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)."