An Accepted Dua'

During the time of Dhuhr (Noon) prayers I was standing close to the chamber of the Muadhin in the Holy Mosque in Mecca. A brother signaled to me to fill a gap in the row next to him after the Iqamah has been called. So I went forward.

After we completed the prayer I went to the back a little to sit with my legs crossed and be more comfortable while I do my Tasbeeh (Glorify and Praise Allah). I looked at that man beside me and he appeared as if his body is worn out like the poor of the Sacred Mosque. He had the appearance of stillness and humility and had placed his hands on his thighs as he supplicated to his Lord with humbleness. I put my hand into my pocket reaching for the money which I had tied into groups of one Riyal, five Riyals, and 10 Riyals.

I took out five Riyals and placed it hidden in the palm of my hand and approached him extending my arm to him to shake his hand. We shook hands and he felt the money in my palm, then pulled his hand quickly away without taking the money or even knowing how much was in my hand telling me, “May Allah reward you greatly.”

 I said, “Won’t you accept it?”

 He did not respond. I felt he was modest that is why he did not accept it. So I placed it back in my pocket. I stood back a little and performed the Sunnah. I noticed the man turning to me again and again as if he was waiting for me to finish my prayers. When I completed my prayers he came next to me, greeted me, and asked, “How much were you going to give me?”

I said, “I offered you and you refused to take it, so why would it matter if it was one riyal or a hundred?”

So he said, “By Allah, how much was it that you were going to give me?”

I said, “Do not ask me by Allah, this matter between me and you has finished!”

He said, “I was supplicating to my Lord about my dire need for five Riyals, so how much was it you were going to give me?”

I said, “By Allah, who there is no God worthy of worship besides Him, the amount which I was offering you was 5 Riyals!”

The man started weeping.

I asked him: “Do you need more?”

He answered, “No.”

Then he said: “Subhan Allah, you were placing the money in my hand as I was still asking my Lord for it!”

 I said, “Why then did you pull your hand away without taking it?”

He replied, “I did not expect the reply to come so quickly.”

I said, “Subhan Allah, Indeed Allah is All-Hearing, Close to those who ask Him, answering their call; He will not come down to you Himself to give you what you asked, but truly he will facilitate for you one of his slaves to fulfill for you what you need!”

I offered him the five riyals again and he took it but refused to take anything extra.

Indeed, Glory to Allah, the Great, who said of Himself: “And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then answer them, I am indeed near. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me…” (Quran, Sorah Al Baqarah,  2:186)

Story narrated by Shaykh Khaled al-Wuhaybi.  He said: “There is a lesson in this story. It happened to me personally and was not conveyed to me. Perhaps, some of you have heard it from me before, but I repeat it as a reminder. Here I am writing it to you as it occurred so a reader who has stopped supplicating to his Lord may benefit from it or a desperate one may find hope in his heart."