How do I make du‘ā’, and does it have to be in Arabic?
No Arabic required, and no formula. Du‘ā’ is simply asking Allah for what you want, in your own language and your own words, at any time and in any state. Unlike the prayer, it has no fixed wording, no direction to face and no purity requirement. It is the most accessible act of worship there is, and the one new Muslims most often assume is harder than it is.
The four schools concur on this.
The invitation is unusually direct: “And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell rendered contemptible.” (Qur’an 40:60)
And it is placed, in the Qur’an itself, right in the middle of the verses about fasting: “And when My servants ask you, O Muḥammad, concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me by obedience and believe in Me that they may be rightly guided.” (Qur’an 2:186)
What du‘ā’ does not require:
- Arabic. Ask in whatever language you actually think in.
- A memorised formula.
- Wudū’, facing the qibla, or a particular posture.
- A mosque, or any particular time.
What helps, without being conditions:
- Beginning with praise of Allah and prayers on the Prophet ﷺ.
- Raising the hands.
- Asking with certainty rather than hesitantly.
- Being specific. “Help me” is fine; naming the thing is better.
- Repeating. Persistence in asking is praised, not treated as nagging.
Times described as especially receptive: the last third of the night, between the adhān and the iqāma, while prostrating, on Friday, while fasting and just before breaking it, and while travelling.
On what happens next, since this is where people struggle. The response is not always the thing asked for; the tradition describes it as being given what you asked, or having something equivalent withheld from harming you, or having it stored for later. That is not a way of explaining away silence — it is the actual claim, and it is worth knowing before you start, so that a delay is not read as a refusal.
For someone newly Muslim who finds the prayer daunting while still learning Arabic, this is the part of worship that is fully available from the first day, in your own words, immediately.
- Qur’anQur’an 40:60
- Qur’anQur’an 2:186