THE ROLE OF CERTAINTY IN THE

ACCEPTANCE OF SUPPLICATION

There are two things which have a deep and fundamental impact on the acceptance of a supplication:

1. The eradication of inner obstacles, veils of misguidance and the elimination of the internal darkness from the heart.
2. The establishment of an exigency along with the appearance of inner purification and brightness.

A man needs these two things for his supplication to have its impact on the desired motive, and he should necessarily establish them so that he does not have to face helplessness.

Therefore, he should set aside the veils of darkness from his heart and replace it with the Divine illumination as well. And certainty performs this for him. It both eradicates the misguidances, darkness and skepticism from the human heart as well as establishes purity and brightness inside it.

            All those who have reached the level of certainty in the true teachings and beliefs, were the ones with a pure and enlightened heart. This is because the enlightenment and brightness of heart is an indispensable necessity of certainty. And there is no light like the light of certainty.

            Imam Baqir (A.S.) said:

لا نور كنور اليقين‏

“There is no light like the light of certainty”.[1]

Evidently, when certainty enters ones heart and his heart enlightens, darkness and skepticisms are eradicated; because light and darkness cannot gather at one point.

Therefore, with the help of attaining certainty, we can get rid of the darkness that hinders the acceptance of a supplication, and at the same time, achieve the brightness that is necessary for the acceptance of a supplication.

            For our readers to become more aware of the role of certainty in the acceptance of a supplication, we will now indicate towards an incident narrated in the book “Asraar e Muwaffaqiyyat”.

            Grand Ayatullah Khoei narrates a very interesting incident from Sheikh Ahmad, the servant of Ustaad ul Fuqa’haa, Late Mirza e Buzurg e Shirazi, regarding the impact of reciting ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’ with absolute certainty that he said:

            “Late Mirza Shirazi had another servant named Sheikh Mohammad, who turned himself aloof of people after the death of Mirza.

            One day, a person went to Sheikh Mohammad and saw that he filled his lamp with water at the time of sunset and turned it on. He became extremely astonished and asked him the reason behind his act.

            Sheikh Mohammad said in reply: After the death of Late Mirza, I disconnected myself from people and remained at home due to the grief and sorrow I felt by the departure of that great person. My heart was deeply aggrieved and my entire being was consumed by extreme sadness and sorrow.

            In the late hours of a day, a youth, who seemed to be an Arab student, came to me and gained attachment, and remained near me till sunset. I was so overwhelmed by his words that all my sadness and sorrow flew away. He visited me for a few days until I became attached to him.

            On one of the days while we he was talking to me, it came to my memory that my lamp does not have oil. As the tradition was at those times that all the shops were shut down by the sunset, so were they at night.

            Therefore, I was caught by the thought that if I leave my house to purchase oil, I would be deprived of his precious words. And if I do not purchase oil, I will have to spend the night in dark.

            When he found me confused, he turned to me and said: What has happened to you that you do not lend ears to my words attentively?

            I said: I am attentive towards your speech.

            He said: Absolutely not, you do not pay appropriate attention to what I am saying.

            I said: Actually, my lamp does not have oil tonight.

            He said: It is a matter of extreme astonishment that we have recited so many Hadith for you and talked about the merits of ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’, but you haven’t benefitted even to such an extent that you can become independent of oil?

            I said: I cannot recollect if you mentioned a Hadith in this regard!

            He said: Have you forgotten what I told you regarding the benefits and attributes of ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’ that when you recite it with a specific intention, that intention is attained? Fill your lamp with water but with the intention that the water attains the attributes of oil, say “Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’.

            I accepted his word, then stood up and filled the lamp with water while I said ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’ at the same time with the same intention. When I turned on the lamp, it ignited and caught flame. Since that time, whenever the lamp becomes empty, I fill it with water and say “Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’, and it ignites.

            After narrating this incident, Late Ayatullah Khoei said: What is worth astonishment is that after this incident became widespread and known between the people, the act performed by Sheikh Mohammad did not lose its effect.

            As you read above, the impact of reciting ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’ even once with certainty, is absolutely astonishing and unusual.

            Those who possess the knowledge of ‘Ism e Aa’zam’ (the great name), who are very few in number, also make use of those names which are common between the people. But that which differentiates their act from others, is their certainty, because certainty plays the most significant role in the effectiveness of the name pronounced.