“Supplication is the very core of worship,” as Prophet Muhammad says. That is because when we address a prayer to God, we acknowledge two things at the same time: His power and our weakness. It is He alone who can bring about whatever we may dearly desire but, left to our own devices, we are unable to fulfill. Moreover, He requires nothing from us in return for any favors He may do for us. When we believe in God and offer our worship to Him, our worship does not benefit Him at all; the benefit is all ours. We are better people for doing so, as our worship is bound to make us more attuned to the virtues Islam promotes.
All believers realize that without God’s help, they remain weak; without His guidance, they are liable to err. Hence, the Prophet teaches us by example to always pray God for help, guidance and enlightenment. Indeed the Prophet shows us that we must rely on God’s help and favors in every situation. His prayer acknowledges man’s need for God’s assistance at every turn. He lost no opportunity without making clear to his companions and followers in later generations that they must always glorify God and seek His help. Since God has promised to answer our prayers, such prayer becomes, by itself, a source of strength to us.
Moreover, the Prophet’s prayer always touches needs that are often felt by every one of us. Therefore, when we use his supplication in our prayer, we know that we combine clarity of purpose with concise wording, and we ask God to give us a share of the goodness He is giving His Messenger. This explains the careful collection of the Prophet’s prayers by scholars of Hadith. They provide in their collections chapters on the Prophet’s prayers which show us the best that we can pray for. Needless to say, there is nothing to stop anyone from praying for anything of importance to us. The point here is that when it comes to the favors we all would like to be granted to us from God, the best formula to use is the Prophet’s own prayers. These acknowledge man’s position in relation to God, glorify God as He should be glorified and seek His favors in the best form we can use. Let us consider the following example given in a Hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Abbas, the Prophet’s cousin and learned companion:
I was staying in my aunt Maimounah’s home when the Prophet rose, went for his toilet, washed his face and hands and went to sleep. Later on, he rose and came to a water container, released its rope and performed his ablution without spending too much water, but washing well nevertheless. Then he stood up for his prayers. I rose, trying to move stealthily so that he would not realize that I was watching him. I performed my ablution, and as he was standing up in prayer, I stood to his left. He took me by the hand and moved me to his right. He continued his night prayer so as to complete it in 13 rakaahs. He then reclined and went to sleep, and his breath was audible. That was his habit when he slept. Sometime later, Bilal called for prayer, and he stood up for prayer without performing a new ablution. In his supplication, he included the following: “My Lord, give me light in my heart, and light in my hearing, light in my eyesight, light to my right, and light to my left, and grant me light from above and light from underneath, and give me light in front of me and light from behind, and increase my light.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, an-Nassaie, and Ibn Majah).
There is much to be said about this Hadith, but we will only comment briefly on the most important aspects. First we see how Ibn Abbas was keen to learn what the Prophet did in his night worship. He, therefore, maintained watch but did not wish the Prophet to know that he was watching him. It should be added here that the Prophet was with his wife, Maimounah, who was also Ibn Abbas’s maternal aunt. When the Prophet engaged in his prayer, there was nothing for Ibn Abbas to worry about. He could join him without hesitation.
It may be asked how did the Prophet get up again for prayer without performing a fresh ablution, or wudhu, after he had slept. The answer is one of two possibilities: either the Prophet did not sleep soundly but remained aware of what was happening, so as to know if he invalidated his ablution, or that he was given the necessary information by God.
We note that the Prophet prayed here for light, making a detailed request, mentioning light with different parts of his body and different directions. One may ask why he did not mention light once and request that it should be given everywhere around him. Scholars say that in the form the Prophet used, his prayer gives him far more ample light in both quantity and quality.
The Prophet first asks for light in his heart, hearing and eyesight. The heart in Arabic denotes also the mind, and when the mind is enlightened, it can contemplate better the signs all around us pointing to God and His creation. Thus this light makes us better believers. The same applies in a sense to light in one’s sight and hearing. Eyesight shows us God’s creation in which we can contemplate God’s greatness and perfection of what He creates. With hearing we learn God’s revelations and if we have light in our hearing, we are better able to understand Divine revelations and strengthen our faith.
When the Prophet makes further requests for light, he changes the form of expression so as to seek light to his left and right, not in both hands. This means that he wanted light to spread in both directions so as to benefit those who were close to him on both sides. The light ahead of him gives him a clear vision of how to move on. This is guidance in every step he takes. The light from behind provides enlightenment for all those who follow him, both his companions and his followers in succeeding generations, for as long as human life on Earth continues.
The Prophet also requests light from above and beneath. This is to complete all directions so as to have light in every situation, and not to be deprived of it under any circumstances. Such light can only be given by God, in the form of guidance which enlightens our way and directs our actions to ensure beneficial results for us and for our community.
But the Prophet completes his supplication by a request for an increased light. This last prayer is made in recognition of the fact that without enlightenment granted by God, we are liable to err. Therefore, the Prophet’s request teaches us that we simply cannot have too much of God’s enlightenment and guidance.
The more we have, the better for us, as God’s light ensures that we know what to do and what measures to take in whatever problem we may face. Therefore, we should always remember the Prophet’s supplication and pray God for light in our hearts, eyesight and hearing, light to our right, left, front and back, light from above and underneath, and add a prayer for an increased light at all times.