DUA WITHOUT ACTION? Or action without dua? Or something else?
These were all questions that arose when we talked about making sure that we always try to do our best in any given situation.
Living in a world detached from the Divine, we can easily find ourselves rushing to action, confident in our own abilities and forget that there is a Power beyond us in whose hands lies all success and victory. Equally, we can be quite fatalistic and inactive, making dua but no effort beyond that.
The recent flare-up in Palestine is a good example where we saw both attitudes. The truth however is something in between.
Dua may be only words but it is an action and of the greatest forms of worship. It becomes inevitable for a humble Believer who knows that Allah ﷻ is the only One worthy of worship and in control of all outcomes whilst he is weak and unable.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
‘You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help.’ (Fatiha 5)
However, if we consider carefully, dua is rarely the only action that Allah ﷻ asks us to do in any given situation. Even if they are small or seemingly pointless, we must do those actions.
When Maryam (as) called out to her Lord in the agony of labour, He ﷻ came to her support. Yet He asked her to shake the palm tree for the fruit to fall.
وَهُزِّىٓ إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ ٱلنَّخْلَةِ تُسَـٰقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا
فَكُلِى وَٱشْرَبِى وَقَرِّى عَيْنًا ۖ
‘And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. So, eat and drink and be contented…” (Maryam 25-26)
Have you tried to shake a date palm tree? Does it budge? And for a woman in labour who can hardly stand due to the pain let alone shake a tree!
Similarly, when Musa (as) stood between the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh. Allah ﷻ came to his support but He asked him to hit the sea with his stick.
فَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰٓ أَنِ ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْبَحْرَ ۖ فَٱنفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ فِرْقٍ كَٱلطَّوْدِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
‘Then We inspired to Moses, “Strike with your staff the sea,” and it parted, and each portion was like a great towering mountain.’ (ash Shu’ara 63)
Have you tried to hit the water with a stick? Does it part?
In these examples, Allah ﷻ is teaching us that we must act, even though these actions may be small or seemingly irrelevant. We must do our part and Allah will do His. After all, it is for Allah to provide rizq and for Allah to suspend the laws of physics to part the sea. Our state of pain or suffering or weakness is not an excuse for not taking those actions in our control.
If we look at our Prophet ﷺ and the sahaba we see that this is a consistent feature. They made dua before, during and after they took the appropriate action. So, they made dua to Allah asking for His help to open the hearts and minds of the people as they prepared their arguments and took the styles to win the people to Islam. Similarly, they made dua asking for support and victory at battles but that did not stop them from preparing for war, putting on their armour, strategizing, taking all the means to protect themselves and ensure victory.
There are times when all one can do is dua. Take Yunus (as) when he was swallowed by the whale and found himself surrounded by the darkness of the whale’s belly, in the darkness of the deepest ocean under the darkness of the night. In that utter situation of helplessness, there was nothing more than dua.
This approach of dua and action is consistent with the reality around us.
We realise that Allah ﷻ has given us free will and we have a sphere in which we are in control. In this sphere, we make decisions and act upon those decisions in the hope of certain outcomes. And there is another sphere in which we have no control. It is Allah who decides if our actions lead to success or failure.
If we consider our dua then we see that it reflects these spheres. So, in our sphere, we act and we ask Allah before, during and after the action to give us the strength and ability to act in the best way and for it to be guided and acceptable to Him. And in His sphere, we ask Allah to give us the success and victory that we are looking for.
Take the example of repentance. We ask Him ﷻ to forgive us for our sins for that is for Him to do in His sphere. But we also ask Him to give us the ability to recognise our sins and stay away from them in our sphere of control.
It is strange to make dua and not act. We do not do this in any aspect of our lives. Has anyone passed an exam by only making dua? Or gotten a job? Or got married? Or gone to Hajj? We make dua for each of these but we undertake the correct actions for each. We study. We look for a job and acquire the skills and attend interviews. We look for a spouse, propose and organise the nikah.
This last point of appropriate actions is important. We must do actions that are consistent with what we hope to achieve.
To pass an exam we need to study, not play the latest video game. And even when it comes to studying, we need to study the right subject, the relevant syllabus and use the relevant styles and techniques to pass the exam.
This is obvious. If we want to pray, we do not fast. When we want to give zakat, we do not go on umrah. The action must be appropriate to the intended outcome either based on textual evidence or by ration.
Going back to the Palestine example, we sometimes come across a mismatch between action and intended outcomes. The issue is one of oppression and occupation. The solution to occupation is liberation. Whilst this may appear to be very difficult and distant to achieve in our current reality, we need to be able to identify the correct steps (rationally and/or textually) required to bring about liberation and then work towards that.
To make dua and not then act would in truth be an insincerity to the dua. It would mean that we do not really mean what we are asking for.
To end, in order to try our best in whatever we do, we make dua and do whatever is in our capacity of the appropriate actions.
قُلْ إِن تُخْفُوا۟ مَا فِى صُدُورِكُمْ أَوْ تُبْدُوهُ يَعْلَمْهُ ٱللَّهُ ۗ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
‘Say, ‘Allah knows everything that is in your hearts, whether you conceal or reveal it; He knows everything in the heavens and earth; Allah has power over all things.” (ale Imran 29)
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