Who Listens to the Cry of the Distressed? — Qur’anic and Scholarly Explanation
Source: Fatawa ʿUlama-e-Hadith, Vol. 9
❖ Question
Who listens to the cry of a distressed person?
❖ Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
Every person can easily recognize his Lord. The way to do so is that he should supplicate to Allah ﷻ and then observe how that supplication brings results.
It has happened many times that when believing servants went out in a state of distress and repentance to pray for rain (Salat al-Istisqa’), Allah immediately accepted their supplication. Observations even show that rain fell heavily on the town or city whose people came out to pray, while not a single drop fell on the surrounding towns and villages.
Similarly, many times it has been witnessed that due to the blessings of supplication, Allah ﷻ removed the hardships and calamities of distressed people.
◈ Evidence from the Qur’an
Allah ﷻ says:
﴿أَمَّن يُجِيبُ الْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكْشِفُ السُّوءَ وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ خُلَفَاءَ الْأَرْضِ ۗ أَإِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّـهِ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ (٦٢)﴾
(al-Naml, 27:62)
"Who is it that answers the one in distress when he calls upon Him, and removes evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth? Is there any god with Allah? Little is it that you remember."
◈ A Poet’s Reflection
A poet beautifully expressed:
"How many times have Muslims faced famine, when both rich and poor came out together to supplicate to Allah for relief. Allah granted them success, and they were delivered from that calamity. Was all this the work of an idol or of ‘nature’? Or was it the blessing of that All-Hearing Being who removes every affliction?"
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
