Seldom do we stay awake all night, and when we do, rarely is it spent in worship. The last 10 nights of Ramadaan gives us this unique opportunity; just when we start to get a bit careless with our ‘ibaadah after 20 days of seemingly hard worship. However, in the last 10 nights we realize that Ramadaan is coming to an end, and as we search for Laylatul Qadr, our duaas tend to increase manifold.

Normally, my duaas are short with little emotion (not something that I’m proud of), but in the last 10 nights, I like to sit on the prayer mat and just ask. I feel like my Lord is hearing me, as we all have probably heard the hadith of Allah descending to the lowest heaven in the last third of the night. Narrated by al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh (1145) and by Muslim (1261) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when one-third of the night remains and says: ‘Who will call upon Me, that I may answer Him? Who will ask of Me, that I may give him? Who will seek My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’”’

Reading this hadith reassures me that my Lord responds to my prayers. My father used to say that a duaa is like an application, and once you complete your duaa, it is like the application is sent to Allah. Keeping the application analogy in my mind as I compose my long list of duaas, it feels like a burden that was on my shoulders has been lifted. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: “Allah is shy and Most Gracious, He is shy that the slave raises his hands unto Him (in Duaa) and then returns them empty.” [Saheeh al-Jami]

Sometimes during the last 10 nights and when I can’t think of any more duaas, I just ponder on the blessings that Allah (Swt) has blessed me with. As I try to count some of the major blessings that I have been favored with, I find myself pleading before Allah, and the whole experience is spiritually uplifting and boosting to my imaan.

At the end of day, even if our duaa is not accepted in this world, we should try not to despair, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) also said; “There is never a Muslim who supplicates without beseeching something sinful or the breaking of blood ties, except that Allah grants him one of three things: either He fulfills his supplication immediately, reserves it for him in the Hereafter, or prevents him from being afflicted with a harm equivalent to it in magnitude.” It was said: “Then we should do so a lot?” He said: “Allah is the greatest!” [al-Adab al-Mufrad (710) and authenticated by al-Albânî].

So, continue on with your duaas, and at times when you do feel that they are not being accepted; ponder on the hadith that I mentioned above. I hope that this small article serves as a motivation for us to increase our duaas not just throughout the year but especially during the last 10 nights of Ramadaan. May Allah accept all our duaas and may He forgive all our sins. Ameen.