Which is better: supplicating in the general form or the specific form?

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful

And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings

Supplication has methods and arts, and these depend on knowing the divine etiquette in addressing Allah the Exalted, and depend on the extent of a person's cultivation and the extent of his spiritual ascent in addressing Allah.

It has come in the hadith concerning the necessity of making supplication general: from Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Sadiq (a): “The Messenger of Allah (s) said: ‘When one of you supplicates, let him make it general, for that is more apt to secure [the answering of] the supplication,’” and this has a bearing on the cultivation of the person and the refinement of his intention so that it widens to embrace the concerns of others and feeling for them, and on seeking Allah's compassion through the collective form of address, and on moving away from the sense of the narrow ego. Therefore supplication will have an effect from these educative aspects, which help the supplicant to ascend to touching the divine mercy.

On the other side, many supplications have come from the Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the form of the first-person singular. Some scholars have said that, when supplicating in the singular form, one should intend the group, as though speaking on behalf of the group, relying on the aforementioned narration, and in order to achieve the educative effect in the supplicant, which brings about the arrival of the supplication, its acceptance and its effect more quickly.

Although this observation is useful, we hold that there is a multiplicity of ways of supplication, and each way plays a role and has an effect, depending on the multiplicity of educative effects on a person.

For example, the narrations called for people to gather together in supplication so that the supplication may be accepted; likewise, other narrations called for supplicating in seclusion and in the depth of the night while people are asleep. Each method has its effect.

Likewise, the supplications narrated from the Ahl al-Bayt (a)—many of them came in the form of the first-person singular, so that a person may single out himself and turn his attention to his own intrinsic shortcomings and to those that befall him, may be able to identify them, and turn to Allah the Exalted for their rectification. In this way, too, the supplicant ascends with his spirit to touching the divine mercy, through his personal engagement with the contents of the supplication and his absorption and insistence that his worldly and otherworldly requests be fulfilled, since the reins of all affairs are in the hand of Allah the Exalted, and Allah wishes to see from the servant sincerity in turning [to Him], remorse in repentance, and insistence in asking.

Thus we see that among the methods of supplication is for a person to mention his need specifically and to insist in asking for it.

Therefore a person should strive to vary his methods of supplication: at times making his supplication general, and at times turning to his own shortcomings with a specific address.

As for the texts that have been narrated from the Ahl al-Bayt (a), we must read them in their wording as it is, because they (a) know best the secrets of discourse with the Lord.

Mahmoud Al-Mosawi

www.mosawy.com