Imam Ahmed, may God be pleased with him, once was traveling and needed to stay somewhere overnight. When he went to the masjid, the guard (not recognizing Imam Ahmed) denied him entrance. Imam Ahmed tried numerous times, but the guard did not accept his requests. Frustrated, Imam Ahmed resolved to spend the night int he masjid yard. The guard became furious and dragged him away, despite the old age and frailty of Imam Ahmed. A baker, whose shop was nearby, watched this scene and took pity on Imam Ahmed. He invited the Imam to stay with him for the night. While there, Imam Ahmed noticed that the baker continually made istighfar (asking for Allah’s forgiveness) while working, and in the morning, the Imam eagerly asked his host about the latter’s continual seeking of forgiveness. The baker said it had become like second nature, and Imam Ahmed then asked whether the man had experienced any reward from this practice.

The baker answered, “By Allah! No duaa (supplication to God) I made except that it was answered but one.” “And what is that duaa?” asked Imam Ahmed.

“To be able to see the famed Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal!”

Imam Ahmed interjected, “I am Ahmed ibn Hanbal!”

He then went on to add:

“By Allah! I was dragged to your place so that you can have your duaa/wish come true.”

- Summarized from Al Jumuah magazine, vol 19, issue 7.

SubhanAllah… Allah dragged Imam Ahmed to the house of the baker to answer his duaa. We needa start making istighfar..

Taken from: www.islamequalscool.wordpress.com


12 Responses to “Key to getting supplications answered: seeking forgiveness”  

  1. 1 Zubair Khan

    Jazakumullahu khayr, that is a very beneficial reminder.

    And the best du’a for seeking forgiveness is Sayyidul Istighfar.

    About Sayyidul Istighfar:

    The Prophet, Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Aalihi Wa Sallam, added, “If somebody recites it during the day with firm faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the morning he will be from the people of Paradise.”

    Subhanallah, shouldn’t we then memorize it and make that du’a throughout the day?

  2. 2 Sr. Aysha Khanom

    SubhanAllah.. lovely

  3. 3 Suzane D.

    SubhanAllah, truly inspiring! Gave me the chills.

  4. 4 iMuslim

    That is a wonderful story, masha’Allah!

  5. 5 Editor@IJTEMA

    Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah
    I pray that you are in the best of health & imaan.
    This is a short message to notify you that this entry has been selected for publishing on IJTEMA.net, a venture to highlight the best of the Muslim blogosphere. Please visit the site to find out more about our initiative.
    May Allah bless you for your noble efforts.
    Wa’salam

  6. 6 Ihssan

    What a nice story MashAllah! Thanks for posting!

  7. 7 Kadijatu

    SubhanAllah, jazakAllahkhair for this beautiful reminder!

  8. 8 maryam

    jezak Allahu khayrin for this post!

  9. 9 River

    Well it’s been ten years, and a thousand tears
    And look at the mess I’m in-
    A broken nose and a broken heart,
    A heart full of sins
    Well I sit and I pray
    In my broken down Chevrolet-
    While I’m singin’ to myself
    There’s got to be another way

    take away this ball and chain
    I’m lonely and I’m tired
    And I can’t take any more pain

    Never to return again

    Well I’ve searched and I’ve searched
    To find the perfect life-

    But wherever I have gone
    I was sure to find myself there-
    You can run all your life
    But not go anywhere

    Well I’ll pass them on the way
    To my dingy hotel room-
    I spent all my money
    Been slippin’ since a half past noon-
    I’ll wake there in the mornin’
    Or maybe in the county jail-
    Times are hard getting harder
    I’m born to lose and destined to fail-

    Take away this ball and chain

  10. 10 susan

    subhan’Allah, that was entirely awesome! funny too.
    yeh, we def. have to get our istighfar on. =)

  11. 11 A.A.

    Wow, that was touching… Jazakallah Khair Brother.

  12. 12 bint Husayn

    is there a source for this other than that its from al-jumu`ah magazine?

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