2. “And when My servants ask you about Me, then indeed I am near. I answer the supplication of the caller whenever he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.” (Qur’an 2:186)

• This verse presents both the question and its answer. That is: when the servants ask you about their Lord and about the way to obtain their needs from Him, reply with this response that seizes the hearts and obliges the servant to attach to his Lord every (1) religious and worldly request. Inform them that Allah is near to those who supplicate; no veil screens His door, no gatekeeper bars entry, and nothing stands between Him and His servants at any time or under any circumstance.

When, therefore, the servant brings the proper cause and means—supplication to Allah coupled with responding to Him through faith and submission to His obedience—he should rejoice in an assured answer to prayers of petition and request, and in reward, recompense, and right guidance when his prayer is an act of worship.

Every outward and inward devotional act falls under the heading of “the supplication of worship,” for the worshiper, by the tongue of words and by the tongue of his very state, is asking his Lord to accept that act and reward him for it.

• This verse also points out the causes that guarantee an answer to supplication, all of which revolve around faith in Allah and the realization of that faith through yielding to Him—obeying His commands and avoiding His prohibitions.

• It likewise highlights that the obstacles to an answered prayer are the absence of realized faith and obedience; consuming what is unlawful and committing sins are among the impediments to acceptance, for they conflict with responding to Allah.

• It further teaches that faith in Allah and responding to Him lead to the acquisition of knowledge, for right guidance (rushd) represents perfect direction in both knowledge and action. A parallel is His saying: “O you who believe, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion” (Qur’an 8:29)—that is, insight enabling you to distinguish truth from falsehood and to discern everything that requires clarification.