14.40 Supplication that one's children grow up righteous and grateful
This is the supplication of one of the noble prophets of Allah the Almighty, Ibrahim (peace be upon him). We know of it from an ayah in the surah named after this very prophet of God. As with the other addresses to the Almighty found in the Quran, it holds many lessons, and many useful conclusions can be drawn from it.
Beyond all doubt, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) asked the Lord of the worlds for something truly precious to a believer. “My Lord,” he said. “Make me one of those who keep up prayer.” Not simply one who performs prayer, for very many perform it in the sense of mechanically repeating its actions, but one who keeps it up. That is, one who performs it in the best way, unfailingly, in the best part of the time appointed for it, strictly observing all the prescriptions concerning prayer. One who performs it with all the necessary conditions, carrying out all the obligatory and recommended actions in an exemplary way. In other words, one who does everything to make his prayer complete and makes every effort to make it perfect. This is what Ibrahim (peace be upon him) wished for.
Why prayer in particular? Because it is the symbol of religion and one of its pillars. Because it connects a person with his Lord and Creator. Because it is one of the most important and beautiful ways of worshipping the Almighty and drawing near to Him. Prayer is among the shortest paths to the pleasure of the Lord, and therefore to Paradise.
But the noble prophet, as we see, asked for this great good not only for himself but also for his descendants. “And those of my descendants.” That is, let there be among my descendants too those who perform prayer in the most flawless way, with full sincerity, with humility and concentration, with fear of God and firm faith, carrying out all the actions as well as possible. By this Ibrahim (peace be upon him) set a beautiful example for all believers, for each of us should ask for good in both worlds not only for himself but also for his descendants. And, of course, we should not only ask the Almighty for this, but also make the effort ourselves for our descendants to be sincere believers who keep up prayer. Who if not the parents should from an early age instil in a child a love of prayer and remind him of its importance and value?..
This supplication is among the best words with which a sincere servant of Allah can call upon his Almighty and Great Lord, for if the Almighty helps a person to keep up prayer, that will be an enormous good for him and will bring him a great reward.
And the last thing Ibrahim (peace be upon him) asked of the Lord in this supplication was: “Our Lord! Accept my prayers.” How fervent and sincere this supplication was can be seen from the repeated address: first “My Lord”, then “Our Lord”… This is an expression of humility, modesty and submission to the Creator.
This supplication from the Quran reminds us of the importance of prayer, for this is the very thing to which this prophet of God devoted his plea. It also shows how important it is in supplication to mention the Lordship of the Almighty as one of the ways of drawing near to Him. And, of course, supplication should be imbued with sincerity, trust in the Creator and hope in Him. This supplication also teaches us that we should more often ask the Almighty for the good things of the eternal world, not letting worldly bustle draw us into its whirlpool and fill our thoughts and our supplications.
The prophets of the Almighty, including our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), were an example for us, and just as they called upon the Lord in supplication, so should we strive to do the same, and at the same time ask Him to accept our supplication and not leave it unanswered. What is more, when embarking on any good deed, when beginning any act of worship, we should hope that Allah the Almighty will accept our efforts from us, and ask Him for this.