The Power And Virtues Of Asking From Allah (Making Dua/Supplications)

Introduction:
Dua is an Arabic word which can roughly be translated into English which means supplication or making an invocation In Islamic terminology dua means calling out to God (Allah alone). Making dua or supplication means asking from Allah for anything that we need. Allah the Almighty is our Lord and the Creator of the universe. He knows about everything in the past, present and the future. He is the one Who can change our destiny if we ask Him. Dua is the most powerful weapon for a true believer. It can change our life and our destiny. When we call out to Allah and make dua it is in fact a manifestation of our needs for Allah. We humans are a mere creation of Allah and we are helpless. We do not have power over anything without the help of Allah and we need to ask Him for every need in our day to day activities.

The Virtues Of Dua:
Dua is a way of making conversation with Allah our Lord, Who has power over all things. It is the best conversation a person can ever have. It is Allah alone who knows our problems and our sufferings and He can solve them if we ask Him with sincerity and true belief.

Our Prophet Mohammad (Pbuh) said:

The supplication of everyone of you will be granted if he does not get impatient and say 'I supplicated my Lord but may prayer has not been granted" ( Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim).

One should never lose hope and should never stop asking from Allah. When a person makes dua to Allah, he gets one of three things in return:
1.  Either Allah will give what the person just asked for.
2. The person may not get what he asked for but Allah gives something else in return of it which is better than what he asked for.
3. Allah saves his dua to be rewarded on the day of judgement.
This concludes that making dua will never go unrewarded, even if we think that we are not been answered we should always continue making dua to Allah.

Allah is all Generous and He even listens to the non-believers. Allah even provides with the best of everything in this world to the worst type of people, the one who act evil and those who even reject Him. Then why would He not listen to the invocation from the true believers, those who supplicate Him , with full trust in Him alone and ask Allah for help in everything.

It is very important that the dua should be done at all time and not only in times of need or hardships. Indeed we need Allah at all times. Dua should not be our last resort when everything else have failed instead it should be our first approach.  Allah says in The Holy Quran in Surah Al Baqarah Chapter 2 verse 186:

And when my slaves ask you concerning Me , I am indeed close (to them); I listen to the prayer of every supplicant when he calls on Me.......

A similar message is repeated in Surah Momin Chapter 40 verse 60:

And your Lord (Allah) says: Call on Me I will answer your prayers.....

Asking Allah At All Times;
Dua is like a powerful weapon for us to live and face the struggles of this life. Life in this world is full of hardships. From the moment a child learns to walk and speak he should be taught to ask Allah for everything. In our day to day activities nothing is possible without the help from Allah and so we should continue asking Him for His help and to make our tasks accomplished and to fulfill our needs.

We should make a habit of asking from Allah for minor needs to the greatest things. Nothing is too big for Allah the Lord of the universe and nothing is too small for us the human beings. We should always ask Allah with the hope that our prayers will be answered.

A Small Deed And A Great Reward

Geology In The Holy Quran

And the earth We have spread out (like a Carpet) set thereon mountains firm and immovable and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. 

( Holy Quran Surah Hijr Chapter 15 verse 19)

Turn To Allah And He Will Respond

Prohibition For Celebrating Valentines Day - Islamic Views

Valentines day is celebrated on February 14th as a festival of love and is becoming a part of the culture not only in the the west but also among the Muslims. It is important to understand where this comes from and why it is prohibited to celebrate this day.

Going Back To The Origin Of Valentines day- Where It comes From?
Since the origin of the human beings on this earth , people worshiped their creator in different ways. Allah sent messengers to different nations to guide them to the true path and to worship only one God and to stay away from the false gods but among the people some did worship one true God but some were misguided and either made idols to worship or some worshiped nature, like sun, moon, and some based their religion on the movement of the sun and the stars.
Similarly they had some myths in which they believed and gave spiritual importance. The Festival of love was celebrated by the pagan Roman like more than seventeen centuries ago in the mid of February. Later this festival was adopted by the Christians.

Where Does The Name Valentine Comes From? 
Saint Valentine  is the name given to two ancient martyrs of the christian church about whom it is believed that they died in Rome as the result of the persecution of the Gothic leader Claudius.
The Romans would not let man marry because they wanted them to serve in the army but this Saint was against it and helped people get married secretly. later when he was caught and executed he wrote a letter to a couple in the end stating from your Valentine and from here comes the origin of name valentines for this day.
When the Romans embraced Christianity , they continued to celebrate their 'festival of love' but just changed the name to 'martyrs of love' represented by saint valentine who advocated love and peace and with time it got the name 'valentines day'.

Why Should Muslims Not Celebrate Valentines Day?
After knowing the origin of valentines day it is clear that it is a pagan festival and Muslims has nothing to do with it but unfortunately nowadays this day is celebrated for fun, for exchanging gifts and flowers, to propose for a marriage and even by some people to get married on this day. Here i would like to summarize a few points why this day should not be given any importance by the Muslims and not to be celebrated:

1. Allah says in the Holy Quran in Surah Al-Imran Chapter 3 verse 85:

Breaking Bad News To A Patient- Medical Ethics

Breaking bad news to a patient is one of the most difficult duties for a physician. Without proper training and formal preparation the discomfort and the uncertainty associated with breaking a bad news can lead to emotional misunderstandings between the physician and the patient.

What Is Bad News?
Information that can drastically alter the life and the world of the patient is termed as a bad news.

Reasons Why It is a Difficult Task To Break Bad News?
Conveying a bad news to the patient is a skilled communication and not at all easy. There are many reasons why it is a challenging task for the physicians and doctors.

1. The amount of truth to be disclosed is subjective.
2. There is a feeling of incompetence on the part of the physician and a fear of a negative reaction from the patient and the relatives.
3. The physician is reminded of his/her own vulnerability to a terminal illness and many times they find themselves helpless over the emotional distress.
4. Lack of sufficient training in breaking bad news is a major drawback to most physicians and health care workers.

A Few Protocols To Learn For breaking Bad News:
In order to deliver a bad news to the patient in a diciplined and a structured manner different protocols have been adviced and few of them are discussed below:

A Supplication For Asking Forgiveness from Allah