Ramadan comes as this astonishingly miraculous windfall from Allah to us every year. He sends it into the world as a literal divine intervention to completely transfigure everything about us, and in just one month! Our lives and lifetimes. Our fortunes in this world. Even our fate forever into the Hereafter.
How did the Prophet, on him be peace, approach this spectacularly spiritual power of Ramadan? With all his heart, and all his soul, and all his might. And he pushed us, hard, to do the same.
Stepped up Salat-prayer. Constant Quran recitation. Ritual retreat. Night-long worship. Non-stop sadaqah-giving. But, above all, he made incredibly urgent, sincere, focused pleas to His Lord – for pardon that leaves out nothing, for goodness in the world that takes in everything, for reward that decorates every deed, for joy that infuses every love, and for deliverance on a Day of evil to an unending age of ecstasy.
Here are seven du‘a our Prophet, on him be peace, and the sages who have studied him, made hyper-often in Ramadan. We should too.
He taught his beloved ‘Aisha, Allah be pleased with her, if she saw Laylat Al-Qadr, the Night of Empowering Decree, to say repeatedly:
“O Allah! You are all-pardoning. You love to pardon. So pardon me.”
(اللهم إنك عفو تحب العفو فاعف عني)
(“Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwan tuhibb’ul-‘afwa fa‘fu ‘anni.”)
Breaking his fast, he said
“Gone is the thirst. And Moist are the veins. And God-willing established is the reward.
(ذهب الظمأ وابتلت العروق وثبت الأجر إن شاء الله)
(Dhahaba al-dhama’ wa abtalat al-‘urooq wa thabata al-ajr insha’Allah.)
The Quran tells us to ask Allah:
Our Lord! Give us good in the world and good in the Hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire of Hell (Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:201).
(رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ)
(Rabbanâ âtina fi’d-dunya hasanata, wa fi’l-âkhirati hasanata, wa qinâ ‘adhâb an-nâr.)
Allah instructs us in the Quran to pray:
My Lord! Make me steadfast in the Prayer – and also my children, our Lord. And do accept my supplication. Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents – and all the believers – on the Day the Reckoning arises (Surat Ibrahim, 14:40-41).
(رَبِّ اجْعَلْنِي مُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةِ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَاءِ . رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْحِسَابُ)
(Rabbi ij‘alni muqîm al-Salâh wa min dhurriyati rabanâ wa taqabbal du‘a. Rabbanâ ighfir lî wa li wâlidaya wa li’l-mu’minîn yawma yaqûmu’l-hisâb.)
The people Allah honors in the Quran with the title ‘Servants of the All-Merciful,’ make this du‘a in gratitude when they look upon their families, which we should do often in Ramadan:
Our Lord! Grant us in our spouses and our children the joy of our eyes. Moreover, make us an exemplar of goodness for the God-fearing (Surat Al-Furqân, 25-74).
(رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا)
(Rabbanâ hab lanâ min azwâjinâ wa dhurriyatinâ qurrat a‘yun wa ij‘alnâ li’l-muttaqîna imâmâ.)
The Prophet, on him be peace, favored comprehensive rather than particularized du‘a, like this one, an important supplication for us to say much in Ramadan:
O Allah! Indeed, I ask You for every good, all of it, hastened in this world and kept for the Hereafter, whatever I know of it and whatever I do not know. And I seek refuge in You from evil, all of it, hastened in this world and kept for the Hereafter – whatever I know of it and whatever I do not know.
O Allah! Indeed, I ask You for the best of what Your Servant and Your Prophet have asked You. And I seek refuge in You from whatever evil Your Servant and Your Prophet have sought refuge from in You.
O Allah! Indeed, I ask of You the Garden, and for all the words and deeds that draw one near it. And I seek refuge in You from the Fire, and for all the words and deeds that draw one near it.
And I ask that You make every decree that You have decreed for me good.
(اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ ، مَا عَلِمْتُ مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ أَعْلَمْ ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الشَّرِّ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ ، مَا عَلِمْتُ مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ أَعْلَمْ ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَا سَأَلَكَ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا عَاذَ منه عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ كُلَّ قَضَاءٍ قَضَيْتَهُ لِي خَيْرًا)
(Allahumma inni as’aluka min al-khayri kullihi ‘âjilihi wa âjilihi, mâ ‘alimtu minhu wa mâ lam a‘lam, wa a‘ûdhu bika min ash-sharri kullihi ‘âjilihi wa âjilihi, mâ ‘alimtu minhu wa mâ lam a‘lam.
Allahumma inni as’aluka min khayri mâ sa’alaka ‘abduka wa nabiyyuka, wa a‘ûdhu bika min sharri mâ ‘âdha minhu ‘abduka wa nabiyyuka.
Allahumma inni as’aluka al-jannata wa mâ qarraba ilayha min qawlin aw ‘amal, wa a‘ûhu bika min an-nâri wa mâ qarraba ilayha min qawlin aw ‘amal.
Wa as’aluka an taj‘ala kulla qada’in qadaytahu li khayran.)
The Prophet, on him be peace, instructed us to as Allah much for pardon and wellbeing, in this life and the Hereafter:
O Allah! Indeed, I ask of You pardon in this world and the Hereafter.
O Allah! Indeed, I ask of You pardon and well-being in my religion and my worldly affairs, and my family and my wealth.
O Allah! Cover over my vulnerabilities and secure my anxieties.
O Allah! Shield me from before me and from behind me, and from my right and from my left, and from above me. And I seek refuge in Your magnificence so that I am not undone from beneath me.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْعَافِيَةَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِيَةَ فِي دِينِي وَدُنْيَايَ وَأَهْلِي وَمَالِي ، اللَّهُمَّ اسْتُرْ عَوْرَاتِي وَآمِنْ رَوْعَاتِي ، اللَّهُمَّ احْفَظْنِي مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيَّ ، وَمِنْ خَلْفِي، وَعَنْ يَمِينِي ، وَعَنْ شِمَالِي ، وَمِنْ فَوْقِي، وَأَعُوذُ بِعَظَمَتِكَ أَنْ أُغْتَالَ مِنْ تَحْتِي)
(Allahumma inni as’aluka al-‘âfiyata fi’d-dunya wa’l-âkhirah.
Allahumma inni as’aluka al-‘afwa wa’l-‘âfiyata fi dînî wa dunyâyâ wa ahli wa mâlî.
Allahumma astur ‘awrâtî wa âmin raw‘âtî.
Allahumma ihfaznî min bayna yadayya wa min khalfî wa ‘an yamînî wa ‘an shimâlî, wa min fawqî, wa a‘ûdhu bi ‘azamatika an ughtâla min tahtî.)
