Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
It should be known that duaa does not contradict decree at all. Allah Almighty promised to respond to those who call Him.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
It is wrong to say that duaa has no benefit. Anyone who has even a smattering of the Qur’an will not fail to recognize the significance and efficacy of duaa.
We are told time and again that Allah Almighty answered the prayers of His messengers and the believers who called upon Him.
Hence, He orders His servants to call upon Him and assures them He will answer them, “And your Lord says, “Call upon Me, I will respond to you.” (Ghafir 40:60)
Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Verily supplication is worship.” (At-Tirmidhi)
He also said, “Nothing turns back the Decree except supplication.” (At-Tirmidhi)
There is no contradiction between faith in the divine decree and the belief in the efficacy of duaa; Allah decrees both.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.