​This is a duʿāʾ that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught his younger cousin and great

companion, ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam Muslim

narrates that Allah’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said to ʿAlī: Say, “O Allah, guide me and

keep me upright. When you mention guidance, visualize the straight path,

and when you consider sadād, think of aiming an arrow straight at its

target.”6

Prayer
#01

NOTABLE BENEFITS

1. Alī was one of the greatest companions. He was one of the first to accept

Islam. He was from the family of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and married the Prophet’s

صلى الله عليه وسلم daughter. He was even one of the rightly-guided Caliphs (al-khulafāʾ al-

rāshidūn). Despite this elevated status, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught him to ask

Allah for guidance. This shows us how important it is for every believer to

ask Allah for guidance, regardless of their status.

2. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم not only taught ʿAlī what to say, he taught him what to think

about when he is asking Allah! This helps to ensure that one’s heart will be focused when invoking Allah and not preoccupied with something else.

NOTABLE BENEFITS

3. Guidance is what we ask from Allah in every single rakʿah of every ṣalāh,“Guide us on the straight path.” Allah not only shows us the straight path, but He assists us in staying firm upon it until we reach our destination of paradise by His grace and mercy.

4. Asking for guidance is an essential part of our religion, but following that guidance is not always easy. Implementing what we know to be true often involves overcoming bad habits or controlling our base desires. Therefore, we should also ask Allah to make following the guidance easy for us.

​This duʿāʾ is part of a longer yet powerful supplication, which is narrated to us by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, a younger cousin of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and one of the most notable youth around the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. He would later become an illustrious scholar of Islam.

Prayer
#02

NOTABLE BENEFITS

In this duʿāʾ, we learn the invaluable importance of Allah’s divine guidance. We learn this from the fact that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم is the best of humankind and the most guided. The whole purpose of his prophethood was to explain Allah’s guidance to humanity, yet some of his most frequent supplications were to ask for Allah’s guidance. This demonstrates to us the utter necessity of Allah’s guidance in every aspect of our lives and how we must never take it for granted.

NOTABLE BENEFITS

1. All believers are in need of divine guidance, even the prophets.

2. Acting upon Allah’s guidance requires sacrifice, struggle, courage, and

commitment. Hence we ask Allah to make it easy for us.

One of the primary goals of guidance is the purification of our souls. When asking Allah for guidance, we must also ask him to purify our souls and grant us taqwá, which is the ultimate goal of fasting this blessed month of Ramadan.

​This duʿāʾ is part of a longer yet powerful supplication, which is narrated to

us by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, a younger cousin of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and one of the most notable youth around the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. He would later become an illustrious scholar of Islam.

Prayer
#03

NOTABLE BENEFITS

1. Supplications such as these have powerful purifying effects upon the soul when said with conviction, persistence, and proper etiquette. In fact, no one can succeed in the hereafter unless they come to Allah with a “pure heart.”12 We need to attain a pure heart in this life, lest we suffer dire consequences on the Day of Resurrection.

2. This duʿāʾ is particularly relevant to Ramadan because the purpose of fasting is to achieve taqwá, which is what we are asking Allah for in this supplication. Without Allah’s aid, our fasting will not have the desired effect. The primary method of purifying our souls and cleansing our hearts is to seek forgiveness for our shortcomings and sins. Therefore, istighfār should also be a part of our daily supplications.