أَمْرٌ and نَهْيٌ in Dua

أَمْرٌ and نَهْيٌ in Dua is reffered to as فَعْلُ الطَّلَبِ (The فَعْلُ of request).

Now that you have learned commanding (أَمْرٌ) and forbidding (نَهْيٌ), you may realise that many duas we make are grammatically in the commanding (أَمْرٌ) or forbidding (نَهْيٌ) form. Take the following example from the Quran:

Quranic Dua	Translation
قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى [20:25]	He said ”My Lord, expand for me my chest”
وَيَسِّرْ لِىٓ أَمْرِى [2:26]	”And ease for me my task”
رَبِّ فَلَا تَجْعَلْنِي فِى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ [23:94]	My Lord, then do not place me among the wrongdoing people

The words ٱشْرَحْ and يَسِّرْ are grammatically the command (أَمْرٌ) form for أَنْتَ. Whilst, the phrase لَا تَجْعَلْنِي is the forbidding form for أَنْتَ ”Do not place/make”.

However, the slave does not command or forbid the Master, but rather, the slave requests and asks. The command form shows great need and desperation. thus, when grammatically analysing the words ٱشْرَحْ , يَسِّرْ and لَا تَجْعَلْنِي we will call them فَعْلُ الطَّلَبِ (The فَعْلُ of request) and not أَمْرٌ nor نَهْيٌ.

Below are some more examples from the quran of فَعْلُ الطَّلَبِ:

Quranic Dua	Translation
… وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا [25:74]	and make us an example for the righteous
… رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا … [2:286]	Our Lord, do not hold us accountable if we forget or make mistake
… وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا [20:114]	and say, ”My Lord, increase me in knowledge”
… رَبَّنَا فَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا … [3:193]	Our Lord, so forgive us our sins
… رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَآءِ [14:40]	Our Lord, and accept my supplication.