Dua is calling upon Allah directly: asking, thanking, confiding, or simply talking to Him. It can be in any language, in your own words, or using words that Allah or the Prophet, peace be upon him, taught.

It is different from Salah, the formal prayer performed five times a day. Salah has a fixed form, while dua can happen anywhere, at any time, about anything. Allah invites it directly in the Qur'an. In Surah Ghafir, chapter forty, verse sixty, an English translation of the meaning reads: “And your Lord says, Call upon Me; I will respond to you.”

For a new Muslim, dua is often one of the most accessible parts of worship. It needs no special state of purification, no particular posture, and no memorised Arabic to begin. Learning some of the Prophet's own words for dua, in Arabic with their meaning, is a valuable habit to build over time, and this site has dedicated collections for that. But what matters most at the start is sincerity: speaking honestly to Allah about what is actually on your mind, whether that is gratitude, difficulty, a request, or uncertainty.

There are times Muslims traditionally consider especially suited to dua, such as after the five daily prayers, in the last part of the night, and while fasting. But dua is not restricted to these. They are encouraged times, not the only valid ones. Making dua for other people, and not only for yourself, is also a well-established and encouraged practice.

This lesson is the starting point. The site's separate collections give specific duas for particular moments, such as morning and evening, before sleep, for food, and in difficulty, each with the Arabic text, a transliteration and a translation. For the Arabic wording itself, learn from a teacher or a verified recording, and rely on those verified collections rather than wording found elsewhere without a source.