Dought & clear - Is there a specific prayerfor increasing provision?

"You pray two rak'ahs, reciting in each rak'ah al-Hamd (i.e.,
al-Faatihah) once and at-Tawheed (i.e., al-Ikhlaas) once, making the
bowing and prostration lengthy. After finishing the prayer, say: 'O
Most Glorious, O One, O Most Generous, I turn to You by virtue of
Muhammad Your Prophet, the Prophet of mercy, (blessings of Allah be
upon him and his family); O Muhammad, O Messenger of Allah, I turn by
virtue of you to Allah, my Lord and your Lord, the Lord of all things.
I ask you, O Allah, to send blessings upon Muhammad and the members of
his household, and I ask Youfor a breath of mercy from You, quick
relief, and abundant provision,so that I may put my affairs in order,
pay off my debts and support my dependents.'".
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
In the saheeh Sunnah there is no known prayer specifically for asking
for increased provision. The prayer described in the question with
this du'aa'(supplication) is an innovated prayer; it comes under the
heading of prescribing in religion something that Allah has not
prescribed, and introducing innovation (bid'ah) that is prohibited.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah say concerning any action orword that is
not proven from the Sahaabah that it is an innovation (bid'ah),
because if it were something good, they would have done it before us.
They did not omit any good attribute but they hastened to do it or
attain it.
End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 7/278-279
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allah preserve him) said:
The innovations that have been introduced inthe area of worship
nowadays are many. Butthe basic principle with regard to acts of
worship is tawqeef [i.e., they can only be known through divine
Revelation and sound texts of hadeeth, with no room for personal
opinion], so no acts of worship are prescribed except on the basis of
evidence. Anything for which there is no evidence is an innovation
(bid'ah), because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "Whoever does an action that is not part of this matter of
ours will have it rejected." (Agreed upon). The acts of worship that
are donenowadays for which there is no evidence are very many.
End quote from Kitaab at-Tawheed, p. 160
Secondly:
The words of the worshipper in this du'aa'after this innovated prayer,
"I turn to You by virtue of Muhammad Your Prophet, the Prophet of
mercy, (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family); O Muhammad, O
Messenger of Allah, I turn by virtue of you to Allah…" are words that
are not permissible, and come under the headingof innovated tawassul
(means of seeking to draw closer to Allah) thatis forbidden.
For more information ontawassul, both prescribed and prohibited,
please see the answer to question no. 3297 .
Anyone who calls upon the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) after his death, or who calls upon anyone else
among the dead to wardoff harm or bring benefits is a mushrik who has
associated someone else with Allah in the sense of major shirk that
puts one beyond the pale of Islam, and he has to repent to Allah, may
He be exalted.
For more information please see the answer toquestion no. 112131 and 114142 .
Thirdly:
There are some means ofincreasing provision thatare prescribed in
Islam, which we shall highlighthere, so as to adopt the means that are
prescribed and warn against innovations in religion. These include:
· Istighfaar (praying for forgiveness)
Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of the meaning):
"I said (to them): Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving;
He will send rain to you in abundance;
And give you increase in wealth and children, andbestow on you gardens
and bestow on you rivers"
[Nooh 70:10-12].
· Upholding ties of kinship
Al-Bukhaari (2067) and Muslim (2557) narrated from Anas ibn Maalik
(may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever would like his rizq
(provision) to be increased and his life to be extended, should uphold
the ties of kinship."
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"his rizq (provision) to be increased" means to be expanded and made
abundant or, it was said,to be blessed (barakah). End quote.
· Giving a great deal of charity
Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Say: Truly, my Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His
slaves, and (also) restricts (it) for him, and whatsoever you spend of
anything (in Allah's Cause), He will replace it.And He is the Best of
providers"
[Saba' 34:39].
Muslim (2588) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with
him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "Charity does not decrease wealth."
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
They (the scholars) mentioned two meanings of this hadeeth, one of
which isthat (the wealth) will be blessed (as a result of giving
charity) and harmwill be warded off from it, so the apparent decrease
will be compensated for by means of hidden blessing (barakah). This is
something that is well known from experience.The second is that even
if it appears to be decreased outwardly, there will be compensation
for that inthe reward that results from it, and it will be increased
manifold. End quote.
· Being mindful of Allah and fearing Him (taqwa)
Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a
way for him to get out (from every difficulty).
3. And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine"
[al-Talaaq 65:2-3].
· Performing Hajj and 'Umrah often, following one with the other
At-Tirmidhi (810) narrated that 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ood said: The
Messenger of Allah (sa) said: "Make the Hajj and 'Umrah follow each
other closely, for they remove poverty and sins as the bellows removes
the dross of iron, gold and silver, and an accepted Hajj brings no
less a reward than Paradise.". It was classedas saheeh by al-Albaani.
· Du'aa' (supplication)
It was narrated by Ibn Maajah (925) from Umm Salamah that the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to
say, when he said the salaam at the end of Fajrprayer: "Allaahumma
inni as'aluka rizqan tayyiban, wa 'ilman naafi'an, wa 'amalan
mutaqabbalan (O Allaah, I ask you for good (halaal) provision,
beneficial knowledge and accepted good deeds)."

Easy way to change ourselves

There was a king long time ago and he had a vast kingdom. Though he
had tremendous amount of wealth, but he didn't have peace of heart. So
he decided to be a good Muslim. He heard that there is a very pious
man who stays in a jungle and thatmany people go to visit him for
advice. The king decided to visit him for some advice also. When he
got there, he asked the pious man "How can I become pious like you?"
The pious man replied that remember death 40 times a day for 40 days.
The king thought that it was very easy and he thanked him and left for
his palace. He remembered death 40 times a day for 40 days but no
change came to his life. He was same as before.
The king became angry and called that pious man to his court. The king
told him that he is nothing but a liar and that he should be killed
before he fools other people. It was decided that he will be
beheadedthe next day. But the Pious man had a request. He asked if he
could become the king for a day. He promised that after getting the
command, he will not kill the previous king or do any harm to him. So,
the king agreed and made the pious man the king for a day. As soon as
the pious man became the king, he went to the market and saw a man
selling peanuts. He told the soldiers to catch that man and bring him
to the palace. So, the peanut sales man was brought to the court. The
pious man told the peanut sales man that hewill be killed tomorrow.
The peanut sales man became frightened and dropped all his peanuts. He
started crying and asked what he did. But the pious man said that he
will be killed tomorrow and locked upin jail for today.
Now, as the peanut salesman knew that he is going to die, he forgot
about everything else and started asking forgiveness from Allah. He
started praying and doing excessive dhikir (remembrance of Allah). The
Pious man ordered that the most beautiful prostitute in the city
should be brought and placed in the jail with peanut sales man. She
was brought and she asked the man to commit adultery with her. Now the
pious man brought the previous king and told him to watch. The peanut
sales man started yelling at the woman to get away because he is going
to die tomorrow and this evil deed will surely cause him problems
withAllah.
Then the pious man asked the previous king if he understood what is
going on. The Pious manexplained that when youreally know that you
willdie, then you will surely stay away from all evil deeds and engage
yourself into the worship of Allah. So, remembering death once
properly would be enough to change the life of a human being.
Ofcourse, the peanut sales man was released afterwards.

Islamic Stories - Advice from Shaikh Sulaiman

Shaikh Sulaiman, a well known scholar from South Africa, once visited
us and was askedto give some advice. He mentioned that the way
sweetness cannot be separated from honey, whiteness cannot be
separated from milk andfragrance cannot be separated from a flower,the
success of mankind cannot also be separatedfrom following the religion
of Islam. Our total success is in Islam alone. Then he told us tobe
mindful about keeping our duties to Allah. He gave an example that
assume India sends an ambassador to Canada for improving relationships
between the two countries. Now, if this ambassador becomes too busy
with looking at the beautiful niagra falls and other landmarks of
Canada and forgets about his duties then what will happen to him when
he goes back to India? Yes, he will be fired from his job. Similarly,
if we also don't carry out our duties while we are sent to this world
then we will also not be appreciated in front of Allah on the Day of
Judgement when we return to Him. As a result,let us be cautious about
our responsibilities as being Muslims.

Islamic moral stories

1. Wonderful Stories of Islam: Four Wives Story (Anecdote Illustrating
Real Life)
- Once upon a time. There was a rich merchant whohad four (4) wives.
He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and
treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her
nothing butthe best.
He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's veryproud of her and always
wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always
ingreat fear that she might run away with some other men.
He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always
patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the
merchant faced someproblems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she
would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.
Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made
great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as
taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the
first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of
her.
One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going
to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I
have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll
be!" Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with
the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm
dying, will you follow meand keep me company?"
"No way!" replied the 4thwife and she walked away without another word.
The answer cut like a sharp knife right into themerchant's heart.
The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much
for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you followme and keep me
company?"
"No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to
remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.
He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and
you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die,
will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry,I can't help you
out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only
send you to yourgrave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder andthe
merchant was devastated.
Then a voice called out:"I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no
matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first
wife. She was so skinny, almostlike she suffered from malnutrition.
Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better
care of you while I could have!"
Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives. The 4th wife is our body.
No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good,
it'll leave us when we die.
Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they
all go to others.
The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had
been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us
is up to the grave.
The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of
material wealth and sensual pleasure.
Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we
go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather
than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Anecdote about Three Friends/
2. Four Wives Story: Why a Woman can't marry morethan one Husband?
- In a delightful report about how Imam Abu Hanifa received his name
(his original name was Numan bin Thabit bin Zuta bin Mah), an account
of why the wife is forbidden to take morethan one husband is
recounted. 'Abu Hanifa' isan unusual name because it means 'the father
of Hanifah', and Hanifah was his daughter. It was not the custom in
those days to do this. Normally, the name would be 'the father of the
name of a son.' How this came about is quite edifying.
One day Imam Abu Hanifawas asked a question that, for the first time
in his illustrious career, he was unable to answer. The question was,
" Why were women forbidden to marry more than one husband at a time? "
To make a long story short, Abu Hanifa's daughter said that she knew
the answer and would solve this questionif her father would make a
promise to her that if she succeeded in solving this problem, he would
then assure her a place inhistory. Abu Hanifa agreed.
So she gathered a group of women together and gave each of them a cup.
Then she brought in a large bowl of milk and asked each of them to dip
their cups in the milk and to fill their cups. They did so. She then
asked them to pour back the milk into the bowl. They did this too. She
then asked them to re-filltheir cups taking back only their own milk
that they had poured into the bowl.
This, obviously, was impossible to do. Hanifahhad clearly
demonstratedthe kind of predicament that would be created if a woman
had several husbands. With more than one husband, if she were to
become pregnant, she would have exceptional difficulties determining
who the actual father was? Identifying parentage and lineage would
then be insurmountable for the offspring. Imam Abu Hanifa was so
pleased with her answer that he took the name 'Abu Hanifa', 'the
father of Hanifah', so his daughter did indeed earn a place in
history./
3. Wonderful Stories of Islam: Be careful what you Plant (Anecdote
Illustrating Real Life)
-An emperor in the Far East was growing old andknew it was time to
choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his
children, he decided something different. He called young people in
the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step
downand choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."
The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going togive
each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you to
plant the seed, water it and come back here after one year from today
with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the
plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"
One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others,
received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story.
She helped him get a pot andplanting soil, and he planted the seed and
watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to seeif
it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began
to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks,
5 weeks went by. Still nothing. By now, others were talking about
their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had
killed his seed.
Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling
didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for
his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their
plants to the emperor forinspection. Ling told his mother that he
wasn't going to take an empty pot. But honest about what happened,
Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He
took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at
the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful
in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many
of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him andjust
said, "Hey nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young
people. Ling just tried to hide in the back."What great plants, trees
and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will
be appointed the next emperor!" All of a sudden, the emperor spotted
Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards
to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm
a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is
Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him.
The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He lookedat Ling, and then
announced to the crowd,"Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!"
Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could
he be the new emperor? Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I
gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed,plant it, water
it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds,
which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees
and plants and flowers. Whenyou found that the seed would not grow,
you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only
one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it.
Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
If you plant honesty , you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance , you will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness , you will reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, youwill reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you willreap miracles.
But
If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.
If you plant envy, you willreap trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap loss.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.
So be careful what you plant now, It will determine what you will reap
tomorrow, The seeds you now scatter, Will make life worse or better,
your life or the ones who will come after. Yes, someday, you will
enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.
Honesty in Islam/