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:

A non muslims like a hindu they pray to stones and christians pray to jesus how and who is answering their prayers and why?

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Answer:

Who answers the prayers of pagans

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 none 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 35Surah Fatir verses 13-14:

He merges night into day, and day into night, and he has subjected the Sun and the Moon (to His Law); each one runs its course for an appointed term. Such is Allah, your Lord! To Him belongs all Dominion. Those (deities) whom you invoke besides Him, do not own even a blade of grass! If you call them, they cannot hear your prayers! And if they hear, they cannot answer you! And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your ‘shirk’. None can inform you of the Truth, like the One Who is acquainted with all things.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verses 191-197:

191 Do they indeed ascribe to Him (Allah Subhanah) as partners things that can create nothing but are themselves created?

192 No aid can they give them nor can they aid themselves!

193 If ye call them to guidance they will not obey: for you it is the same whether ye call them or ye hold your peace! (for they neither can hear nor can they respond!)

194 Verily those whom ye call upon besides Allah are servants like unto you: call upon them and let them listen to your prayer if ye are (indeed) truthful!

195 Have they feet to walk with? Or hands to lay hold with? Or eyes to see with? Or ears to hear with? Say: "Call your deities to scheme (your worst) against me and give me no respite!

196 For my protector is Allah Who revealed the Book, and He will choose and befriend the righteous.

197 But those deities ye call upon besides Him (Allah Subhanah) are unable to help you and indeed to help themselves."

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 66:

Note it well that all the dwellers of the heavens and the earth belong to Allah. And those who invoke deities besides Allah follow nothing but surmises and merely indulge in guess-works!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 46 Surah Ahqaaf verses 4-6:

4 Say: "Do ye see what it is ye invoke besides Allah? Show me what it is they have created on earth or have they a share in the heavens? Bring me a Book (revealed) before this or any remnant of knowledge (ye may have) if ye are telling the truth!"

5 And who is more astray than one who invokes besides Allah such (deities) as will not answer him to the Day of Judgement and who (in fact) are unaware of their invocation (to them)?

6 And when mankind are gathered together (on the Day of Resurrection) they will be hostile to them and reject their worship (altogether)!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 62:

62 That is because Allah He is the Reality: and those besides Him whom they invoke they are but vain falsehood: verily Allah is He Most High Most Great.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumar verse 38:

38 If indeed thou ask them (the polytheists) who it is that created the heavens and the earth they would be sure to say "Allah." Say: "See ye then? The deities that ye invoke besides Allah, can they if Allah wills some Penalty for me, remove His Penalty? Or if He wills some Grace for me can they keep back His Grace?" Say: "Sufficient is Allah for me! In Him trust those who put their trust."

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 14 Surah Nahl verses 20-21:

20 Those (deities) whom they invoke besides Allah create nothing and are themselves created.

21 (They are things) dead lifeless: nor do they know when they will be raised up.

Your Question: A non muslims like a hindu they pray to stones and christians pray to jesus how and who is answering their prayers and why?

When a pagan calls or invokes one of his self-invented deities (with, besides, or instead of Allah Subhanah), without an iota of a doubt, their self-declared deities can neither hear their invocations, nor can they respond to their supplications in the absolute least! It is Allah Subhanah Alone Who Alone Possesses the Power and the Strength to hear and respond to the supplications of His slaves in the unseen.

Your Question: …..who is answering their prayers and why?

If the pagan invokes a deity with, besides, or instead of Allah Subhanah…..the truth is that his supplications/prayers are neither heard nor answered by anyone! Because Allah Subhanah, The Lord, Creator, and Cherisher of the Worlds is All-Hearing All-Knowing, the invocations made by the pagan are in His Perfect and Absolute Knowledge, but The Lord neither accepts nor answers to the supplications made by the pagans who invoke other gods or deities with/besides/or instead of Allah Subhanah.

Because the Lord Most Gracious has Decreed the sustenance and provisions for each in His creation, and thus involved all of mankind to a test for a period of one short and transitory life in this world, He bestows what He Wills and Pleases to whom He Wills and Pleases.

For example: Allah Subhanah has Decreed that such and such a person will remain childless for a period of 10 years, after which Allah will bestow him with an off-spring. The pagan may go to and earnestly invoke every single deity beside Allah Subhanah that he wishes to invent….the Truth remains that he will be blessed with an off-spring only and when The Lord Most High has Decreed it for him.

Lets say this pagan went to ten different deities one after another for ten years, did all the rites and rituals which the unscrupulous ‘caretakers’ of the false deities invited and guided him to do, and when as Decreed by the Lord Creator the pagan has an off-spring, he will dedicate and be grateful to the last of the ten deities he went to and supplicated…..falsely believing and assuming that it was this last deity whom he had invoked who was responsible for bestowing him with an off-spring!

Had the person believed in the Absolute Oneness of Allah Subhanah and accepted His Guidance, he would have known that nothing, absolutely nothing in the Universe happens without the Precise Will and Permission of the Lord Most Majestic Who Created. Had he invoked the Lord Creator Alone, kept his hopes and his trust and his faith in Him and Him Alone, he would still have got what he desired if and when it was Decreed by His Lord…..but he would be included amongst the believing slaves of the Lord Most Gracious, and be blessed in this world and the Hereafter.

But because the person chose to invoke other deities with or besides the Lord Creator; and when according to the Decree of the Lord Most High was granted his desire, he falsely attributed, dedicated, and was grateful to one of his false deities for the gift…..he is cursed in this world and the Hereafter for his manifest blasphemy!

Thus whatever favor or gift a pagan receives, it is only because of the Will, Permission and the Decree which the Lord Most Majestic has sent forth….and has absolutely nothing to do with his prayers and supplications of his self-invented deities. If all of the false deities of the universe were to get together, they could not even create a mere house-fly…and if a fly were to snatch something away from them, they have no power in the least to release it from that fly! Such is the helplessness of those who petition, and those to whom they petition!!!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Hajj vers 73:

73 O men! Here is a parable set forth! Listen to it! Those deities whom besides Allah ye invoke cannot create (even) a fly if they all met together for the purpose! And if the fly should snatch away anything from them they would have no power to release it from the fly: feeble are those who petition, and those to whom they petition!

Because The Lord Most Majestic has Decreed that man (and Jinn) be put to a test for a period of one short transitory life, He bestows what He Wills and Pleases to whom He Wills and Pleases in the life of this world……but those who disbelieve in the Absolute Oneness of Allah Subhanah and reject His Signs, they will have absolutely no share of the good in the eternal and everlasting life of the Hereafter.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 477 Narrated by Sahl ibn Sa'id as-Sa'idi

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘If in the Sight of Allah the world had the value equal to that of the wing of a gnat, He would not have allowed a disbeliever even to drink a mouthful of water out of it.’

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

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