Sayyiduna ‘Utbah ibn Gazwan (radiyallahu ‘anhu) has reported from Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) that when one is lost in any lonely place or finds himself in any difficulty without any assistance at hand, then he should call out the following three times:

يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَعِينُونِى

Ya ‘ibadallahi a’inuni

O! The servants of Allah, help me.

 

‘From the unseen, Allah will provide means [via the Angels] for the protection of the one who reads the above.’

 

References

(Imam Tabarani (rahimahullah) in his Al-Mu’jamul Kabir, Hadith: 17/290. Also see Majma’uz Zawaid, vol.10 pg.132)

There are similar narrations from other Sahabah as well (radiyallahu’anhum), like:

Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (radiyallahu’anhu) in: ‘Amalul Yawmi wal laylah of Ibnus Sunni, Hadith: 508, Musnad Abi Ya’la, Hadith: 5269 and Al-Mu’jamul Kabir, Hadith: 10518.

Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (radiyallahu’anhuma) in: Musnad Bazzar; Kashful Astar, Hadith: 3128. Also see Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Hadith: 30339.

 

Collective Strength

These narrations strengthen each other. The narration in question is therefore declared sound (hasan lighayrihi) and is indeed suitable for practice.

 

Effective by Experience

Furthermore, several reliable ‘Ulama of the past have expressed their experience of this du’a being very effective in such cases of need, among them were:

Imam Ahmad ibn Hambal (rahimahullah)

‘Allamah Nawawi (rahimahullah) and others.

(Shu’abul Iman, Hadith: 7297-7298, Al-Adhkar, Hadith: 672, Al-Hisnul Hasin, pg.96, Al-Fututhatur Rabbaniyyah, vol.5 pg.150-151, Al-Hirzuth Thamin, vol.2 pg.934-936 & footnotes of Shaykh ‘Awwamah on Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah, Hadith: 30339)

 

Notes:

1. One should have conviction of Allah’s ability to assist in every condition.

2. One version of the above narrations states that there are special Angels reserved for the task of assisting such people in need.

3. It should be strictly noted that this does not mean calling out to the deceased in their graves! As none of the above Scholars who have experienced this have said they were assited by a person from the dead.

 

Lets learn this and teach it to our children, for recital at times of extreme need…

11/03/2019