Using the Names of Allah when making duas is a beautiful and powerful way to deepen your connection with Him. It’s rooted in the Quran and Sunnah, and helps align your requests with Allah’s perfect attributes. It builds tawheed as you get to know your Lord a little bit more! You could always start with learn just one Name of Allah per day/week to be able to connect better to Him.
And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them [Quran – 7:180]
Here are some examples:
1) AS-SAMAD (The Self-Sufficient)
Allah-us-Samad (The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor drinks). [Quran – 112:2]
YA SAMAD! You are in no need of anyone or anything. You are self-sufficient and You love self-sufficiency. Please make Yourself sufficient for me so I don’t turn to anyone but You. …”I only complain of my grief and sorrow to Allah…” [12:86]
Suppressed emotions resulted in loss of sight for Yaqublu. Ya Samad! Please don’t let suppressed emotions chip away at my health because I know that our bodies keep score. Its core purpose is to keep us safe so it has to remember everything (even if our minds forget) to re-utilise the learning from that experience to combat another similar experience. Suppressed emotions can easily turn into rage if left unattended for far too long so help me process it in the form of tears I shed in front of YOU!
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard a man saying: O Allah, I ask Thee, I bear witness that there is no god but Thou, the One, He to Whom men repair, Who has not begotten, and has not been begotten, and to Whom no one is equal, and he said: You have supplicated Allah using His Greatest Name, when asked with this name He gives, and when supplicated by this name he answers. [Sunan Abi Dawud 1493]
2) AR-RAFEEQ (The Most Gentle)
Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: “Allah is Gentle and loves gentleness, and He grants reward for it that He does not grant for harshness.” [Sunan Ibn Majah 3688]
YA RAFEEQ! You’re Gentle and Kind. You have put beauty in generosity, so when I lose my patience and I’m pushed to the edge, pull me back and pour buckets of sabr and softness in my heart so it can pump with ease and help me raise my children on deen like the kind women of Quraish. You gave glad tidings to the strangers! So help me raise such ghurabaa. Give me the kindness that can hold the boundaries gently – that is required to raise such a strong-willed child. So it leaves a legacy that impacts not only my children. but all of my generations and those they impact. Multiply each of these sadaqaat manifolds in reward so I can see a forest where I planted just one seed – with love and gentleness.
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “The best women among the camel riders, are the women of Quraish.” (Another narrator said) The Prophet ﷺ said, “The righteous among the women of Quraish are those who are kind to their young ones and who look after their husband’s property.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 5365]
3) AL-WADOOD (The Most Loving)
And ask forgiveness of your Lord and turn unto Him in repentance. Verily, my Lord is Most Merciful, Most Loving. [Quran – 11:90]
YA WADOOD! I carried a heart so numb that I stopped feeling you closer to my jugular vein. I stopped feeling the weight of kiraaman kaatibeen on my shoulders. I – stopped realizing that I’am from the oummah of Rasool Allah ﷺ – the prophet who cried for me and yearned for my pure belief. Yet, here I am with eyes so dry, but a throat so constricted. A mouth so silent, but a mind that yearns. A heart so heavy that pins my body down to the ground. So here I’am my Lord, here I am with a soul so bare. Help me feel the breeze from jannah beneath my feet when the weight of this world crushes my shoulders. Help me love the role You have given me, so I can fully embrace the responsibility I have been given. Help me love the action that will cause me to attain Your love so make Your love more beloved to me than myself and my beloved.
4) AR-RAHEEM (The Most Merciful)
And had it not been for the Grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, (Allah would have hastened the punishment upon you). And that Allah is full of kindness, Most Merciful. [Quran – 24:20]
YA RAHEEM! It’s hard to describe the emptiness inside – like I’m in pain but I can’t put a finger on the source because each spot I touch, it just feels numb. The months, weeks, and days pass by when I don’t take a break. Sometimes I am running so fast in life, trying to get ahead in every single path, trying to check off every single list, that I forget to hear the beat of my heart and the rhythm of my breaths. So wrap me in Your Mercy so I can show the same mercy to myself that I show my kids. So I can focus on myself as a change, without the noise of the world consuming my brain. You said You draw near to me an arm’s length when I draw near to You a hand span, so let Your Mercy run towards me, when I can just barely walk…
Salman reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: Verily, Allah created, on the same very day when He created the heavens and the earth, one hundred parts of mercy. Every part of mercy is coextensive with the space between the heavens. and the earth and He out of this mercy endowed one part to the earth and it is because of this that the mother shows affection to her child and even the beasts and birds show kindness to one another and when there would be the Day of Resurrection, Allah would make full (use of Mercy). [Sahih Muslim 2753c]
‘But if they turn away – then know that Allah is your protector. Excellent is the protector, and Excellent is the helper. [Quran – 8:40]
Ya Naseer! My body has gone weak and strong at the same time during this journey of motherhood. My heart has shrunk and expanded at the same time. I’ve grown and diminished at the same time. People tell me to be grateful and see the bright side but I know You see the turmoil that others don’t. So reward my gratitude despite the hardship with thrones in Jannah. Ya Naseer! I serve and I serve and I serve Your creations. Without a break. Without a complaint. I do all the unappreciated tasks that go unnoticed. So grant me servants left and right in Jannah. Ya Naseer! My body does not like waking up so many times at night and going through the pain – physical and emotional – so I can help the little souls that you’ve given me as Your amaanah. So replace my sacrifice with the highest palace in Jannah.
6) AL-WAHHAAB (The Bestower)
, “Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower. [Quran – 3:8]
Ya Wahhaab! I know that talking about my pain is uncomfortable for the people around, so I complain to you to validate my feelings because no one else will listen and reward like You would so replace my tears with forever joy in Jannah. Ya Wahhaab! My emotions turn into a whirlwind inside me amidst all the chaos but I try my best to not take it out on the kids so replace my suppression with freedom in Jannah. Ya Wahhaab! Mothering is hard and even though so many women have been doing it since the birth of human being, it doesn’t minimise my pain. You know it more than me so turn my patience into pride in Jannah. Ya Wahhaab! I make dua for me before these little beings are able to make dua for me and become my sadaqah jaariyah with Your Mercy beyond my life as well. So bless me with their company in Jannah as well.
7) AL-QAADIR (The Fully Able One)
Say, “He is the Able to send upon you affliction from above you or from beneath your feet or to confuse you sects and make you taste the violence of one another.” Look how We diversify the signs that they might understand. [Quran – 6:65]
Ya Qaadir!
I ask You that I make the best appeal
the best supplication and the best deeds
Grant me the understanding of deen
Beneficial knowledge and acceptable deeds
Save me from the evil of my soul
Let light pour through every pore
I ask You for honor and all the goodness
And words that bring me near to forgiveness
Forgive me for all my excess
sins that are hidden or sent ahead
Make me one most grateful to You
And the one who always turns towards You
I ask You for guidance, taqwa, and contentment
And protection from wealth that becomes a torment
Make light in my heart, my hearing, my sight
My tongue, my left, and my right
Bestow me with light above and below
In front, behind, in my body, and my soul.
8) AL-MUJEEB (The Responsive)
And to Thamud their brother Salih. He said, “O my people, worship Allah ; you have no deity other than Him. He has produced you from the earth and settled you in it, so ask forgiveness of Him and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is near and responsive.” [Quran – 11:61]
Ya Mujeeb!
I only ask You of everything
Your hand is always the only one giving
Don’t make me an ignorant being
And let my knowledge be increased
Grant me an entrance and living in a safe place
With provision of fruits from Your divine grace
Accept my services, they’re only for You
Make me Muslim and my descendants too
Make among them, reciters of Your book
May they teach Your wisdom without any crook
Keep us safe from evil of everything created
Especially from black magic and envy never sated ‘
“I said not to them except what You commanded me – to worship Allah , my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness.” [Quran – 5:117]
Ya Raqeeb! You know the duas I silently make. But the words in the Quran are my perfect guide.
Say, “Our Lord will bring us together; then He will judge between us in truth. And He is the Knowing Judge.” [Quran – 34:26]
Ya Fattaah! You have the ability to open doors of opportunity that have been closed for long, grant victory when it feels so far, bring out the truth that clears away the darkness around, and reveal what is hidden even when it’s not sought.
Ya Fattaah! Open my heart to see the longing I hold inside…
It was narrated that Anas bin Malik said: “The Prophet (saas) heard a man say: ‘Allahumma! Inni as’aluka bi-anna lakal-hamd. La ilaha illa Anta, wahdaka la sharika laka. Al-Mannan. Badi’us-samawati wal-ard. Dhul-jalali wal-ikram (O Allah! I ask You by virtue of the fact that all praise is due to You; none has the right to be worshiped but You alone, and You have no partner or associate, the Bestower, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, the Possessor of majesty and honor.’ He (saas) said: ‘He has asked Allah by His Greatest Name which, if He is asked thereby He gives and if He is called upon thereby He answers.'” [Sunan Ibn Majah 3858]
Ya Mannaan! You are the One Who graciously gives favours and gifts before you are even asked! You are the One Who shows kindness to His creation by bestowing Your blessings upon them and providing them with everything they need – without them ever mentioning it, without them ever working hard for it. You bestow Your kindness on the righteous believers by guiding them, assisting them, and granting them true faith – without them ever realising it.
You are the Giver and You give and give and give…Yet You never tire away…
As a parent, I get tired by endless demands placed on my shoulders so my giving is limited. But Your giving is endless. and I am in need.
Ya Mannan! I am in need of whatever good you bestow me – even if I have no words to ask…
12) AR-RAZZAAQ (The Great Provider)
“Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong.” [Quran – 51:58]
Ya Razzaaq! Your Rizq is in things I can touch – money, property, food, water, shelter, health, etc. And the things I can not touch – love, joy, knowledge, wisdom, support, peace, guidance, companionship, steadfastness, opportunities, etc. And I want Your rizq in all forms with khair!
Ya Razzaaq! If my Rizq remains in the heavens, shower it down upon me. If my Rizq is buried beneath the ground, extract it for me. If my Rizq remains distant, draw me close to it. If my Rizq is obscured from my sight, make it evident to me. If my Rizq is limited, increase it and if it is vast, bless it. If my Rizq will lead me away from You, lead me away from it.
Ya Razzaaq! Let my Rizq chase me more than I chase it. Let my greatest Rizq be loving You, being Loved by You, and loving the actions that increase this love.
