It is also established from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that supplication is not rejected when the call to prayer is made. Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sā‘idī—may Allah be pleased with him—reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Two supplications are not rejected—or are seldom rejected: supplication at the call to prayer, and supplication amid battle, when the combatants engage one another in close combat.”1

Among the times when a Muslim should be especially diligent in supplication are the ends of the prescribed prayers. Al-Tirmidhī and others relate with a sound chain of transmission that Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī—may Allah be pleased with him—said: The Messenger of Allah was asked, “Which supplication is most readily answered?” He replied: “That offered during the latter part of the night and at the ends of the prescribed prayers.”2

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed Muādh ibn Jabal to say at the end of every prayer: “O Allah, help me to remember You, thank You, and worship You well.”3 The “end of the prayer” mentioned in this hadith and the preceding one may refer either to before the final salutation or after it. Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Our shaykh—meaning Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him—held that it was more likely to mean before the final salutation. I questioned him about this, and he said, ‘The rear of everything is part of it, like the rear of an animal.’”4 Allah is the grantor of success.