whenever he mentioned someone and supplicated for him, begin with himself.” Al-Tirmidhī narrated this1.

The Quran contains many examples of this kind, such as the words of Allah Most High: “Ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and women”2; His words: “My Lord, forgive me, my parents, whoever enters my house as a believer, and the believing men and women”3; and His words: “Our Lord, forgive me, my parents, and the believers on the Day when the Reckoning is established”4. A supplicant says this when he wishes to supplicate for himself and others. If, however, he wishes to supplicate only for someone else, he is not required in that case to supplicate for himself, as is found in many of the Prophet’s supplications—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—including, as previously mentioned, his supplication for Anas and his supplication for Mu‘āwiyah—may Allah be pleased with them both.

The fourth category is to supplicate for oneself and others using the plural pronoun, as in the qunūt supplication, the supplication for rain, and the supplication offered by the preacher on Friday.

An example is the report narrated by al-Tirmidhī and others from ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would rarely rise from a gathering before making these supplications for his Companions: “O Allah, apportion to us enough fear of You to stand between us and disobedience to You, enough obedience to You to bring us into Your Paradise, and enough certainty to make the afflictions of this world easy for us. O Allah, let us enjoy our hearing, sight, and strength for as long as You keep us alive, and make them remain with us to the end. Let our retribution fall upon those who have wronged us, and grant us victory over those who