The du’aa’ “O Allaah, we do not ask You to overturn the decree but we ask You to help us bear its impact”

Praise be to Allah.

We do not approve of this du’aa’; rather we think it is haraam and that it is more serious than that which was mentioned by the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) when he said: “No one of you should say, ‘O Allaah, forgive me if You will, O Allaah, have mercy on me if You will.’” That is because du’aa’ is one of the means by which Allaah overturns the decree, as it says in the hadeeth: “The Decree cannot be overturned except by du’aa’.” Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, decrees something then creates impediments to it, so He decrees something and He decrees that this man will say du’aa’ and the decree will be overturned; the one who overturns the decree is Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted. 

For example: would a sick person say, “O Allaah, I do not ask You for healing, but I ask You to make the sickness bearable”? No, rather he would say: “O Allaah, I ask You for healing,” and he would be definite in asking for what he wants, and he would not say, “O Lord, keep what I dislike but make it bearable.” Is Allaah anything other than the kindest of the kind and the most generous of the generous? He is able to overturn what He had initially decreed for you because of your du’aa’. Hence we think that this sentence is haraam and that what should be said is: “O Allaah, I ask You to give me well-being, to heal me, to bring back to me my absent loved one” and so on. End quote. 

Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) 

 The scholars of the Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas were asked about this du’aa’ and they replied: 

We do not know that this du’aa’ was narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him), so it is better not to recite it, and there are sufficient other du’aa’s, such as, “I ask You for what You have decreed for me to make its consequences good.” Narrated by Ahmad, Ibn Maajah and the author of al-Mustadrak who said: Its isnaad is saheeh. And that which was narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) used to seek refuge with Allaah from severe calamity, from a bad fate, from a bad end, from the malicious joy of enemies. Sufyaan - one of the narrators of the hadeeth - said: The hadeeth refers to three things and I added one, but I do not know which of them it is. Narrated by al-Bukhaari. 

And Allaah is the source of strength. May Allaah send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End quote. 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz… Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal al-Shaaykh… Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan… Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah li’l-Ifta’ (24/291) 

And Allaah knows best.