Bismillāh.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has said: Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: “Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting; it is for Me, and I Myself shall reward it.”
al-Khisāl, vol. 4, p. 45
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ
And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way.
Sūrat al-Baqarah, No. 2, Āyat 186
Immediately after three verses discussing the legislation of fasting in the month of Ramadān, Allah the Exalted in the above verse turns to discuss supplication and how He answers the servant of His, who supplicates to Him.
The beauty and emphasis in this verse is outstanding. Consider the following points mentioned by Allāmah Tabātabā’ī:
- Allah in these verses is talking in the first person, which indicates attention to the matter at hand.
- He beautifully refers to the supplicant as “My servant”, not simply “person” or some other expression.
- He has not included the normal response to the question. Rather than saying “then say surely I am near”, He immediately says the response to the question, “then surely I am near”.
- There is emphasis indicated by the particle inna, translated as “surely”.
- The noun qarīb is used to indicate God’s nearness. In Arabic, when a noun is used as opposed to a verb it indicates a sense of firmness and permanence.
- This noun is then followed by a verb in the present tense, “I answer”. The present tense in Arabic is used to indicate a renewed and continuous action, showing us how God is constantly answering our supplications.
- Allah seems to put a condition on His response by saying “when he calls on Me.” In reality however, this is not adding anything extra. This indicates that God’s response is in fact unconditional, He will always respond to His supplicant. Just like another verse in Surat al-Ghāfir where Allah unconditionally says “Call upon me, I will answer you” (Q 40: 60).
The holy month of Ramadān is an opportunity to connect to Allah and sincerely supplicate to Him. There is a reality in doing so, as the above verse says we must believe in Allah, that He is in charge of our affairs and can change our state to a better one. Moreover, simply connecting to Him, remembering Him, talking to Him is itself the main goal of engaging in supplication.
The Ahl al-Bayt (a) have favored us and left us with so many deep and beautiful supplications to be recited, especially in this holy month. We pray that Allah gives us the opportunity to put aside time from our busy schedules and sincerely supplicate to Him in these blessed days and nights of the holy month of Ramadān. We pray that He relieves the Muslim ummah of the suffering it is going through, especially the ongoing genocide in the blessed land of Palestine.
Sources: Allāmah Tabātabā’ī, Al-Mīzān.