Mujabu al-Dawa li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfīyah
Mujabu al-Dawa (The Answered Supplications, Arabic: مجابو الدعوة) is a biographical and devotional work by the Baghdadi traditionist and educator Ibn Abi al-Dunya (208–281 AH / 823–894 CE; another report gives 282 AH) . The book compiles narrated reports and historical accounts of early Muslim figures whose supplications were answered by God .
Subject and Content
The work gathers chain-supported accounts (athar) regarding Companions, Successors, and later ascetic scholars renowned for having their prayers answered (mustajabu al-da'wa) . Rather than theoretical exposition, the text presents concrete narratives illustrating the efficacy of supplication across diverse circumstances :
- Deliverance from Distress and Peril: Accounts of individuals praying during hardship, such as travelers seeking safe passage, prisoners obtaining release from confinement, and pilgrims seeking relief during severe heat or drought .
- Physical Healing and Restoration: Reports of worshippers whose prayers resulted in healing from chronic illness or blindness, such as Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd praying for mobility during ablution .
- Prayers Against Transgressors and Liars: Narrations where righteous figures invoked divine justice against those who slandered or wronged them, leading to immediate consequences .
- Patience with Affliction: Accounts highlighting that many of the pious who possessed answered prayers chose patience (sabr) over asking for personal relief from afflictions, preferring divine reward .
Transmission and Reception
The book was preserved and transmitted through Ibn Abi al-Dunya's student Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Safwan al-Bardha'i, from whom it passed to later traditionists, including Abu al-Husayn ibn Bushran . It is recorded in early transmission catalogs, such as the Fihrist of Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili and the Mu'jam al-Mufahras of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani . Later scholars frequently cited reports directly from the text, including Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in Jami' al-Ulum wa-l-Hikam when discussing the trials and virtues of the early generations .
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