Du'a: what must I ask for?
Reply #1 - December 17, 2015, 10:44 PM
I've dealt with these questions from Muslims when I was a Muslim myself.
The typical muslim answer is that we have free will, but Allah knows our pre-destination.
It's kind of dumb when you look at it as an ex-muslim, but they basically summarize it as "you should make du'a because Allah will help you in your journey of living this life. Yet Allah knows if you're going to end up in Hell or Heaven."
Many sects in Islam were formed, and some even broke off from the "traditional islam" and believed in their own version of Islam because of this concept.
It's sort of like "Allah is Oft-Forgiving, yet Most Severe in Punishment."
If you were to question this concept over and over in your mind, you'll end up with a big headache, so this is why Muslims dismiss it by saying " Allah knows everything, but you must still strive to do good and be a muslim."
As far as du'a being answered, it's all subjective interpretation, which is a reason why Islam fails.
There were justifications for evil du'a being made. Muhammad made a du'a so that a man couldn't eat with his right hand anymore because the man was arrogant in saying that he preferred eating with his left hand..
And so a numerous amount of horrible justifications were made based off that. I remember reading a du'a made by Ahmad Bin Hanbal to kill a man.. Yep.. He said, "May death come to him!" because of some stupid dispute, and "thus the man died instantly." So Allah answered him because he was righteous.. Kind of dumb when you think about it.
The average Muslim most likely believes in saying "May Allah Guide You" and don't believe in making du'a against someone because they haven't read the texts and seen that the Salaf actually implemented this. You'll also find the average Muslim literalist say stuff "May Allah destroy the plots of the kuffar!" And that evidence is pretty vivid in the Qur'an itself. Islam is meant to prevail over disbelief.
As far as the suffering so that we can get more reward in the hereafter.. I think Muslims will justify that there are many other ways to get big rewards than to just suffer.. The Muslims are usually pretty staunch on the importance of making a living and taking care of "worldly affairs" except if you talk to Sufi Mystics who believe to live like monks...
So it all depends on your flavor of Islam at the end of the day.
"If you don't like your religion's fundamentalists, then maybe there's something wrong with your religion's fundamentals."
"Demanding blind respect but not offering any respect in reciprocation is laughable."
"Let all the people in all the worlds be in peace."
Topic: Du'a: what must I ask for?