Dua Al-Ahad is a prayer of loyalty to Imam Mahdi (aj). By reciting it each morning, we renew our commitment to follow his leadership. We ask Allah to include us among Imam Mahdi’s helpers and grant us the honor of martyrdom in his presence if we die before his return.
Imam Sadiq (a.s) narrates that “one who recites this supplication for 40 mornings; he will
be accounted amongst the helpers of Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s). And if he happens to die before
the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s), Allah will raise him up from his rave so that he
may assist the holy Imam (a.t.f.s).For every word that he recites in this supplication, Allah
will grant him 1000 good deeds and will erase from his scroll of deeds 1000 sins”.
This prayer also asks Allah to let us see Imam Mahdi and acknowledges that only his return can solve our community’s problems. Believers eagerly await this event, while others may think it is far off.
The Dua is as follows: You can recite it with translation and audio from here: DUA AL-AHAD WITH TRANSLATION AND AUDIO
In some traditional reports it is mentioned that after this hit your hand on your thigh and say thrice:
In the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. O Allah ! Lord of the great light, Lord of the elevated throne, Lord of the tumultuous seas and the revealer of the Taurat, Injil and Zaboor, Lord of the shadows and the warmths, and the revealer of the Great Qur’an. Lord of the proximate angels and Prophets and Messengers.
O Allah I beseech thee, for the sake of Your noble visage. And for the sake of Your enlightening visage, and Your ever existing kingdom. O Ever living! O Controller! I beseech thee in Your name. Which lits the heavens and the Earths; and in Your name, by which the ancient and the latter ones become upright. O Ever living Who was before every living being. O Ever living Who shall (exist) after every living being. O Ever living who existed when there was no life. O giver of life to dead. O one who causes death to the living one.
O Ever living. There is no god except You. O Allah send our master the leader, the Guide, the guided, the upriser with Your command. Blessings of Allah be on him and his pure forefathers. From all the believing men and believing women. In the easts of the earth and its wests, in its plains and its mountains, its lands and its seas, from me and my parents. Blessings which are the weight of Allah’s throne and ink on his words, and whatever His knowledge enumerates and his book encompasses.
O Allah renew for him my covenant, pledge and allegiance on my neck in the morning of this day of mine and whatever days (of my life) I live. I shall never turn away from it nor let it ever vanish. O Allah appoint me among his helpers, aides, and his protectors. Those who hasten to fulfill his commands and obey his orders. Those who are his supporters and compete with each other to (fulfill) his intention and seek martyrdom in his presence.
O Allah! If death occurs between me and him (before the reappearance) (death which You have made obligatory and decreed for Your servants, then raise me from my grave, wrapped in my shroud, my sword unsheathed, my spear bared, answering the call of the caller in cities as well as deserts.
O Allah! Show me the rightly guided face of (Imam a.s.), the praiseworthy moon and enlighten my vision by looking at him. Hasten his reappearance, make his arrival smooth, vasten his path, make me tread on his way and implement his authority and strengthen his back. O Allah, inhabit Your cities through him, and give life to your servants due to him for surely You have said and Your word is truth, “Corruption will become rampant in land and on sea because of the evil which men’s hand have earned.”
Then O Allah! Manifest for us Your slave and the son of Your Prophet’s daughter, whose name is the same as that of Your Messenger. So that nothing from falsehood is victorious except that he tears them (falsehood) to pieces, establishes the truth and the truth confirms him. And O Allah! Appoint him as a refuge for Your oppressed servant and a helper for the one who does not find any helper for himself except You and the renewer of all the laws of Your book which have been tempered with and rebuilder of the signs of Your religion and of Your Prophet (peace of Allah be on him and his Progeny).
And O Allah! Make him among those whom You have protected from the evils of the adversaries. O Allah! And provide joy to your Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him and his Progeny). By his vision and (the vision of) the one who follows him on his call. O Allah! Remove this sorrow (of occultation) from this nation with his presence and hasten for us his reappearance. They (the disbelievers) consider it to be distant while we consider it to be near. For the sake of Your mercy, O the most Merciful of all mercifuls.
…hit your hand on your thigh and say thrice:
Hasten! Hasten! O my Master, O master of the era.
After practicing for about 40 days, you may find yourself remembering Dua Ahad easily, making it simple to recite after your morning prayers. It only takes 4-5 minutes. Best wishes!
