so let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided.
The closest a person ever is to his Lord is while he is prostrating. Prostration represents the consummate form of humility before Allah, for you place your noblest and highest limb on the lowest spot—down where the feet tread—in reverence of the Lord. In return, Allah, exalted is He, wills nothing but to draw near to you in that moment, even as you draw near to Him. Therefore, multiply your supplications while you are in prostration, whether in the obligatory prayers or the voluntary ones. Ask abundantly about the concerns of this world and of the Hereafter; all of it is good. Even if, while prostrating, you plead for worldly matters, the act is still meritorious, because supplication itself is worship. Should you say, “O Allah, increase my wealth; O Allah, grant me a pleasant dwelling; O Allah, provide me with a comfortable car,” and the like, there is no harm in that—even during an obligatory prayer. Say as well, “O Allah, forgive me and my parents,” for any request you address to Allah counts as an act of worship, whatever it may be.
Indeed, the Prophet said, “Let one of you ask his Lord even for the strap of his sandal.” The sandal-strap is something trivial, yet you are encouraged to ask Allah for everything, because every petition you raise to Him is worship for you.
Furthermore, be certain that whenever you pray to Allah, you stand to gain in every case: either He grants what you sought, or He deflects from you something more harmful, or He stores the reward for you with Him on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever calls upon Allah is never disappointed.
So increase your supplications; increase your pleas to Allah; increase your seeking of forgiveness and your repentance to Him. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “A veil comes over my heart, and I seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him one hundred times.” This is the one whose past and future sins had already been forgiven, yet he would say, “I seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him” one hundred times each day. Do not neglect to do likewise—it is easy. If you repeated “I seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him” a hundred times, you could finish in ten minutes or less. It is simple, yet by it you earn great good and follow the example of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. And Allah alone grants success.