Is there a specific du‘aa’ to help one understand?
Question

                Is there a specific du‘aa’ to help one with understand lessons, for students who do not learn easily? Someone advised me to say this du‘aa’: “O Allah, bestow on us Your wisdom and bestow on us Your mercy, O Possessor of majesty and honour).”
Praise be to Allah.
	Firstly: 

	It should be noted that what will help most with 
	understanding is two things: 

	1.
	Taking real measures to understand, by listening 
	attentively, focusing, memorising, reflecting and asking about anything one 
	finds difficult. These are very important matters, that may be difficult to 
	apply in the beginning, but they will become the best means of helping 
	oneself to understand if the learner practices doing them and gets used to 
	them, then they will become second nature to him.

	2.
	Sincerely turning to Allah, may He be exalted, and asking 
	Him to help one understand and learn. Knowledge is light that Allah casts 
	into one’s heart, but if the heart is far from Allah, he will not be ready 
	to receive this light. As for the heart that is close to Allah, by means of 
	worship, love, repentance, praying for forgiveness and turning to Him, it 
	deserves to attain divine help in understanding.

	Ibn al-Qayyim stated in his great book I‘laam al-Muwaqqi‘een 
	a number of things that will help the mufti to understand and comprehend the 
	true nature of matters and new issues with which he is faced, which any 
	seeker of knowledge and truth may use. 

	He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

	The righteous mufti, if he is faced with a new issue, should 
	feel his real need in all situations – not only in the academic sense – for 
	the One Who could inspire him with the correct answer, the One Who teaches 
	what is good, the One Who guides hearts. He should ask Him to guide him to 
	the right answer and help him to come up with the correct response, guiding 
	him to His ruling that He has prescribed for His slaves with regard to this 
	issue. If he knocks at that door, then he has knocked at the door of 
	success, for the one who hopes for the help of his Lord is the most 
	deserving that He should not deprive him of it. Once he finds this 
	aspiration in his heart, this is a sign of success. In that case he has to 
	turn to and look at the source of guidance, the basis of soundness and the 
	foundation of wisdom, which is the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and the 
	reports of the Sahaabah. Then he should strive his utmost to work out the 
	ruling on that new issue from those texts. Once he has attained it, he may 
	tell others about it, but if he is still not sure, he should hasten to 
	repent, seek forgiveness and remember Allah much. For knowledge is the light 
	of Allah which He casts into the heart of His slave, but desires and sins 
	are strong winds that extinguish that light, or almost extinguish it; at 
	least they will inevitably weaken it. 

	I saw Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah sanctify his soul) when he 
	was faced with difficult issues for which he could not find an answer and it 
	was very hard for him. He would flee from them and repent, pray for 
	forgiveness, ask Allah for help, turn to Him, ask Him to inspire him to find 
	the right answer and to bestow upon him from the treasures of His mercy. 
	Then divine help would start to reach him persistently, and he would soon 
	find the answer through divine inspiration. Undoubtedly whoever is guided to 
	realise his need for Allah and express it, and feel that need strongly in 
	his heart, is indeed most fortunate, and whoever is deprived of that will be 
	deprived of any achievement and any help. Once a person combines this sense 
	of need with striving his utmost to find out the truth about an issue, then 
	he is following the straight path. That is the grace of Allah, which He 
	bestows upon whomever He wills, for Allah is the Possessor of abundant 
	grace. End quote. 

	I‘laam al-Muwaqqi‘een 
	(6/67-68); annotated by Mashhoor Hasan Salmaan. 

	Ibn ‘Abd al-Haadi (may Allah have mercy on him) quoted from 
	Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah his words: 

	I keep wondering and thinking about an issue or situation, 
	then I ask Allah, may He be exalted, for forgiveness a thousand times, more 
	or less, until I feel comfort in my heart, then the confusion concerning 
	that issue is soon resolved. 

	He said: Sometimes in that situation I may be in the 
	marketplace or the mosque, or on the road, or in the school, but that does 
	not prevent me from remembering Allah and seeking His forgiveness, and 
	persisting in that until I attain what I am seeking. End quote. 

	Al-‘Uqood ad-Durriyyah 
	(p. 6) 

	Secondly: 

	We have not come across any specific supplication attributed 
	to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that it is Sunnah 
	to recite when seeking proper understanding of an issue. Rather there are 
	adhkaar that were narrated from some of the early generation, or that are 
	based on the interpretation of some Prophetic hadiths, or are based on some 
	good supplications that are mentioned in those hadiths. Even though these 
	supplications are not limited to the situation mentioned, reciting it in 
	that situation is based on the understanding and ijtihaad of the early 
	scholars who did that. 

	If someone recites these adhkaar and du‘aas that were 
	narrated from the early generations, without believing that this is 
	something specific to this particular situation, or that reciting it in this 
	particular situation is Sunnah, or that it has a specific virtue, there is 
	nothing wrong with that. 

	Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) also said: 

	It is appropriate for the mufti to frequently recite the 
	supplication from the saheeh hadith: 
	Allaahumma Rabba Jibreela wa Mikaa’eela 
	wa Israafeel, faatir al-samawaati wa’l-ard, ‘aalim al-ghaybi wa’l-shahaadah, 
	anta tahkumu bayna ‘ibaadika fima kaanu fihi yukhtalifoon, ihdini 
	lima’khtulifa fihi min al-haqq bi idhnika, innaka tahdi man tasha’ ila 
	siraatin mustaqeem (O 
	Allaah, Lord of Jibreel (Gabriel), Michael and Israfeel, Creator of the 
	heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, You are the Knower 
	of the unseen and the seen, You will judge between Your slaves concerning 
	that wherein they differ. Guide me to the truth of that wherein they 
	differed by Your leave, for You guide whomsoever You will to the Straight 
	Path).  Our shaykh – 
	namely Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah – often used to recite this. If he came 
	across difficult issues, he would say: O Teacher of Ibraaheem, teach me. And 
	he would often seek divine help with these words, following the example of 
	Mu‘aadh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him). 

	Some of the early generations used to say when issuing fatwas: 
	Glory be to You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us, for 
	verily You are the All-Knowing , Most Wise. 

	Mak-hool used to say: 
	Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa Billaah 
	(There 
	is no power and no strength except with Allah). 

	Maalik used to say: Ma sha Allah, laa quwwata illa Billaah 
	al-‘Aliy al-‘Azeem (As Allah wills; there is no 
	strength except with Allah, the Most High, 
	the Most Great). 

	Some of them used to say: “O 
	my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and 
	boldness); And ease my task for me; And make loose the knot (the defect) 
	from my tongue, (i.e. remove the incorrectness from my speech), That they 
	understand my speech ” 
	[Ta-Ha 20:25-28]. 

	Some of them used to say: O Allah, help me, guide me, correct 
	me, enable me to attain what is right and earn reward, and forgive me if I 
	make a mistake or am deprived of an answer. 

	Some of them used to recite al-Faatihah. 

	We have tried that ourselves, and we found it to be among the 
	most effective means of finding the right answer. 

	What matters in all of that is having a good intention, 
	sincerity and a proper aim. 

	Imam Ahmad was asked: If it is too difficult for us to come 
	to you and ask you, who can we ask after you? He said: Ask ‘Abd al-Wahhaab 
	al-Warraaq, for he is most qualified to be guided to the right answer. 

	Imam Ahmad followed the advice of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may 
	Allah be pleased with him): Come close to the mouths of those who are 
	obedient to Allah and listen to what they say, because matters are made 
	clear to them. 

	That is because their hearts are close to Allah. The closer 
	the heart is to Allah, the more the confusion and distractions that result 
	from bad deeds will be removed from the heart, and the more perfect and 
	strong will be the light by means of which he sees the truth. The further 
	away the heart is from Allah, the more he is exposed to confusion and 
	distraction, and the weaker will be the light by means of which he could see 
	the truth. Knowledge is light that Allah casts into the heart, by means of 
	which a person may distinguish between right and wrong. 

	Maalik said to ash-Shaafa‘i (may Allah be pleased with them 
	both) the first time he met him: I see that Allah has cast light into your 
	heart, so do not extinguish it with the darkness of sin. 

	Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the 
	meaning): “O 
	you who believe! If you obey and fear 
	Allah, He will grant you a criterion ((to judge between right and wrong)” 
	[al-Anfaal 8:29]. Part 
	of that criterion is the light by means of which a person may differentiate 
	between truth and falsehood. The closer his heart is to Allah, the more 
	perfect his criterion will be. And Allah is the source of strength. End 
	quote. 

	I‘laam al-Muwaqqi‘een 
	(6/197-199) 

	And Allah knows best.