For this reason He, exalted be He, said: “When My servants ask you about Me, I am indeed near; I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me so that they may be rightly guided.” [al-Baqara: 186]

The Almighty here informs us that He is near to His servants and that He answers the call of anyone who invokes Him. This is a declaration of His lordship over them, His granting of their requests, and His response to their prayers. For once they call upon Him they have affirmed His lordship—even though, from another angle, they may still be disbelievers, sinners, or transgressors. He says, “When harm touches you at sea, all those you invoke besides Him vanish, save Him alone; yet when He brings you safely to land you turn away, and man is ever ungrateful.” [al-Isrāʾ: 67] And He says, “When hardship befalls a person he calls upon Us—lying on his side, sitting, or standing—but when We remove his hardship he goes on as though he had never called upon Us concerning the hardship that befell him. Thus the deeds of the prodigal are made attractive to them.” [Yūnus: 12] Verses of this kind are many in the Quran.

He then commands them with two things, saying: “So let them respond to Me and believe in Me so that they may be rightly guided.” [al-Baqara: 186] The first is that they obey Him in what He has commanded of worship and seeking His help; the second is faith in His lordship and godhead—that He alone is their Lord and their God.

Hence it has been said that the answering of supplication depends on sound creed and complete obedience, for immediately after the verse of supplication He says, “So let them respond to Me and believe in Me.” Obedience and worship are the true interests of the servant, in which lie his happiness and salvation, whereas the granting of his specific request may be beneficial and may be harmful. The Almighty says, “And man calls…"