that the more reliable view is that a parent’s supplication—whether for his child or against him—is answered. When he prays for the child, it is out of affection and mercy, and “those who show mercy, Allah will show mercy to them.” When he prays against the child, he will only do so because the child deserves it; and once the child is indeed deserving, Allah answers the parent’s plea.

Thus there are three supplications that are certainly answered: the prayer of the oppressed, the prayer of the traveler, and the prayer of the parent—mother or father alike.

After listing these, the author cites a hadith that teaches what a person should say when he fears certain people or any source of harm. Imagine you meet a group whose harm you dread, or you encounter someone whose evil you fear; then say:

Allahumma inna najʿaluka fī nuḥūrihim wa naʿūdhu bika min shurūrihim (O Allah, we place You before them and seek refuge with You from their evils).

If you pronounce these words with sincerity, devotion, and a full reliance upon Allah, He will protect you from their harm. “We place You before them” means: we put You in front of them so that You drive them away from us and shield us from them. “And we seek refuge with You from their evils” completes the plea, and in such a state Allah suffices you against them. Two brief phrases—if uttered truthfully and with heartfelt sincerity—bring about Allah’s answer. Allah alone grants success.