning of tawbah (التوبة) but it is a higher level of it because tawbah is discontinuation of committing a sin, having the resolve to not return to it, and regretting what has passed. If one continues upon this path in regards to his devotional acts of worship, he is considered a taa’ib (تائب). If one were to turn to and undertake devotional acts of obedience after his tawbah, like reading the Qur’an or giving charity, then this is inaabah to Allah. So if one were to repent (do tawbah) from stealing, as an example, he would be a taa’ib. If he were then to undertake devotional acts of obedience after his tawbah like istighfar (seeking of Allah’s forgiveness), dhikr, or something like that, he would be a muneeb (منيب). So, inaabah shows elements of tawbah and shows elements of turning to Allah by devoting one’s self to devotional acts of obedience.

      Additionally, a muneeb is quick to please his Lord, returning to him at all times, and being a forerunner to attain His love. Imam ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) says,

      “The inaabah of the awliyaa is a return to His Divineness based upon servitude and love. It comprises of four things: His love, submissiveness to Him, turning to Him, and turning away from other than Him. So, the muneeb to Allah is quick to please his Lord, return to Him at all times, and being a forerunner to attain His love. This is because the word inaabah contains the meaning of ‘israa (الإسراع – hastiness/hurrying), rujoo’ (الرجوع – reversion, going back), and taqqadum (التقدم – to advance, take the lead).”

      And Allah knows best….

  2. Amatullah

    August 12, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    Just wanted to say that I know this post is longer than usual, but this duaa is SO loaded subhanAllah! I’m considering carrying on the Points of Benefit section into a new post inshaAllah.

  3. abu Abdullah

    August 12, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    Ameen to the Ad’iyah. may Allah count these as sawab jariya for you. barak Allah feeki.

    • abu Abdullah

      August 14, 2011 at 8:39 PM

      Please delete my comments.

  4. Yasmin

    August 12, 2011 at 5:58 PM

    Jazakallah Khair for this beautiful post! I love how you explained this beautiful dua in such great depth! I really feel like I learned a lot from this post!

  5. bucketofdreams

    August 13, 2011 at 8:15 AM

    Jazakallahu Khayran! Amazing post, subhanAllah. =)

  6. Sahardid

    August 13, 2011 at 12:02 PM

    the transliteration is a bit mumbled up

    Rabbi ja’alnī laka shakkāra, laka dhakkāra, laka rahhāba, laka miṭwā’a, laka mukhbitan, ilayka awwāhan munība

    • Amatullah

      August 13, 2011 at 12:11 PM

      jazak Allahu khayran, it’s fixed now.

  7. bint muhsin

    August 14, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    mashaAllah beautiful dua. One could say this in sujood also right?

  8. Olivia

    August 15, 2011 at 7:17 PM

    SubhanAllah, the the analysis of the Arabic added so much depth and was very inspiring to read. Jzk.

  9. UmmAbdillah

    August 16, 2011 at 10:48 PM

    sis amatullah is there a way i can contact u (email?) i have some ques u might be able to answer

  10. abu Abdullah

    August 23, 2011 at 5:31 AM

    Complete Dua is here, part of which is quoted and well explained above (mash Allah)

    Rabbi a’inni wa laa tu’in alayya, wansurnee wa laa tansur alayya, wamkur lee wa laa tamkur alayya, wahdinee wa yassirlee yalhuda wansurnee ‘alaa man bagha ‘alayya, Rabbi ja’alnī laka shakkāra, laka dhakkāra, laka rahhāba, laka miṭwā’a, laka mukhbitan, ilayka awwāhan munība Rabbi Taqabbal Tawbatee, waghsil hawbatee, wa’jib da’watee wa thabbit hujjatee, wa saddeed lisaanee, wahdi qalbee, waslul sakhimata sadree.

    – O My Lord! Help me and do not help (others) against me, give me supremacy and do not let them overpower me, plan in my favour and do not plan against me and guide me and make the guidance easy for me and help me against whoever oppresses me, O my Lord! Make me one most grateful to You, one who remembers You greatly, one who fears You greatly, one who obeys You greatly, one who exhibits humbleness greatly, one who sighs greatly and turns towards (You), O my Lord! Accept my repentance, wash away my sins and accept my supplications, keep firm my proof, keep my tongue truthful, guide my heart and remove grudges from my heart. Allahumma Ameen.

    (Source page – http://dua.farhathashmi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=25&limitstart=11)

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