Unanswered Prayers
Ibrahim ibn Adham passed by the market of Basra, and the people gathered around him. They said, “O Abu Ishaq, why do we pray, but our prayers are not answered?” He replied, “Because your hearts have died due to ten things:
- You have known Allah but did not fulfill His rights.
- You claimed to love the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), but you abandoned his Sunnah.
- You read the Qur’an but did not act upon it.
- You ate from Allah’s blessings but did not offer thanks.
- You knew that Satan is your enemy, yet you did not oppose him.
- You knew that Paradise is real, but you did not work for it.
- You knew that Hellfire is real, yet you did not flee from it.
- You knew that death is real, but you did not prepare for it.
- You woke up from sleep but busied yourselves with the faults of others, forgetting your own.
- You buried your dead but did not learn from them.”