So to defend your brother behind his back is one thing.
But to mention him to Allah behind his back is another thing.
And you find yourself in these moments where you're coming across, you know,
a message about what's happened with this person,
what's happened with that person, or something causes you to remember your
brother or sister.
One of the best things that you could do, is to tune yourself to immediately
praying for someone, as soon as you see something with them. So you know,
that's one of the ways that we ward off envy is that you see something that
someone has, and you immediately say "Allahuma barak laha", "Allahuma barak lah".
Oh Allah bless them with that thing, right?
You accustom yourself to making Duea' to supplicating for them.
As soon as you see something,
One of the beautiful things about Duea' for your brother or sister is what
the prophet (pbuh)
said, that when a person makes Duea' for their brother or sister
behind their back, "bizuhr alghayb"
So this is not something that you go and you tell someone constantly, Hey,
I was making Duea' for you. I was praying for you.
Now you can do that as a means of showing solidarity but not as a means of "min",
which has a means of boasting or claiming some sort of favor over someone else
like I made Duea' for you last night, so that you can make that person feel like
they're indebted to you. The same way with "Sadaqah", with charity,
you might let someone know you're giving them charity as a means of solidarity,
but not as a means of giving yourself an upper hand over them to where they feel
like they owe you.
And you could chip away at their self esteem by mentioning your favor upon them.
So this is making "Duea' bizuhr alghayb" in complete absence.
A person is with Allah (swt) and they mentioned their brother or
sister who Prophet (pbuh) said that no one does that except that Allah sends
an Angel.
So this is a specific Angel "mawkil" that is entrusted, and that "Duea'" is "mustajab".
So the prophet (pbuh) said in one narration.
It's an accepted Duea' ,and the Angel will say each time,
"Ameen" "walak bimithlih" "Ameen" and for you as well,
so the Duea' will be accepted for you, and for your brother and sister, because
the Angel is the one that's making the Duea' "Subhan Allah", you've got to ask yourself,
who do I feel more confident in having Duea' accepted from myself or an Angel that
Allah sent to specifically say,
"Ameen" for Duea' ,and this fosters a sense of selflessness.
Also, just like I don't feel a need to respond on behalf of myself,
but I feel a need to respond on behalf of my brother and sister in this case.
I do make Duea' for myself,
but I can engage myself in a prolonged fashion of making Duea' for my brother
or sister without them knowing about it. Knowing that an angel will say,
"Ameen" and for you as well, so what's the best thing to do with this practice?
Number one, make it a habit.
Something that you do every single time you come across someone randomly,
you see someone just say may Allah Bless them. may Allah (swt) increase them.
If you see something good that they have may Allah make it easy for them.
If you see that they're going through hardship, may Allah purify them,
immediately accustom yourself to being able to respond to the mention of
the person's name with a Duea' from the heart. That's the first thing.
Number two, you know,
we find Imam Ahmed (RA) actually had a list of people that he would make Duea'
for at night.
And he actually said one time, that I actually feel more confident in the Duea'
being accepted for someone else. Then when I make do out for myself,
what's the point of even engaging in the prolonged Duea' for myself all the time
if I can make it for my brother and sister and that would be accepted for them
and for me.
And the third thing is that a person diversifies the nature of the supplications
that they're making based upon the needs of the people. So for example,
one person has an issue with their health, make Duea' for their health.
One person has an issue with their sustenance, make Duea' for their sustenance.
One person has an issue with their family,
make Duea' for their family and so on, so forth, Thereby,
you're covering all of the different facets of Duea' for a whole bunch of people
and at the same time,
covering all of the facets of your life because you would make,
Duea' for sincerity for yourself, for health, for yourself,
for your own family, for your own wealth, and so on and so forth.
So you cover all of those people with that Duea' and the angel says "Ameen"
and for you as well.
And that goes on your record also, and increases your sincerity and increases
your station with Allah (swt)
And you know that Allah would not just send an Angel to say, "Ameen",
and for you as well, but Allah,
will also put bless at people in your life, if you're that type of person
who does so for others.