Is it Islamically permissible to repeat the supplication "My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no heir], while You are the best of inheritors" forty times while prostrating, and is that considered an innovation or permissible?
The supplication of Zakariya (peace be upon him), "My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no heir], while You are the best of inheritors," is mentioned in the Holy Quran. However, there is no mention of it being repeated a specific number of times, such as forty times. Persisting in it with this specific number may fall within the scope of an additive innovation (bid'ah idafiyyah). The answering of a supplication with such a characteristic does not indicate its permissibility, because Allah may answer the supplication of a wicked person or a disbeliever. This providential concurrence does not mean the action is permissible. Ibn Taymiyyah clarified that seeking help from other than Allah may lead to extraordinary occurrences performed by devils, and it is not a miraculous honor (karamah) from Allah. This was one of the reasons for idol worship, as they took idols as intercessors and intermediaries.
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Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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