Qur'anic Reflections

Dua # 9 Lessons from Musa AS

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu!

So you all know how I've been concentrating on duas this Ramadan right?

I've realised that the best thing you can do to plan out how you want to make a powerful dua is to actually look at some of the powerful duas in the Qur'an made by the Prophets of Allah.

It's fascinating and there are these amazing array of approaches you get when you do that because while the mission of all the Prophets was the same, their struggles were very diverse and that's such an important lesson for all of us.

It also gives us an insight into the wonderful qualities of these messengers.

Let me give you a few examples.

Ibrahim AS was an incredibly articulate and intelligent man. You gather that from his arguments with his own kinsmen and The King Namrood where he clearly stumped them. When you look at his duas, they are extremely insightful and farsighted.

He prays not just for himself but for a better tomorrow for his generation and Allah accepted his dua and sent him 2 great sons with 2 great lineages of Prophets.

When you look the dua of Nooh AS, they're of desperation, of guidance for his ummah and towards the end, of begging Allah for safety as he'd realised that humanity would be soon destroyed.

The duas of Ayyub AS are absolutely beautiful as well. He was an incredibly rich man who had sons and fields but he lost all those and then he was afflicted with a debilitating disease. Yet the words he uses to pray to Allah for shifa are humble and a lesson for all of us.

The dua of Yunus AS is that of sincere repentance as he sat alone in the belly of a whale in the depth of the ocean.

The dua of Yousuf AS is one of understanding of the working of the Nafs. He knows that the Nafs calls to evil and he seeks refuge from it.

It's eye-opening really, because then you understand their struggles and how they used dua to deal with them. It helps us connect to their struggles in whatever tiny way we can and gives us hope and guidance. 

My personal favourites are the duas of Musa AS, mostly because I connect with his honest fear and his recognition of his own incapabilties in front of Allah.

The first time Allah shows His Miracle to him, he shows the most human reactions. 

He feels scared of the way he would be received, he is aware of the charges against him with the Pharoah, he recognises his shortcomings and understands the need for support that he might need against the powerful Pharaoah.

We see that in the form of a beautiful conversation in Surah Taha and Surah Qasas.

Surah Taha verses 25 to 35.

Grab a Qur'an folks, cuz this is G-O-L-D.

He first thing Musa AS asks Allah is :

" Expand for me my breast and ease for me my task, and untie the knot of my tongue that they may understand my speech"

This is very powerful.

He knows the Pharaoah is going to go to lengths to deny him, so the first thing he asks is for Allah to expand his breast, so he can take the abuse and the humiliation and turn it into reassurance.

Then Musa AS asks for Allah to take away his hesitation and make him articulate so he would connect the message to people's hearts and also to make his task easy.

"Appoint for me a minister from my family,
Aaron, my brother,
Increase through him my strength,
And let him share my task,
So we may exalt You much,
And remember You much,
Indeed You are of us, ever-seeing."

That's such a beautiful way of asking.

These are some useful tips for anyone who wants to give Daawah.

Don't go into difficult things alone, it's okay to look for backup. Task management and sharing is key.

And in the end the most important thing is to do zikr as much as you can and remember Allah as much as you can so you can always stay sincere and know why you're doing what you're doing.

Now let's look at Surah Qasas.

The part where Musa AS mistakenly kills a man and how he immediately asks for forgiveness and then he flees the city fearing oppression and as he has just set out with absolutely no clue where to go he says with so much conviction that, "Indeed my Lord will guide me to a sound way "

Then he meets an old man who promises to shelter him, upon hearing his offer, Musa AS very beautifully concludes with this dua.

So much humility, so much grace even in the face of desperation! Oh Allah, I beg of you, I'm needy of whatever good you send towards me. SubhanAllah!

And all of those duas were accepted!

This gives us so many things to reflect on, so many tips on how to get our duas answered. It shows us how to get personal with Allah and how to strike that balance between hope and fear.

We need to learn these duas or maybe if we can't memorize them, maybe we can emulate them in our own way.

May Allah make us among the ones who make the right duas and among those blessed people whose duas He accepts. Ameen!