Dua’ (supplication) is a simple yet extremely powerful tool that Muslims have. It is an essential act of worship that can be done at any time, as Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى loves His slave who asks Him. Dua’ is the most potent weapon of a believer. Dua’ should be the first thing that comes to our minds when calamity strikes, but unfortunately, we often think about all the medicines and people that can help us before turning to Allah. In addition to making dua’, reading Quran has a calming effect on our hearts, mind, and bodies. Doing istighfar (asking Allah for forgiveness) 70-100 times a day can help us ward off difficulties and calamities. In addition to our daily dua’s, listed below is a list of dua’s that one can make at the time of distress and calamity:

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.” Quran 7:23

رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ

“Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and take our souls with the righteous.” Quran 3:193

لَّا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

“There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.” Quran 21:87. The Prophetﷺ said that whenever a Muslim says the prayer uttered by the Prophet Yunus [above-mentioned dua’] when he was in the belly o the whale–the prayer will be answered.

حَسْبُنَا اللَّـهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ

“Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is]a mos excellent trustee.” Quran 3:173. Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام said this invocation when his people cast him into the fire because of his stand for the belief in Allah, then Allah commanded the fire to be cool for him. 

إِنَّا لِلهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ ، اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي ، وَاخْلُفْ لِي خَيْرًا مِنْهَا

“To Allah we belong and unto Him is our return. O Allah, recompense me for my affliction and replace it for me with something better.” The Prophetﷺ is reported to have said:  “There is no Muslim who is stricken with a calamity and reacts by saying as Allah has commanded [above-mentioned supplication], but Allah will reward him for that and compensate him with something better than it.”

اللّهُـمَّ إِنِّي أَعْوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الهَـمِّ وَ الْحُـزْنِ، والعًجْـزِ والكَسَلِ والبُخْـلِ والجُـبْنِ، وضَلْـعِ الـدَّيْنِ وغَلَبَـةِ الرِّجال

“O Allah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, weakness and laziness, miserliness and cowardice, the burden of debts and from being overpowered by men.

Dua’ for seeking Allah’s protection for children:

أُعيـذُكُمـا بِكَلِـماتِ اللهِ التّـامَّة، مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْـطانٍ وَهـامَّة، وَمِنْ كُـلِّ عَـيْنٍ لامَّـة

“I seek protection for you in the Perfect Words of Allah from every devil and every beast, and from every envious blameworthy eye.”

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إلَّا هُوَ الحَيُّ القَيّوُمُ وأَتُوبُ إِلَيهِ

“I seek Allah’s forgiveness, besides whom, none has the right to be worshiped except He, The Ever-Living, The Self-Subsisting and Supporter of all, and I turn to Him in repentance.” The Messenger of Allahﷺ said, “Whoever says [the above supplication]…Allah would forgive him even if he was one who fled during the advance of an army.”

Dua’ for visiting the sick:

لا بأْسَ طَهـورٌ إِنْ شـاءَ الله

“Do not worry, may it (the sickness) be a purification, if Allah wills.”

Dua’ for the terminally ill:

أللّهُـمَّ اغْفِـرْ لي وَارْحَمْـني وَأَلْحِقْـني بِالرَّفـيقِ الأّعْلـى

“O Allah, forgive me, have mercy upon me and unite me with the higher companions.

اللّهُـمَّ إِنِّي عَبْـدُكَ ابْنُ عَبْـدِكَ ابْنُ أَمَتِـكَ نَاصِيَتِي بِيَـدِكَ، مَاضٍ فِيَّ حُكْمُكَ، عَدْلٌ فِيَّ قَضَاؤكَ أَسْأَلُـكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّـيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ أِوْ أَنْزَلْتَـهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ، أَوْ عَلَّمْـتَهُ أَحَداً مِنْ خَلْقِـكَ أَوِ اسْتَـأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الغَيْـبِ عِنْـدَكَ أَنْ تَجْـعَلَ القُرْآنَ رَبِيـعَ قَلْبِـي، وَنورَ صَـدْرِي وجَلَاءَ حُـزْنِي وذَهَابَ هَمِّـي

“O Allah, I am Your slave, son of Your male, son of your female slave. My forelock is in Your Hand. Your Judgment upon me is assured and Your Decree concerning me is just. I ask You by every Name that You have named Yourself with, revealed in Your Book, taught anyone of Your creation or kept unto Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen that is with You, to make the Qur’an the spring of my heart, and the light of my chest, the banisher of my sadness and the reliever of my distress.” Ibn Hibban 97

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِيَةَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِيَةَ فِي دِينِي وَدُنْيَايَ وَأَهْللِي، وَمَالِي، اللَّهُمَّ اسْتُرْ عَوْرَاتِي، وَآمِنْ رَوْعَاتِي، اللَّهُمَّ احْفَظْنِي مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيَّ، وَمِنْ خَلْفِي، وَعَنْ يَمِينِي، وَعَنْ شِمَالِي، وَمِنْ فَوْقِي، وَأَعُوذُ بِعَظَمَتِكَ أَنْ أُغْتَالَ مِنْ تَحْتِي

“O Allah, I seek Your forgiveness and Your protection in this world and the next. O Allah, I seek Your forgiveness and Your protection in my religion, in my worldly affairs, in my family and in my wealth. O Allah, conceal my secrets and preserve me from anguish. O Allah, guard me from what is in front of me and behind me, from my left, and from my right, and from above me. I seek refuge in Your Greatness from being struck down from beneath me.” Ibn Majah 2/332 and Abu Dawud

بِسْمِ اللهِ الَّذِي لَا يَضُرُّ مَعَ اسْمِهِ شَيْءٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي السَّمَاءِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

“In the Name of Allah, Who with His Name nothing can cause harm in the earth nor in the heavens, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” (Recite 3 times) The Prophetﷺ said: “Whoever recites it three times in the morning will not be afflicted by any calamity before evening, and whoever recites it three times in the evening will not be overtaken by any calamity before morning.” Abu Dawud 4/323, At-Tirmidhi 5/465, Ibn Majah 2/332

أَعُوذُ بِكَلِمَاتِ اللهِ التَّامَّاتِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ

“I seek refuge in the Perfect Words of Allah from the evil of what He has created.”(Recite 3 times)

Narrated by Anas bin Malik رضي الله عنه: The Prophet ﷺ said, “None of you should wish for death because of a calamity befalling him; but if he has to wish for death, he should say: ‘O Allah! Keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and let me die if death is better for me.’”(Sahih al-Bukhari 5671)

It was narrated from Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه that: Allah’s Messenger ﷺ used to seek refuge (in Allah) from the evil of what has been decreed, from misery, from the mockery of (triumphant) enemies, and from severe calamity. (Sahih Muslim 2707)

Dua’ for All Evil Diseases:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْبَرَصِ وَالْجُنُونِ وَالْجُذَامِ وَمِنْ سَيِّئِ الأَسْقَامِ

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from leprosy, madness, elephantiasis, and evil diseases” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1554)