—great significance with regard to its being answered and accepted. Allah Most High says: “And remember the Man of the Fish, when he went away in anger, thinking that We would not constrain him. Then he cried out from the depths of darkness: ‘There is no deity but You. Glory be to You! Indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers.’ So We answered him and delivered him from anguish. Thus do We deliver the believers.”1

It is established in the sunnah that whenever a Muslim invokes Allah with this great and blessed supplication for anything, Allah answers him. Al-Tirmidhī and others narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “The supplication of the Man of the Fish when he called upon Allah from the belly of the fish was: ‘There is no deity but You. Glory be to You! Indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers.’ No man has ever invoked Allah with it for anything without Allah answering him.”2

If, in addition to this, the servant appeals to Allah by means of the righteous deeds he performed during his life to draw near to Him and seek His pleasure, his supplication will not be rejected. This was the case with the three men whom the boulder trapped inside the cave: each of them appealed to Allah by means of one of his righteous deeds until Allah thereby granted them relief. Their story was related in full earlier.

Thus, the servant’s drawing near to Allah, performing righteous deeds in abundance, and turning to his Lord with that which pleases Him are the greatest means of attaining acceptance and the foremost causes of receiving an answer. Success lies in the hand of Allah alone.