Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Brother Burhan

Assalam O Alikum I hope you will be fine. Please note that i am a man of 32. I am MBA Gold medalist.I started import export(food coomodities) business in 1999.My first two years went well.But after that time i have been ontinously under trouble.What i did -went wrong. For example i buy gold today beleive you me tomorrow gold prices will come down.This is not exaggration rather a fact.What i do goes wrong.Today if i invest even in tock market market will come under pressure. Since June 2004 i have not earned anything from business and for last six months  my business has been under heavy losses.I have vast experience in international trading and known by the industry people at international level but the bad luck has made me quite depressed. Please make special Duaa for me. May Allah bless you.

Thanks and Regards

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Dua in debt

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 29 Surah Ankabut verse 62:

62 Allah enlarges the sustenance (which He gives) to whichever of His servants He pleases; and He (similarly) grants by (strict) measure (as He pleases): for Allah has full knowledge of all things.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 42 Surah Shura verse 12:

12 To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth: He enlarges and restricts the sustenance to whom He Wills: for He knows full well all things.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, the amount of sustenance (rizk) one receives in this world has absolutely nothing to do with good or bad luck….but the sustenance of each and every animate being depends entirely and solely upon the Will and Decree of the Lord Most Gracious, Most Bounteous.

The Lord Most High, Most Supreme tests some amongst His slaves by providing with abundant sustenance…to see whether or not they are grateful and thankful to their Lord for His innumerable favors. Similarly, the Lord Most Gracious restricts the sustenance of some of amongst His creation as a test to see whether or not they are patient with the Decree of their Lord. These alternate conditions in life whereby one touches dust and it becomes gold or one touches gold and it becomes dust is no more than a test from their Lord….only to determine who amongst man is grateful to their Lord and who is impatient and ungrateful.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 21 Surah Anbiyaa verse 35:

35 Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial: to Us must ye return!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 155-157:

155 Be sure We shall test you with something of fear, and hunger, some loss in goods, or lives, or the fruits (of your toil); but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.

156 Who when afflicted with calamity say: "To Allah we belong and to Him is our return."

157 They are those on whom (descend) blessings from Allah and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.

Thus my beloved brother in Islam, when afflicted with a trial, never never ever despair of your Mercy and Grace of your Lord….but rather remain patient and grateful and keep your hope and trust in none save your Lord Most Gracious, Most Bounteous. The good and evil condition one experiences in life are no more than a trial and a test bestowed upon man by their Lord to see and determine who amongst His slaves are grateful and who amongst them are ungrateful.

Beloved brother, the absolutely best dua or supplication one can make when afflicted by a trial of a financial nature is the one which the Prophet (saws) taught the believers to make; it is expected that your Lord will respond to your supplications and make your trial easy for you.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 4.131b

Ali related that a slave, who had agreed on terms of his freedom with his master, came to him and said, "I cannot pay my master as I agreed in the terms of freedom, so help me." Ali said to him, "Let me teach you the supplication that the Prophet (saws) taught me. If you say it, Allah will cause your debt to be paid even if it be as great as a mountain. Say, 'O Allah, make Your lawful bounties sufficient for me so as to save me from what is unlawful, and from Your Grace grant me sufficient abundance to make me free from the need of all except You'."

Related by Tirmidhi.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan