Introduction of the prayer:
The Prophet (pbuh) has taught this beautiful and comprehensive prayer to his followers. This supplication contains four needs; guidance, piety, chastity and contentment. Here, we discuss these four requests shortly.
1- الھدی: Al Huda;
Means, right guidance. The Prophet (pbuh) taught first of all supplicate Allah for true guidance. The one who got the right guidance, he found the success of both worlds. The pray for guidance has been taught the believers in the first Surah of Qur’an, Al Fatihah. The lord teaches the mankind to ask for guidance by saying, ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ, Guide us along the Straight Path. (Al-Fatihah; verse;6). The whole Qur’an is the answer of this Supplication.
2- التقیٰ : At-Tuqa;
At-Tuqa is derived from Islamic terminology ‘Taqwa’ , means, Being conscious of Allah, piety, fear of Allah. Taqwa is the basic requirement after Iman. The second verse of Surah Al-Baqarah (The second Surah of Qur’an) describes it as ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًۭى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ ٢ ” This is the Book! There is no doubt about it1—a guide for those mindful ˹of Allah˺.2 So, Qur’an is the book of guidance only for those who are mindful of Allah.
3- العفاف; Al-‘Afafa;
Al-‘afaf, is derived from Arabic word ‘عَفَّ’: means: virtuous, chaste, modest, decent and pure. These all attributes Islam wants to see in its followers. There are many prayers taught by the Prophet (pbuh) for being righteous, modest and pure. Sayyidna Ali (as) describes modesty or piety as under:
4- الغنیٰ : Al-Ghina:
Means, rich, wealthy, the self sufficient. The Prophet (pbuh) taught this prayer to the believers so that they should be content of what they have been bestowed by the Lord and not ask any one other than Him Almighty.
Conclusion:
Sayyidna Muhammad (pbuh) has educated this comprehensive prayer containing all kind of required attributes by Allah Kareem. So, we should recite this beautiful prayer in our daily supplications.
