Ramadan is the time to pray earnestly for all that we desire. Allah appreciates crying during prayer and tears of sincerity. We all want to optimize our chances for our duas to be accepted. This includes being the best Muslims we can be, so that we are worthy of our duas being accepted.



1) Some special duas that are meaningful to me:



A. ?Our Lord, give us the good in this world and the hereafter, and protect us from the torment of fire. ? Quran 2:201



B. ?Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate now after You have guided us, but grant us mercy from Your Own Presence for You are the Grantor of mercies without measure. ? Quran 3:8



C. ?Our Lord, condemn us not if we forget or fall into error. Our Lord, lay not on us a burden like that which you did lay on those before us; Our Lord, lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness, have mercy on us. You are our Protector; help us against those who stand against faith? Quran 2: 286 We have all made mistakes in different ways, small or big, and we have much forgiveness to ask for.



D. ?Musa prayed: My Lord, open my heart; ease my task, and remove the impediment from my speech, so that people may understand what I say. ? Quran 20:25-28

I think this is important b/c our tongue can be used for words of kindness or words that can be misunderstood, miscommunicated, misspoken, hurtful, so it is key to use our tongues with reservation and tact and pray that our words are understood in the way they were intended, and that arguments are avoided or diffused.



E. ?Our Lord, bestow on us mercy from Yourself, and dispose of our affair for us in the right way. ? Quran 18:10 Asking Allah to help us decide matters for us.



F. ?My Lord, bestow wisdom on me and join me with the righteous, grant me honorable mention on the tongue of truth among the latest (generations make me on the inheritors of the Garden of Bliss. ? Quran 26:83-85.



G. ?O Allah, to any believer I have insulted, let that be cause to draw him near to you on the day of resurrection.?



H. ?O Allah there is no ease except in that which you make easy, and You make the difficult, if You wish, easy.?



I. ?O Allah, I am seeking Your refuge from incapacity and laziness, from cowardice and decrepitude, and miserliness.?



J. ?O Allah, Your Mercy I do desire, so do not forsake me nor entrust me to myself even for the twinkling of an eye. Facilitate all my affairs, there is no diety worthy of worship but You.? Asking Allah to decide for us the path which is best for us.



K. ?O Allah, I seek refuge from You from poverty, from want, from humiliation, and I seek refuge with You from wronging another or being wronged.?



2) Times duas are likely to be accepted include:



A. on Lailatul Qadr



B. in the middle of the night after obligatory prayers, ie tahajjud



C. various times during our prayer, ie while being mindful of the meanings of Surah Fatiha, at the start of the prayer, when saying Amin in the prayer, when raising head from ruku in prayer, during prostration, when conveying blessings to the Prophet pbuh, before saying salaam in the prayer, between azan and iqamah



D. after wudu



E. upon waking up from sleep



F. When dua is made after saying ?There is no diety worthy of worship but You, Glory be to You, I was indeed wrong.? This is what Prophet Yunus pbuh recited when he was in the whale.



G. during times of adversity by saying ?To Allah we belong, and to Him do we return. O Allah, grant me reward in my adversity, and compensate me with that which is better.?