Family
Dua for Parents
My Lord, have mercy upon them both as they brought me up when I was small. UK Prayer Times provides the Arabic text, transliteration and meaning for this family dua (Surah al-Isra (17:24) — a Quranic dua commanded for all Muslims).
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Allah commands believers in the Quran to make dua for their parents: 'My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up when I was small.' (Surah al-Isra 17:24). This dua is one of the most important a Muslim can make — the Prophet ﷺ said a righteous child's dua for their parents is one of three things that continues to benefit a deceased person.
رَبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا
Transliteration
Rabbi-rḥamhumā kamā rabbayānī ṣaghīrā.
Translation
My Lord, have mercy upon them both as they brought me up when I was small.
Source: Surah al-Isra (17:24) — a Quranic dua commanded for all Muslims
When to recite
- After every prayer (salah).
- During the last third of the night (tahajjud) — the best time for any dua.
- On Fridays — a blessed day when duas are accepted.
- Continue making this dua for deceased parents — it reaches them and is a form of sadaqah jariyah.
Virtues & Benefits
- Directly commanded in the Quran (17:24) — one of only a handful of quranic duas.
- Among the three deeds that continue after death: a righteous child making dua for their parent (Sahih Muslim 1631).
- Fulfils the child's duty of respect (birr al-walidayn) even after the parents' passing.
More Family Duas
Dua for Anxiety, Worry and Distress
O Allah, I am Your servant, son of Your servant, son of Your maidservant. My forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed, and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name that belongs to You — by which You have named Yourself, or revealed in Your Book, or taught to any of Your creation, or kept with Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen — to make the Quran the spring of my heart, the light of my chest, the departure of my sadness, and the release of my anxiety.
Dua al-Istikhara — Seeking Guidance from Allah
O Allah, I seek Your guidance by Your knowledge, and I seek ability by Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. For You are able and I am not, You know and I do not know, and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter is good for me in my religion, livelihood, and in the hereafter, then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if You know this matter to be bad for me in my religion, livelihood and in the hereafter, then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it, and decree for me what is good wherever it may be, and make me content with it.
Dua for Knowledge and Wisdom
My Lord, increase me in knowledge.
Dua When It Rains
O Allah, let it be a beneficial downpour.