Ghafir (The Forgiver)

60. And your Lord said: “Invoke Me, I will respond to your [invocation]. Indeed those who scorn My worship, they will surely enter Hell in humiliation.”

God Almighty asks us to invoke Him despite the fact that He is All-Aware of our needs, but invoking Him entails consequences.

The preceding Verses included warnings against disbelievers and the vain; however, the blessed Verse in question, He promises the repentant to bestow His Bounties and Favors on them, saying:

“And your Lord said: ‘Invoke Me, I will respond to your [invocation].’”

Many an exeget maintain that invocation herein and also in numerous traditions cited in their exegeses under the blessed Verse in question as to invocation and its Divine Rewards refers to its literal sense.

Nevertheless, following Ibn ‘Abbas, the exeget of repute, some other Qur’anic exegets hold that invocation attested herein may designate monotheism and worshipping God Almighty, i.e.

“Worship Me and believe in My Unity.”

However, the former interpretation sounds more appropriate.

It is worthy of note that the blessed Verse in question makes mention of a number of points:

God Almighty wants believers to invoke Him in their devotions.

Answering prayers follows invocation, but we know that it is a conditional Promise, since solely prayers are answered that they have the required qualifications as to the invoker and the subject of invocation. The point was already raised and a detailed discussion on the same as well as on its philosophy and true meaning are to be found under 2:186.

Prayer is a form of worship since the word worship is applied to it in the blessed Verse in question.

Those refraining from invoking God Almighty are thus severely warned:

“Indeed those who scorn My worship, they will surely enter Hell in humiliation.”

Numerous traditions narrated from the Noble Prophet of Islam (S) and Imams (as) clearly refer to the significance of invocation.

A number of the instances include:

According to a Prophetic tradition:

“Invocation is worshipping God.”1

According to a tradition narrated from Imam Sadiq (as), the Noble Imam is asked:

“What do you say about two persons who entered a mosque and one of them established more prayers and the other invoked God Almighty in more devotions. Which one enjoys a more exalted state?”

The Imam replied:

“Both did righteous good deeds.”

He was again asked:

“I know that, but which one is superior to the other?”

The Noble Imam replied:

“The one who invoked God in more devotions is higher in rank. Have you not heard that invocation is the greatest worship?”2

It is reported that Imam Baqir (as) was asked on the excellence of invocation.

He replied:

“There is nothing more excellent that invoking God Almighty in devotions and no one is more detested before God Almighty than one who is too arrogant to invoke him to bestow His blessings and bounties on him.”3 It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) that there are stations on the Path toward God Almighty whose attainment is solely possible though invocation. If one fails to invoke Him, nothing will be granted to him. Therefore, invoke God Almighty to grant you His Favors, since if you knock at any door and persevere, it will be finally opened to you.”

According to some traditions, invocation is even considered to entail more excellence than recitation of the Holy Qur’an, since it is narrated from the Noble Prophet (S), Imam Baqir (as), and Imam Sadiq (as) that invocation is more excellent than the recitation of the Holy Qur’an.¹

A brief analysis may lead to the profound contextual meaning of these traditions, since invocation of God Almighty in devotions leads man to knowing God Almighty that is the best possession for him on the one hand and makes him perceive that he is in need of Him and he should be humble before Him, cast away vanity and arrogance resulting in misfortunes and disputes concerning the Signs and Verses of God Almighty on the other.

Thus, man feels inferior before His Pure Essence. It is through invoking God that man perceives that Bounties are bestowed by God Almighty; as a consequence of which he loves Him thus strengthens his spiritual nexus with His Presence.

It is in this vein that man perceives that he is in need of Divine Favors and feels the obligation to submit to Him and obey His Command.

Besides, when man understands that answering prayers is not unconditional, but it depends on sincerity of intention, purity of heart, repentance from committing sins, and meeting the demands of friends and the needy, he will purify his heart and endeavors to avoid from excesses and impurities.

Furthermore, invocation leads to self confidence and impedes man from sinking into hopelessness and encourages him to make further attempts to attain to his goals.

Finally, a significant point is to follow this brief discussion.

According to Islamic traditions, invoking God is required when man spares no effort in attaining to his goals, but his endeavors are of no avail; it is then that he invokes God Almighty to render him help. In other words, man may not invoke God Almighty in lieu of making his efforts, since in this case, his invocations will not be definitely answered.

As per a tradition narrated from Imam Sadiq (as):

“There are four groups whose invocations will not be answered: one who stays at home and asks God to grant him sustenance.

It is said unto him:

‘Did I not ask you to endeavor?’

One who hurts their spouse and the latter prays to God to help them get rid of them.

It is said unto them:

‘Did I not permit you to get divorce?’

One who squanders their possessions but invokes God to provide them with sustenance.

It is said unto them:

‘Did I not provide you with injunctions as to moderation and economy? Did I not command you to manage your financial affairs wisely?’

One who loans their possession to someone without any witness and the receiver of the loan denies the receipt. The lender invokes God Almighty to make the denier acknowledge the loan.

It is said unto them:

‘Did I not command you to take witnesses upon lending your possessions to others?’”5

It is needless to say that in such instances, such people do not take the required care as to making efforts and taking the precautions and entangled themselves by the undesirable consequences thereof and their invocations in this vein will not be answered.

Now it has been clarified why many an invocation are not answered: some people to desist from making efforts and seek refuge in prayers, but God Almighty shall never answer them. There exist other reasons for prayers not being answered; for instance, many a time, man makes mistakes as to distinction between gains and losses.

At times, he invokes God Almighty wholeheartedly to grant him something which is not to his interest and later on he may notice that his request was not to his interest.

For example, a patient or a child may ask their nurses to provide them with delicious foods but acting upon their requests will aggravate their ailment or their lives may be jeopardized. In such cases, the Most Compassionate and the Most Gracious Allah will never answer prayers but saves them for their Hereafter.

Furthermore, answering prayers are subject to conditions mentioned in Qur’anic Verses and Islamic traditions² . It is mentioned in numerous traditions that committing certain sins, e.g. malevolence, hypocrisy, delaying the establishment of daily prayers, slander, consumption of unlawful food, failure to pay alms tax and expending in Allah’s Cause impedes prayers from being answered.³

The discussion closes with a significant tradition narrated from Imam Sadiq (as).

In his Ihtijaj, Tabarsi cites a tradition from the Imam (as):

“The Noble Imam was asked:

‘Does God Almighty not ask His servants to invoke Him and He will answer the prayers?’ We see many people in need who pray but their prayers are not answered. We see many wronged people who invoke God to render them victorious over wrong doers but they are not helped.’

The Imam (as) said:

‘Woe unto you! No one invokes Him whose prayer is not answered. However, the wrong doers’ invocations are not accepted unless they repent.

The prayers of the wronged will be answered and the evils are warded off and at times they are not apprised of the same or the rewards are abundantly saved for them for their time of need (Day of Resurrection). Whenever His servants invoke Him to grant them something against their benefits, He will not answer such prayers.⁴