the idol-worshippers—that their gods answer them and come to their aid. In reality, such a notion has no basis whatsoever: anyone you invoke apart from Allah will never respond. Even the Messenger ﷺ himself—were you to call out, “O Messenger of Allah, save me from this hardship!”—you would be a polytheist and an unbeliever, and the Messenger ﷺ would disown you; indeed, were he alive, he would fight you. No one may be invoked except Allah. Every being that is called upon besides Allah fails to answer. The Exalted says, “And who is more astray than one who calls, apart from Allah, upon those who will not answer him until the Day of Resurrection, while they are unaware of their supplication? And when mankind is gathered, they will be enemies to them and will reject their worship.” These and similar verses all demonstrate the excellence of supplication and urge people toward it; they show that a person should never feel independent of his Lord, even for the blink of an eye. Allah alone grants success.

1465 – Narrated by al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr ⦗may Allah be pleased with him⦘: the Prophet ﷺ said, “Supplication is worship.” Recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who both classified it as ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ (sound and authentic).

[Commentary]
After the author—may Allah have mercy on him—cited the verses proving the virtue of supplication and the command to practice it, he introduced the aḥādīth, for the evidences in Islam are the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Muslims.