for there is no disagreement that avoiding whatever incurs Allah’s anger is obligatory.”1 Mention has already been made of Allah Most High’s statement: “And your Lord says, ‘Call upon Me; I will answer you. Surely those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell in humiliation.’”2 This indicates that a servant’s failure to call upon his Lord is a form of arrogance, which must undoubtedly be avoided.
Another report concerning the virtue of supplication was narrated by al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad and Ibn Hibbān in his Sahīh as a statement of Abū Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with him—and by al-Tabarānī in al-Awsat from Abū Hurayrah, traced back to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—who said: “The most incapable of people is the one who is incapable of supplication, and the stingiest of people is the one who withholds the greeting of peace.”3 Supplication is extremely easy for everyone: it requires no effort to perform, nor does it subject the supplicant to weariness or hardship. Thus, being incapable of it or neglecting to perform it is the most extreme form of incapacity. Anyone who is incapable of supplication despite its ease and simplicity is even more likely to be incapable of other things. No one is incapable of supplication except a person of low aspiration and weak faith.
Another report concerning the virtue of supplication was narrated by Imām Ahmad, Ibn Mājah, and others from Thawbān—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Nothing repels the divine decree except supplication.”4 This provides evidence that Allah, Glorified is He, through supplication wards off what He has decreed for the servant,