Duas to Recite Upon Entering a Place
The Holy Quran is replete with beautiful words, supplications, expressions of seeking refuge, and prayers taught by our Lord. Some of these prayers protect and guide us in the environments we enter. We must first learn these prayers, use them appropriately, and seek refuge in Allah.
DUAS TO RECITE UPON ENTERING A PLACE
One of the important supplications is as follows:
رَبِّ اَدْخِلْن۪ي مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَاَخْرِجْن۪ي مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍ وَاجْعَلْ ل۪ي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ سُلْطَانًا نَص۪يرًا
“My Lord! Grant me to enter with sincerity and exit from the place I exit with sincerity; and grant me from Your presence a supporting and powerful authority.”[1]
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) was commanded to recite this prayer while entering Mecca after its conquest. After reciting the supplication, the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited the following verse:
“Truth has come, and falsehood has vanished; for falsehood is certain to vanish.”[2]
The meaning of this verse is: “My Lord! Admit me into Mecca with truthfulness, as a sincere believer. My entry should be with You, by Your permission and pleasure; my trust and confidence should be in You, so that I may be a servant who finds help from You.”
The Prophet’s Prayer
There is also a supplication similar to the one recited by our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) upon returning from a campaign: “There is no god but Allah, He is alone. He has fulfilled His promise, helped His servant, made his army victorious, and defeated all enemy armies single-handedly. There is no god but Allah; though the disbelievers dislike it, we dedicate our worship and obedience to Him alone.”[3]
The Meaning of the Prayer
This supplication also contains the following meanings:
“Bring me forth from Mecca with truthfulness and honesty for engaging in jihad against enemies; may I be helped by Your permission, protected by Your guardianship. Grant me from You a sultan – a clear proof that shatters the minds of falsehood – to assist me against my enemies.”
As can be seen, this prayer taught by our Lord is very comprehensive. It can be recited for every task we undertake. The fundamental meaning of the supplication is:
“My Lord! Enable me to enter a place with honesty and enable me to exit from it with honesty. When performing any task or going anywhere, grant me to do that task and reach that place with complete honesty, acceptance, and pleasure. Grant me to complete the task and exit from the place with complete honesty, acceptance, and pleasure. Also, grant me success in the entrance, exit, fulfilling the duty of preaching your religion, and its completion with truthfulness and honesty. When You place me in the grave, which is the entrance to the Hereafter, place me with honesty and when You resurrect me from it, resurrect and send me with honesty! So that I may be successful in all these acts of worship and in proclaiming Islam, grant me from Yourself a strong helper, a decisive proof, an overpowering power so that the disbelievers are defeated and ruined, and the believers prevail and attain victory! Indeed, our belief is complete that truth will triumph and falsehood will perish.”
Esoteric Interpretation of the Verse
Ibn Ajiba included the esoteric interpretation of the verse in his commentary, Ikazu’l-himem:
The entry of every knower into every place, his utilization of everything, and his involvement with every event is as if it is with Allah; likewise, his departure and exit from them are also with Allah. With this verse, our Lord seems to address the knowing servant: “O, my knowing servant! Say: My Lord, if You will, grant me entry into things with truthfulness and honesty, whether in terms of truths or pleasures. Let this entry be with you; rely on your power and strength and distance yourself from seeing my own self through Your strength. Bring me forth from them, from those things, with truthfulness, honesty, and sincerity; having received a special permission in that regard; adorned with the secrets of awe and devotion. This also expresses the meaning of this saying: ‘So that when you enter me into things, my gaze is only upon your power and strength; and when you bring me forth from them, my inclination is only to You.’
From Your presence – meaning without relying on any means or cause from the midst of Your works – grant me a sultan, a strong proof. This is a powerful manifestation coming from the Allah who is the All-Powerful, which destroys whatever confronts it, causing truth to emerge and falsehood to vanish. This will be the greatest sultan that Allah grants to His servant.
As for this sultan being a helper, it helps me to distance myself from the world of senses and from other than You so that I may see Your Lord. It does not help me to avoid suspicion, senses, and otherness. Also, let this sultan help me to observe the bad qualities of my own self so that by observing their evil, I may distance myself from them. When I distance myself from them, I will have seen not only them but also their Lord.
This is what we call “second birth.” The human being, upon his first birth, comes out of his mother’s womb and becomes a prisoner of his environment and a slave to the statue of his self. Desire devours him as food. Thus he remains in the prison of his senses and in the dwellings surrounding his physicality. But if a person strives and surpasses the circle of senses, breaks off their bonds, and can exit from the belly of his own desire’s lusts, then his soul pierces the wall of existence and reaches the presence of Him who created that existence. Thus he is born again for the second time. This is a birth after which there will be neither demise nor death. Allah says: “Those who believe do not taste death; they are only granted a single death.”[4] This also expresses the meaning of Jesus’ (peace be upon him) saying: “Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”[5]
Footnotes:
[1] Isra 17/80. [2] Isra 17/81. [3] Ibn Maja, Diyat 5. [4] Duha 44/56. [5] Ibn Ajiba, Ikazu’l-himem, p. 557-560.