Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is your supplication answered?” He replied, “I have never raised a morsel to my mouth without knowing where it came from and its source.”1

As for one who, Allah forbid, grows accustomed to eating, drinking, and wearing what is unlawful and to being nourished by it, this conduct becomes a cause of his supplication not being answered. Hence, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said in the hadith, “So how can his supplication be answered?” That is, how could it be answered? The question expresses astonishment and regards such an outcome as highly unlikely. Committing forbidden deeds may likewise prevent a supplication from being answered, as may neglecting obligatory duties. One of the early Muslims said, “Do not complain that the answer is slow in coming when you have blocked its paths with sins.”2

Thus, a servant’s repentance to his Lord, avoidance of sin, devotion to obeying and worshipping Him, ensuring that his food, drink, and clothing are lawful, his humble contrition before Him, and his humility and submission to Him—glorified is He—are all grounds for acceptance and causes for supplication to be answered. Their opposites are grounds for rejection.

In the preceding hadith, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—mentioned four great causes for a supplication to be accepted and answered:

The first is undertaking a long journey. Travel in itself is a cause for supplication to be answered, as stated in the hadith of Abū Hurayrah, in which the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Three supplications are answered without a doubt: the supplication of the wronged, the supplication of the traveller, and a parent’s supplication for his child.” It was narrated by Abū