khlaas) once, making the bowing and prostration lengthy. After finishing the prayer, say: ‘O Most Glorious, O One, O Most Generous, I turn to You by virtue of Muhammad Your Prophet, the Prophet of mercy, (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family); O Muhammad, O Messenger of Allah, I turn by virtue of you to Allah, my Lord and your Lord, the Lord of all things. I ask you, O Allah, to send blessings upon Muhammad and the members of his household, and I ask You for a breath of mercy from You, quick relief, and abundant provision, so that I may put my affairs in order, pay off my debts and support my dependents.’”.





Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

In the saheeh Sunnah there is no known prayer specifically for asking for increased provision. The prayer described in the question with this du‘aa’ (supplication) is an innovated prayer; it comes under the heading of prescribing in religion something that Allah has not prescribed, and introducing innovation (bid‘ah) that is prohibited. 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah say concerning any action or word that is not proven from the Sahaabah that it is an innovation (bid‘ah), because if it were something good, they would have done it before us. They did not omit any good attribute but they hastened to do it or attain it.

End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 7/278-279 

Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allah preserve him) said: 

The innovations that have been introduced in the area of worship nowadays are many. But the basic principle with regard to acts of worship is tawqeef [i.e., they can only be known through divine Revelation and sound texts of hadeeth, with no room for personal opinion], so no acts of worship are prescribed except on the basis of evidence. Anything for which there is no evidence is an innovation (bid‘ah), because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever does an action that is not part of this matter of ours will have it rejected.” (Agreed upon). The acts of worship that are done nowadays for which there is no evidence are very many. 

End quote from Kitaab at-Tawheed, p. 160 

Secondly: 

The words of the worshipper in this du‘aa’ after this innovated prayer, “I turn to You by virtue of Muhammad Your Prophet, the Prophet of mercy, (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family); O Muhammad, O Messenger of Allah, I turn by virtue of you to Allah…” are words that are not permissible, and come under the heading of innovated tawassul (means of seeking to draw closer to Allah) that is forbidden. 

For more information on tawassul, both prescribed and prohibited, please see the answer to question no. 3297. 

Anyone who calls upon the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) after his death, or who calls upon anyone else among the dead to ward off harm or bring benefits is a mushrik who has associated someone else with Allah in the sense of major shirk that puts one beyond the pale of Islam, and he has to repent to Allah, may He be exalted. 

For more information please see the answer to question no. 112131 and 114142. 

Thirdly: 

There are some means of increasing provision that are prescribed in Islam, which we shall highlight here, so as to adopt the means that are prescribed and warn against innovations in religion. These include: 

·        Istighfaar (praying for forgiveness) 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“I said (to them): Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving;

He will send rain to you in abundance;

And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers”

[Nooh 70:10-12]. 

·        Upholding ties of kinship 

Al-Bukhaari (2067) and Muslim (2557) narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever would like his rizq (provision) to be increased and his life to be extended, should uphold the ties of kinship.” 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

“his rizq (provision) to be increased” means to be expanded and made abundant or, it was said, to be blessed (barakah). End quote. 

·        Giving a great deal of charity 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Say: Truly, my Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and (also) restricts (it) for him, and whatsoever you spend of anything (in Allah’s Cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers”

[Saba’ 34:39]. 

Muslim (2588) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Charity does not decrease wealth.” 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

They (the scholars) mentioned two meanings of this hadeeth, one of which is that (the wealth) will be blessed (as a result of giving charity) and harm will be warded off from it, so the apparent decrease will be compensated for by means of hidden blessing (barakah). This is something that is well known from experience. The second is that even if it appears to be decreased outwardly, there will be compensation for that in the reward that results from it, and it will be increased manifold. End quote. 

·        Being mindful of Allah and fearing Him (taqwa) 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).

3. And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine”

[al-Talaaq 65:2-3]. 

·        Performing Hajj and ‘Umrah often, following one with the other  

At-Tirmidhi (810) narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood said: The Messenger of Allah (sa) said: “Make the Hajj and ‘Umrah follow each other closely, for they remove poverty and sins as the bellows removes the dross of iron, gold and silver, and an accepted Hajj brings no less a reward than Paradise.”. It was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. 

·        Du‘aa’ (supplication) 

It was narrated by Ibn Maajah (925) from Umm Salamah that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to say, when he said the salaam at the end of Fajr prayer: “Allaahumma inni as’aluka rizqan tayyiban, wa ‘ilman naafi’an, wa ‘amalan mutaqabbalan (O Allaah, I ask you for good (halaal) provision, beneficial knowledge and accepted good deeds).”