Q.1. Does a person’s destiny change through prayer and supplication? Suppose, for example, that a person is destined to have a severe illness. Could this be removed or amended, if he prays to God to spare him all illness?
Q.2. In witr prayer, when one omits to do the qunoot one should offer two compensatory prostrations at the end. Does this apply if one does the qunoot after rising from the bowing position rather than before it?
Q.3. Could you provide the evidence that makes the observance of 15th Shaaban irrelevant?
M.S.
A.1. Yes, prayer could change the course of future events when one prays to God with a genuine appeal. If God answers a woman’s prayers, He certainly grants her what she has prayed for. If she finds herself on the verge of a disaster and prays God to spare her that, He is certainly able to do so, allowing her to escape that disaster. This could be by what may appear to us as a miraculous intervention, but is, to God, a perfectly easy option. All this is consistent with our belief in God and His control over events and destiny. Besides, it is part of the essence of prayer. God says in the Qur’an: “Your Lord says, ‘pray to Me, and I will answer you.’” (40: 60) If what is already determined cannot be changed, then how would He answer us? Besides, God’s will is free of all restrictions. If we say that what is determined cannot be changed, then we imply that God’s will is not free. This is against the very basis of the Islamic concept of God.
A.2. When one omits certain acts during prayer, or makes a mistake that does not affect the validity of prayer, one adds two prostrations, or sajdahs, before the end of the prayer. This applies in the case mentioned by the reader with regard to the qunoot, which is a supplication included in the witr prayer, according to some schools of Fiqh.
A.3. We do not need to provide evidence to prove that the observance of night worship on the middle night of the month of Shaaban is not recommended. The opposite is true. If one claims that it has definite basis in Islam, he should provide the evidence in support of his claim. The fact is that there is no Hadith to recommend such observance, and neither the Prophet (peace be upon him) nor any of his companions was known to observe such an occasion. All this makes it clear that it has no basis. What we actually have is a Hadith that tells us that Lady Aishah missed the Prophet one night, and then he came back. To her inquiry as to where he had gone, he answered that he went to the Baqie graveyard, praying for the dead. He also told her that it was a night when God released from hell a countless number of people. This Hadith is lacking in authenticity, to start with. It is classified as “weak”. Besides, it does not mention that the Prophet told his wife to do anything special on that night. Nor did he recommend or instruct his companions to do any observance. Had he done so, they would have acted on his advice, and this would have been known. But nothing of this has happened, which makes it clear that the observance done today in many Muslim countries does not have a solid basis.
