It is mentioned in a Hadith Shareef that on certain occasions Allah Ta’ala orders the angels to grant us exactly what we had asked for; irrespective whether the supplication is correct or not. The request is fulfilled in the same manner that it was asked for. That is why; we must exercise great caution in our speech.

Sometimes it occurs such that the supplication is not granted but instead something better and of a superior quality is obtained which we never even dreamt of. This is also the result of the Dua.

Sometimes it transpires that neither the Dua made for is granted nor is a similar or better thing attained. But instead a calamity, which was to have befallen on oneself, due to some wrong action committed, is obliterated (cancelled). This is also in fact the result of the Dua being accepted.

Sometimes it also transpires that in this world there are no apparent signs of one’s Dua being accepted. However in the hereafter it will be revealed to us that a certain Dua made in this world, which was apparently not accepted, has been accepted and this is the reward for it. We will receive such great rewards that our minds cannot even perceive them. That is the time you will exclaim,

“It would have been better had none of my Duas been accepted in the world, so that I could be fully rewarded here. The rewards here are so much greater.”

This world is going to terminate. The thoughts of the human mind will also come to an end, so will the desires of the heart. Whatever one asks for in this temporary world, it is as if one is asking for such things that will eventually terminate. A person’s reasoning does not perceive those things that last forever. Allah Ta’ala bestows rewards, upon an individual, in accordance to His great magnanimity.

A human being cannot comprehend the vast and unlimited treasures of Allah Ta’ala.

In the explanation of the Hadith Shareef, “That a person’s Dua gets accepted,” it is mentioned that sometimes a person makes a Dua and whatever he asks for is granted immediately. This person becomes amazed and says, “Surely my Dua has been accepted.”

Sometimes it gets accepted so quickly that a person wonders why he made such a Dua.

Once I was travelling to Madina Tayyibah from Makkah Mukarramah by taxi. I sat in the taxi, looked at the Haram Shareef and made this Dua: “O Allah, bring me back quickly.”

We had barely travelled a short distance when the driver stopped at a garage to fill petrol and asked the passengers to pay the fare. There was a Turkish person who had not paid his fare but insisted that his fare had been paid. He showed a form or a receipt to the driver to verify his claim. However, that payment did not apply to the private taxi. The driver spoke in Arabic and the individual in Turkish. The driver could not understand him nor could he understand the driver. The argument prolonged and both were getting angry at one another. Eventually the driver threw his luggage out of the taxi and drove off.

Now, we were one passenger less so we returned to Makkah Mukarramah to pick up another passenger. I thought to myself that how quickly my Dua got accepted. I have already returned to Makkah Mukarramah!

After completing my stay at Madina Tayyibah I proceeded to Jeddah. In Jeddah, while boarding the flight, again I made a Dua, “O Allah, bring me back quickly.”

As the plane started moving and preparing to take off, the crew seemed very worried and concerned pacing from one end to another. Eventually an announcement was made that there was some technical fault with the plane and we were returning to Jeddah. Again, I recalled the Dua that I made and I thought to myself that I did not mean in it this way!

~ taken from the discourses of Mufti Mahmood Gangohi RA ~