Why Our Prayers and Dua'as are Not Answered

[amma]

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakathuhu


IBRAHEEM IBN ADHAM - may Allah have mercy on him - a third century scholar, a teacher and a companion of Sufyaan ath-Thawree, was asked about the saying of Allah - the Most High:


"AND YOUR LORD SAYS: 'CALL ON ME I WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYER..." [40:60]


"We supplicate and we are not answered."


So he said to them:


You know Allah, Yet you do not obey Him,


You recite the Qur'aan, Yet do not act according to it,


You know Shaitaan(Devil), Yet you have agreed with him,


You proclaim that you love Muhammad, (P.B.U.H) Yet you abandon his Sunnah,


You proclaim your love for Paradise, Yet you do not act to gain it,


You proclaim your fear the Fire, Yet you do not prevent yourselves from sins,


You say "Indeed death is true", Yet you have not prepared for it,


You point out the faults with others, Yet you do not look at your faults,


You eat of that which Allah has provided for you, Yet you do not thank Him,


You bury your dead, Yet you do not take a lesson from it."


Taken from Khushoo fis-Salaat (p.62) of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbalee - rahimullah.

[amma]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The slave will receive a response so long as his dua does not involve sin or severing of family ties, and so long as he is not hasty.” It was said, “What does being hasty mean?” He said: “When he says, ‘I made dua and I made dua, and I have not seen any response,’ and he gets frustrated and stops making dua.”

[bukhari&Muslim]

The Prophet (saws) has said in a

Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira: Make Dua and be assured of being answered, and know that Allah does not answer a Dua from a careless heart which is not concentrating.

[Tirmidhi]