Success is well-being in this life and the next
📖Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3512
Anas ibn Malik (RA) reported: A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, “O Messenger of Allah, which supplication is best?”
The Prophet ﷺ replied: Ask your Lord for health and wellness in the world and in the Hereafter. If you are granted wellness in both, you have succeeded.”
Balance Between World and Hereafter
Islam teaches that we should not neglect this life while striving for the next.
📖 Qur’an 28:77
“And seek by means of what Allah has given you the Hereafter, yet do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you, and do not seek corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.”
- This perfectly matches the hadith – we ask Allah for wellness in both realms, not just one.
Description & Meaning
This hadith highlights that the most valuable blessing after faith is ʿāfiyah (complete wellness) – meaning safety, health, security, and peace of mind in both worlds.
- Without wellness, wealth and power lose their meaning.
- Wellness covers both body and soul = freedom from disease, harm, sin, and humiliation.
Why Do We Need to Ask?
Even though everything is written in al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ (the Preserved Tablet), Allah allows supplication to be a means of changing one’s destiny. What Allah wills to change, He changes; and what He wills to keep, He keeps.
- Asking shows humility and dependence on Allah.
- A Muslim’s duʿa can increase the good already written for him, or avert a hardship that was decreed.
But How Do Non-Muslims Receive Wellness Without Asking?
Non-Muslims often enjoy health, wealth, and happiness because:
- Allah has already brought them into this world with a portion of provision and comfort – this is part of His worldly justice and mercy.
- Their joy is stored in the dunya as a temporary reward; the Hereafter is based on faith and deeds.
📖Quran 17:18
“Whoever should desire the immediate (worldly life) – We hasten for him from it what We will to whom We intend. Then We have made for him Hell, which he will [enter to] burn, censured and banished.”
When a Muslim Asks
For a believer, asking for wellness means:
- What Allah has already written for them can be increased in blessing.
- A hardship that was destined can be lifted.
📖Quran 13:39
“Allah eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.”
📖Quran 16:97
“Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.”
This shows that true good life – both inward and outward – is guaranteed for the believer who asks Allah and lives righteously.
Even if Nothing Happens Now…
Sometimes, a duʿa doesn’t seem to bring immediate change – but the Prophet ﷺ said it is never wasted:
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “No Muslim makes supplication – unless he is someone who has cut off his relatives – but that he is given one of three things: either his supplication is answered quickly, or it is stored up for him in the Next World, or an evil equal to it is averted from him.” It was said, “Then many supplications will be made.” He replied, “Allah has more still to give.”