Answer
Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- It is not necessary that all du`aa’s should come true in this life. So, a good Muslim should busy himself with making du`aa’ rather than looking for fulfilling his du`aa’s.
2- Answering one’s du`aa’ depends on many factors such as one’s closeness to Allah, earning halal (lawful) livelihood, choosing good times for making du`aa’ such as du`aa’ in the sujud and before the Fajr time, and adhering to good manners of making Du`a’ such as starting one’s du`aa’ with praising Allah and sending peace and blessings on the Prophet (peace be on him) and closing one’s Du`a’ with the same.
Answering your question, Dr. Wael Shehab, PhD in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University and currently the Imam of the Downtown Toronto Masjid in Canada, states:
May Allah Almighty accept your du`aa’ and achieve all your good wishes
Allah Almighty ordered Muslims to resort to du`aa’ in order to seek Allah’s favors and blessings. Allah says, “And your Lord says: Call upon Me, I will answer you.” (Ghafir 40:60)
You need to know that the response to one’s du`aa’ may take one of the following forms.
1- To get what you ask for;
2- To be protected against an evil that would befall you if you don’t make such du`aa’, or’
3- To be delayed to the Hereafter when you receive rewards from Allah for your du`aa’.
So, never lose hope in gaining Allah’s blessings and favors through making du`aa’, which is a form of worship in itself. Inshaa’ Allah (God willing), you may get what you ask for, you may be protected against some evils, or/and you may get the reward for your du`aa’ in the Hereafter.
Given the above, it is clear that a Muslim should never give up making du`aa’. It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Anyone of you will be responded to (i.e. by Allah) as long as he does not hasten saying, ‘I made Du`a’ but haven’t been responded to.’” (Al-Bukhari)
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.