Supplication

Supplication is the invocation of God or an object of worship by believers which embraces all this worldly and other worldly affairs in normal or urgent circumstances, aiming at attaining one’s demands, preservation of possessions, or avoiding hardships. Springing from human essential needs vis-a-vis the divine needlessness (the Qur’an, 35:15), du‘a’ is a need shared by mankind and is interwoven with worship and expression of devotion to God, usually performed through observances and rites of worship. Individual and societal forms of invocatory prayers and supplications of diverse nature are to be found in the history of societies and the followers of religions. 

The present volume includes three entries selected from the Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam: Du‘a; al-Jawshan al-Kabir, Khatma al-Qur’an. Other entries from this encyclopaedia which are available in English include: Law; Hadith, Tafsir (Qur’anic Exegesis); Qur’anic Exegeses; Hawza-yi ‘Ilmiyya; Muslim Organisations; Political Parties, Education in the Islamic Civilisation; Pertodicalsof the Muslim World, History and Historiography, Historical Sources of the Islamic World, Historians of the Islamic World; The Pahlavi Dynasty; Housing in Islamic Countries (vol. 1); Theology (vol. 1); Muslim Scholars (2 vols.).