Title: Our Prayers to the Almighty Question: I have one question for which I could not find any answer by myself. For past one year, I have been praying to Allah to get one of the person (known to me) married and for the well being of that person. It was looking like that nothing was happening. I wanted to know and prayed to Allah as to why my prayers were not getting answered. I had a Dream in which i saw a light (coming from somewhere) and a voice, the voice was "Don't ask for things which has already been written". I felt afraid after that and didn't know whether i should ask for the things for somebody in my prayers OR not. I stopped my prayers. Few months later, the person i was praying for got married. That person asked me that my prayers will be needed. But deep in my mind i am afraid that i should not do so.. Please help me "as to what was the dream". Is something wrong to pray in excess? I am not a very religious person but have full faith in Islam. Was my dream just an imagination? One more day (after that), I could see few pieces of glittering (small) concentrated lights moving on top of my bed. I felt afraid and then everything disappeared. Thereafter nothing happened with me. But I am not very sure if we are allowed to pray (in excess) for anything. Is there anything we should not pray for (even if it legal from Islamic perspective). Please guide me. May Allah guide us all and keep us always on the right track. Allah Hafiz Mohammed Muzammil Ansari India Answer: My dear brother, not being an expert in interpretation of dreams, I am not in a position to comment on your dreams. Nevertheless, I would like to remind of a few aspects relating to our overall concept of God, with special reference to our prayers. When we pray to God, we must remember that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Absolutely Wise, All encompassing in Mercy and All Just. All of these five attributes of God must remain in our minds when we seek His help in the fulfillment of any of our desires. Some important practical aspects of these attributes are briefly pointed out, below: Firstly, we must remember that God is Omnipotent. Nothing that God decides to do is beyond His powers. He can create light where there is none and the absence of all material sources and causes of light does not hinder Him from the creation of light, when He decides to do so. Secondly, we must remember that God is Omniscient. His knowledge encompasses everything, whether apparent or hidden. He knows what is best for us, in our individual as well as in our collective capacities. He knows the best time for every incident to happen. Nothing is beyond the scope of His knowledge, yet man can only comprehend that part of His knowledge that He Himself allows man to know. Thirdly, we must remember that God is Absolutely Wise. Each one of his decisions and directives are based on this Wisdom. None of His decisions is wrong or untimely. We may not comprehend His wisdom in many of the events taking place around us or the timing of these decisions, yet we must never lose our trust and reliance on this wisdom. Fourthly, we must remember that God is All-Merciful. God loves us even more than our parents and even our own selves. Even those of God's decisions that apparently seem to be going against us are for our own well being and benefit. God hears all our prayers and requests and fulfills them where their fulfillment is in our interest, according to His absolute knowledge and wisdom. Finally, we must remember that God is All-Just. God does not allow evil to exist or even to benefit, except for an ultimately just end; and He does not allow the good to suffer, except only for a just end. Keeping the foregoing explanation in perspective, our prayers and supplications to God should entail the spirit required by all of the obvious attributes of God. All our prayers must be with our unshakable confidence, reliance, satisfaction and trust on our Most loving Creator, Provider and Helper. I hope this helps. Fond regards, Moiz Amjad October 20, 2003