Prayer and supplication is in fact calling God and asking Him for help. It is a bond with the Powerful and Wise Creator in sadness, happiness, ease, calamity and every moment of life. In the blessed month of Ramazan the servants of God call Him more than ever. A famous supplication for Ramazan is the Du’a-e Jowshan Kabir (Great Armor) which is recommended to read especially in the nights of Qadr.

Jowshan means armor and combat dress in Arabic. This supplication is called Jowsahn, because it was brought by Archangel Gabriel to the Prophet in the heat of the battle of Badr. The Prophet’s armor was very heavy. Gabriel told the Prophet, “O Messenger of God! God salutes you and says, ‘Take off this armor and read this supplication to protect you and your Ummah against dangers and mishaps.”

Jowshan Kabir supplication contains 100 passages each of which has 10 names of God. Passage 55 is the only one which contains 11 names. These names come one after the other so that not only there is a sort of rhyme and rhythm in them but they are related to one another. On the status of this supplication, the Messenger of Mercy said, “No servant of God from my Ummah reads this supplication three times or once in the blessed month of Ramazan, unless God, the Exalted, will surely make his body forbidden to the hellfire and make paradise obligatory for him.”

Supplication is paying attention to God and speaking to Him consciously. Prayer and supplication can include mentioning the needs, confession of sins, expression of repentance, gratitude and praising. There are lofty degrees of monotheism, the belief in Judgment Day and principles of Islamic ideology in Jowshan Kabir supplication. For instance, passage 55 points to the divine power, saying, “O You whose command has infiltrated in everything; O You whose knowledge has attached to everything; O You whose power has reached everything; O You whose bounties the servants cannot count; O You whose thank the creatures cannot fulfill. O You whose glory the perceptions cannot grasp; O You whose being the whims cannot reach; O You whose cloak is grandeur and majesty; O You whose decree the servants cannot alter; O You, except whose kingdom there is no kingdom; O You, except His donation there is no donation.”

A noble hadith from the Prophet reads, “Indeed, there are 99 names for God, the Exalted and the High; whoever calls Him with these names his prayer will be answered and whoever enumerates them will enter paradise.”

 As you know each of these names is the symbol of a divine attribute.

At the end of every passage of Jowshan Kabir supplication we are recommended to read “Sobhanaka Ya La ilaha illa Ant; Al-Ghowth al-Gowth, Khallisna minan-Nari Ya Rabb.” It means, “Glorified are You, O One who there is no god except You; Refuge, Refuge, Deliver us from Fire, O Lord!”

Fire is bright in appearance but it is painful inwardly; just like sins and evil thoughts that seem beautiful while they are very ugly and dark inside. When we read supplications and prayers like Jowshan Kabir, we are in fact imploring God to relieve us from ignorance, and repudiation of divine words and righteous beliefs. By invoking the names of God, we are indeed asking Him to make us firm in believing these names and attributes of God. Those who truly believe that whatever exists in the world belongs to God and He is the owner of every power, life, knowledge, hearing, seeing, sustenance, mercy and so on, will not be sad or happy at the ups and downs of the world. If a person really trusts in God, he will not be hopeless in calamities as he knows that the ultimate source of everything is God. Recitation of prayers like Jowshan Kabir means that: Our Lord! We believe in these names and realities of monotheism. So, we entreat You to free us from ignorance and negligence toward these names and attributes. Our Lord! Cause these names to penetrate in our hearts so that we get rid of whatever false thoughts which lead to eternal punishment in the Hereafter.

RM/ME