(January 18, 2016 at 7:47 pm)ReptilianPeon Wrote: Allah already knows what will happen and it's all part of a grand scheme. So why make Dua (supplementary prayers)?
Because Allah says so. Really, it's that simple.
Allah tells us Muslims to pray five times a day, give Zakat, fast, etc. Dua is just one more item in this list, why should it be treated any differently?
As of why Dua sometimes seems as if it has no effect, there are many answers to that, two important points, though:
1. If I don't perceive any immediate or even long-term tangible effect of my supplementary prayer, it doesn't follow that my Dua doesn't have any effect. Any objection to supplementary prayer is prima facie arguing from ignorance.
2. Imagine two people praying for two logically contradictory things to happen, let's say A prays that his favorite player will succeed at a penalty shot, while B prays he misses the shot. It's clear that A and B can't both be happy once the outcome of the penalty kick is known. An omnipotent God can't instantiate what's logically impossible. This mundane example shows that many of our prayers may in fact be simple logical impossibilities, and we're not aware of it.
