Your Lord Said: Call Upon Me and I Will Respond — Supplication Is Worship Not Just Request
tadabbur
Level: basic
ibada-dhikr
td-252
ٱدۡعُونِيٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡ
— غافر 60
Verse: "Your Lord said: Call upon Me and I will respond." (40:60) — A command + a promise. Allah made abandoning supplication an arrogance against His worship — then threatened with Hell. Abandoning dua is not merely missing out on good — it is itself a sin. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Supplication is worship" — because it is an acknowledgment of poverty before Allah and inability to be self-sufficient. "Respond" (astajib) is broader than "give you what you asked": it may be the request, or averting harm, or saving for the hereafter. Lesson: the goal of dua is not receiving — but connecting with Allah. Whoever achieves this is not saddened by any response.
Source: Ibn Kathir (7/136); Al-Sadi
Question: Why does Allah describe abandoning dua as "arrogance against worship"?
Answer: Because dua is an acknowledgment of need and poverty before Allah — abandoning it is arrogance and claiming self-sufficiency from Allah.