Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Can i ask good for anything i.e. can i pray to god to offer me food from heaven or i should not pray for something which is not possible. Should i believe that god will give me food from heaven. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Ask Allah for food from heaven

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Every lawful supplication that a believer makes to his Lord, is heard and answered by his Lord; for Allah is indeed All Hearing, All Knowing.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 186:

And if My servants ask you, O Prophet, concerning Me, tell them that I am quite near to them. I hear and answer the prayer of the suppliant, when he calls on Me. So let them respond to My call and believe in Me. (Convey this to them), perhaps they may be guided aright!

The All Knowing, All Wise Allah knows what is good and what is bad for us; therefore, if one asks for something good, Allah will give him/her one of three things:

• Allah will give the believer what he/she has supplicated for.
• If what the believer is asking is not good or harmful for the believer in this world, Allah will store it for him for the world of the Hereafter.
• If what the believer is asking is not good or harmful for the believer in this world, Allah will turn away from the believer an equivalent amount of evil.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2257 Narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri

The Prophet (saws) said, "Any Muslim who makes a supplication containing nothing which is sinful, or which involves breaking ties of relationship, will be given for it by Allah one of three things: He will give him swift answer, or store it up for him in the next world, or turn away from him an equivalent amount of evil." Those who heard it said they would then make many supplications and he (saws) replied that Allah was more ready to answer than they were to ask.

Nu'man b. Bashir reported that the Prophet (saws), said, "Verily supplication is worship."

Narrated by Ahmad and Sunan.

Abu Hurairah reported, "The Prophet (saws) said, "Nothing is more dear to Allah than one's supplication to Him.''

Narrated by Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

Salman reported that the Prophet (saws), said, "Your Lord, the Blessed and the Exalted One, is Modest and Generous, and He loathes to turn away His servant empty-handed when he raises his hands to Him in supplication."

Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Hibban.

Your Question: ….can i pray to god to offer me food from heaven or i should not pray for something which is not possible.

You obviously ‘can’ pray to Allah to send you food from heaven; but it would neither be appropriate nor piety nor righteousness to, so to speak’ test Allah Subhanah.

What would be proper and appropriate is to beseech the Lord for what is possible according to the Laws of nature which The Lord Most Gracious Himself has created.

It is not as if the Lord Most Exalted cannot send food from the Heavens, for He indeed can do whatever He Wills and Pleases. But to ask Allah for something which is against the norms of nature, would be akin to ‘testing’ the Power of the Lord….and it simply does not behove and befit a believer who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day to do so.

Asking Allah Subhanah for food from the heavens would be like a sick person asking Allah Subhanah for a ‘doctor’ from Heaven instead of asking Allah to heal his disease, or a poor person asking Allah to send gold directly from the heavens rather than asking Allah to provide him with sustenance.

The noble companions of the Messenger of Allah, Isa ibn Maryam (a.s.) too asked their Prophet (Isa (a.s.)) to beseech Allah Subhanah to send to them food from the Heavens……

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah Verse 112-116:

112 Behold! The disciples said: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Can thy Lord send down to us a table set (with food) from heaven?" Said Jesus: "Fear Allah if ye have faith."

113 They said: "We only wish to eat thereof and satisfy our hearts and to know that thou hast indeed told us the Truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle.”

114 Said Jesus the son of Mary: "O Allah our Lord! Send us from heaven a table set (with food) that there may be for us, for the first and the last of us, a solemn festival and a sign from Thee; and provide for our sustenance for Thou art the best Sustainer.”

115 Allah said: "I will send it down unto you: but if any of you after that rejects faith, I will punish him with a penalty such as I have not inflicted on anyone among all the peoples!’

Although the Quran is silent whether or not this table set from the Heavens was sent to Hadrat Isa (a.s.) and his disciples, the majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that after hearing the condition which Allah Subhanah set upon them for sending the food, Hadrat Isa (a.s.) and his disciples revoked their supplication and wish. And Allah Alone Knows Best.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan