the etiquette of Du'a

1. be sincere to Allah swt.
Sincerity means being deeply devoted to Allah by heart. A sincere person has a deep fear for Allah, profoundly believes in Him, sees and advocates the righteousness in the best way. A sincere person is the one who believes in Allah with certainty, the Hereafter, prophets, the Heaven and the Hell and angels.

2. begin with Allah's Praise and Blessings on His Prophet.
Fudalah b. 'Ubaid reported that the Prophet, saw, heard a man supplicating during prayer. He did not glorify Allah, nor did he invoke blessings on the Prophet. The Prophet saw, said, "He has been hasty." Then he called the man and said either to him, or to someone else, "When any one of you prays, he should begin by glorifying and praising his Lord and then he should invoke blessings on the Prophet saw and after that he should supplicate Allah for anything he wishes."

3. to make Du'a with firm conviction.
Abu Hurairah Radi Allahu anhu narrates from Rasulullah saw,, "Do du'a to Allah with this confidence that HE will accept it and know this well that Allah doesn't accept the du'a done with a negligent and careless heart. (Tirmidhi)

4. make Du'a with enthusiasm & yearning.

5. be sincere in your du'a and endeavour to bring about a "presence of heart and mind" and cherish a high hope of the du'a being accepted.

Allah swt has commanded us to be sincere when making Du'a, as He says:

"So, call you (O Muhammad and the believers) upon (or invoke) Allah making (your) worship pure for Him (Alone) (by worshipping none but Him and by doing religious deeds sincerely for Allah's sake only and not to show off and not to set up rivals with Him in worship)" [Noble Quran 40:14]

Sincerity in Du'a means having the firm belief that the One upon Whom you are calling - Allah, may He be glorified and exalted - is alone Able to meet your need, and it also means avoiding any kind of showing off in your Du'a.

6. du'a in prosperity and adversity.

The Prophet saw said: "Remember Allah during times of ease and He will remember you during times of hardship." [Narrated by Ahmad]

7. do not ask but from Allah swt alone.

Ask only Allah Ta'ala alone for all your needs. Do not depend upon His creation. (Tirmidhi/Ibn Hibbaan)

8. abstain from making du'a of severing family ties or other sins. (Muslim, Tirmidhi)

Rasullah saw said, "Don't do bad du'a [against] yourself, your wealth, or for your children. May it be the moment of acceptance in the court of Allah and your bad du'a be accepted. (Muslim)

9. make the du'a in a soft voice and do not call unto thy Lord loudly.

11. seek forgiveness and repent.

Sin is one of the main reasons why du'as are not answered, so the person who is making du'a should hasten to repent and seek forgiveness before he makes du'a. Allah tells us that Nuh as. said:

"I said (to them): 'Ask forgiveness from your Lord, verily, He is Oft-Forgiving; He will send rain to you in abundance, And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.'" [Noble Quran 71:10-12]

12. to make du'a repeatedly. (Bukhari, Muslim). This repetition should be at least thrice (Abu Dawud)

One may repeat the du'a thrice in none sitting or he may repeat it on three different occasions. The "repetition of the du'a" can be interpreted in both ways."

13. to seek the best times and places.

Among the best times is the time just before Fajr (dawn), the last third of the night, the last hour of Jama'ah (Friday), when rain is falling, and between the Adhan and Iqamah.supplication and reverence and the desire and dread.

Among the best places are mosques in general, and al-Masjid al-Haram [in Makkah] in particular.

Among the situations in which Du'a' is more likely to be answered are: when one is mistreated or oppressed, when one is travelling, when one is fasting, when one is in desperate need, and when a Muslim makes Du'a for his brother in his absence.

14. one should perform a good deed prior to making the Du'a & he should mention this during the course of the du'a.

For e.g. He should say, O Allah! I had performed so & so deed solely for Your pleasure. O Allah! accept my Du'a due to the barkat of that deed. (Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud).

15. to abstain from haram food, clothing and earnings. (Muslim : Tirmidhi)

16. to face the Qibla

17. to sit as in the Tashahhud position

18. to spread both hand and raise them up to the shoulders (for men).

19. take wudhu before du'a ....preferably.

20. To praise Allah Ta'ala at the beginning as well as at the end of Du'a (All six major hadith collections) and convey salam upon the Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu Ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam at the beginning as well as the end. (Abu Dawud, Musnad-e-Ahmad)

21. make du'a whilst mentioning the Asma al-Husnaa (the names of Allah Ta'ala ) and the sublime attributes Of Allah Ta'ala.

22.to mention ones helplessness and dependence. (Tirmidhi)

23. to make du'a in favour of oneself first, thereafter ones parents and to include the other Muslims in the du'a as well (Muslim).
for example, teachers, ulamak, neighbours, friends, the righteous and the oppressed.

Don't make a Duaa in which you ask Allah Ta'ala to confine His Mercy to yourself Only (Bukhari, Abu Dawud, Nasai, Ibn Majah)

24. To make Du'a with firm conviction (for e.g. he should not say: "O Allah! If you wish fulfil so and so task of mine." (All six major hadith collections)

25. The one making the Du'a as well as the person listening to it, both should say Aameen at the end. (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasai)

26. to abstain from Haram food, clothing and earnings. (Muslim : Tirmidhi)

27. to make a Du'a that encompasses most of the needs of Deen and the dunya. (Abu Dawud)

28. to enjoin good and forbid what is evil.

29. Don't be impatient over the acceptance of Du'as. In other words, don't say: "I've made Du'a repeatedly but to no avail." (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasai, Ibn Majah)

30. Rub both hands over the face at the termination of the Du'a (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibbaan, Majah, Hakim)