‘O Husayn, how many gods do you worship?’

He replied, ‘Seven gods: six on earth and one in heaven.’

He asked, ‘Which of them do you turn to in hope and fear?’

He replied, ‘The One in heaven.’

He said, ‘Accept Islam, and I will teach you words through which Allah Most High will benefit you.’ So he accepted Islam, and he said, ‘Say: O Allah, inspire me to follow right guidance and protect me from the evil of my own soul.’” Reported by Ahmad and others.

For this reason, He, glorified and exalted is He, says:

“When My servants ask you about Me, I am indeed near. I answer the call of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.”

He, glorified is He, tells us that He is near to His servants and answers the call of the supplicant when he calls upon Him. This is a statement of His lordship over them, His granting their requests, and His answering their supplications. For when they call upon Him, they acknowledge His lordship over them, even if they are also disbelievers in another respect and are defiantly disobedient or sinners. He Most High says:

“When harm befalls you at sea, those you invoke vanish from your thoughts, except Him. But when He delivers you safely to land, you turn away. Man is ever ungrateful.”

He Most High also says:

“When harm touches man, he calls upon Us, lying on his side, sitting, or standing. But when We remove his harm, he goes on as though he had never called upon Us to relieve any harm that had touched him. Thus were the deeds of the transgressors made appealing to them.”

There are many similar passages in the Quran. Then He commands them to do two things, saying:

“So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.”

The “first” is to obey Him in the worship and seeking of His help that He has commanded them. The “second” is to believe in His lordship and His sole right to worship, and that He is their Lord and their God.

For this reason, it has been said: supplications are answered through sound belief and complete obedience;