Just as a person is commanded to acknowledge the divine decree and Allah’s oneness in lordship when calamities strike, he is also commanded to do so when Allah blesses him by enabling him to perform acts of obedience. Before performing them, he should recognize his need and utter dependence upon Allah’s assistance, and truly embody the words:
“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”
He should offer supplications asking Allah to help him perform acts of obedience, such as:
“Help me to remember You, thank You, and worship You well.”
“O Turner of hearts, keep my heart steadfast upon Your religion. O Director of hearts, direct my heart to obedience to You and Your Messenger.”
“Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us. Grant us mercy from Yourself; You are indeed the Bestower.”
“Our Lord, grant us mercy from Yourself and guide us rightly in our affairs.”
And likewise:
“O Allah, inspire me to follow right guidance and protect me from the evil of my own soul.”
The foremost and best of these supplications is:
“Guide us to the straight path—the path of those You have blessed, not of those who have incurred Your anger, nor of those who have gone astray.”
This is the best of supplications and the one people are most duty-bound to make, for it encompasses the servant’s well-being in religion, in this world, and in the Hereafter. The same applies to supplication for “repentance,” for it includes asking Allah to inspire the servant to repent. Likewise, the supplication of “istikhāra” seeks to have the servant taught what he does not know and to have it made easy for him.
The same is true of the supplication the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would offer when he rose to pray at night. It is recorded in the Sahīh:
“O Allah, Lord of Gabriel, Michael, and Isrāfīl, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, You judge between Your servants concerning that over which they differed. Guide me concerning that over which there is disagreement