Not All Prayers Are Valid, nor Will They Be Granted

Not All Prayers Are Valid, nor Will They Be Granted

Praying to God and asking Him to grant our needs and wishes is one of the greatest acts of worship. It is a beloved act of worship to God and one that is greatly encouraged in the Quran and by the Messenger Muhammad. However, not all prayers are valid, nor will they necessarily be granted. In this blog, we will explore some of the reasons for this.

Invalid Prayers

There are a number of reasons which may cause prayers to be invalid including:

1. Impermissible earnings – wealth which is not attained from pure means or earned by Islamically unlawful means.  The subsequent food, drink, and clothing we purchase with such wealth is one reason for our supplications being rejected.
2. Making Impermissible Requests or asking for evil and harm to befall oneself or others  – praying to God and asking for something which displeases God is something which may be rejected. For example, asking to break our ties of family kinship.
3. Sins – disobeying God can at times act like a barrier which prevents our prayers from being answered.
4. Being Inattentive – the Messenger Muhammad informed us that God does not accept the prayers that come from a heedless heart.

How Prayers Are Granted

For the Muslim who is trying their best and sincerely prays to God, they will find an answer. However, the response may not necessarily be what they expect. The Messenger Muhammad informed us that God answers our prayers in one of three ways:

1. God gives us what we ask for – this means that God accepted our prayers and gave us what we wanted in our lifetime.
2. God does not grant us what we ask for, but instead gives us the reward of our supplication in the Hereafter. 
3. God does not grant our prayer, but instead removes from us an equal harm that would have befallen us, making the prayer a form of protection.

Remember, God is All-Knowing and All-Wise. If God chooses to withhold something from us, it is due to Him knowing that it is not in our best interest. However, the prayers are not lost; the reward of those prayers will be preserved and other harms that we were unaware of will be removed from us.

Therefore, never despair from praying to God as often as you can. When the disciples of the Messenger Muhammad heard the three ways in which God responds to our prayers, they stated that they would pray even more. The Messenger Muhammad replied that God’s bounty will always be more than our prayers.