The Ruling on Making Supplication for Increase in Height and Physical Strength

17-8-2022 | IslamWeb

Question:

I'm a 15 year old boy and I would like to know the ruling on making dua for height and physical strength (like strong wide limbs and legs) at 15 years old because am very thin and quite short for my age and I really like sports but my body isn't helping at all, am grateful that am not disabled and that am healthy but there are benefits of being tall and strong which can benefit in Islamic ways like jihad, is it okay for me to make dua to grow 6 inches by 18-20 years old even though it's naturally almost impossible for such thing to happen?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

At this age, you are still growing, and therefore there is nothing wrong with supplicating Allah, The Exalted, for an increase in height.

This is permissible and does not clash with the divine norms of the creation for you to describe it as ‘impossible’.

Doctors contend that by the age of 16, most boys have stopped growing, yet their bodies continue to develop, until they usually reach full growth by the age of 18. Assuming that you are asking for something that is contrary to the divine norms of the creation, like asking Allah, The Exalted, for an increase in height after the height growth normally stops, we have explained in our Arabic section that this falls under the category of transgression in supplication because it involves asking for what is impossible according to the divine norms of the creation.”

Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said in Al-Fatawa: “Transgression in supplication is sometimes for a person to ask for help to do what is forbidden, and sometimes he asks what Allah, The Exalted, does not do.”

We would like to warn you that the Muslim’s main concern should be refining his moral character. Ibn Mas‘ood narrated that the Prophet used to supplicate: “O Allah, You have perfected my creation, refine my moral character.” [Ahmad, Al-Arna’oot: Hasan]

You should not forget to strive in supplication for what benefits you with regards to your religion and the Hereafter. Allah, The Exalted, dispraised in His Book those who supplicate Him for the rectification of their worldly affairs and fail to supplicate for their Hereafter. Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {And among the people is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world," and he will have in the Hereafter no share.} [Quran 2:200]

Ibn Katheer commented on this verse saying: “Allah, The Exalted, instructed us to supplicate Him after remembering and praising Him because the supplications would be more likely to be answered. He also dispraised those who only ask for worldly benefits and fail to supplicate Him for their Hereafter. Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {And among the people is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world," and he will have in the Hereafter no share,} meaning that they shall have no share in the Hereafter. This criticism serves to discourage other people from imitating those mentioned. Sa‘eed ibn Jubayr said that Ibn ‘Abbas said, "Some Bedouins used to come to the standing area (‘Arafat) and supplicate saying, ‘O Allah! Make it a rainy year, a fertile year, and a year of good childbearing.' They would not mention any of the affairs of the Hereafter. Thus, Allah revealed about them the verse that reads (what means): {And among the people is he who says, “Our Lord, give us in this world,” and he will have in the Hereafter no share.} [Quran 2:200]”

Allah knows best.