Munajat — Rawzat

The Nature of Munajat

The Arabic root n-j-w covers a semantic field centered on speaking secretly and confidentially: najwa is secret conversation, munajat is its mutual form — two parties in intimate, private exchange. When used of the soul’s relationship with the divine, munajat carries the weight of maximum intimacy: the soul speaking to the divine as a confidant speaks to a beloved, without the distance of formality, without the performance of public prayer.

The Quran itself uses this vocabulary of intimate divine conversation:

“And whenever you whisper [munajat] among yourselves, do not whisper of sin and aggression and disobedience to the Messenger but whisper of righteousness and piety.” (58:9) — The Quran redirects the human impulse toward intimate speech toward the good; munajat with the divine is the supreme form of this impulse.

“And mention your Lord much and exalt [Him with praise] in the evening and the morning. Indeed, those who are near your Lord are not prevented by arrogance from His worship, and they exalt Him, and to Him they prostrate.” (7:205-206) — The constant remembrance (dhikr) that leads toward munajat.

The highest Quranic image of munajat is Musa’s direct conversation with the divine on Mount Sinai: “And Allah spoke to Musa with [direct] speech.” (4:164) — Kallama Allahu Musa takliman — the verb kallama here (speech, conversation) is the zahir equivalent of what the mystics call munajat.

The Munajat of Imam ‘Ali — Du’a Kumayl

The most celebrated munajat in the Shi’i-Ismaili tradition is the Du’a Kumayl (the supplication transmitted to Kumayl ibn Ziyad al-Nakha’i by Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib). Imam ‘Ali reportedly taught this du’a to Kumayl in the night, in confidence — the very setting of munajat.

The character of Du’a Kumayl: Unlike most du’a, Du’a Kumayl does not begin with petitions. It begins with an extended litany of the divine’s names and attributes — teaching the soul, before it asks for anything, to dwell in the consciousness of Who it is addressing:

“O Allah, O Allah, O Allah, O Answerer of the one who calls You in distress, O Reliever of him who is in great pain…”

The progression of Du’a Kumayl moves through:

Divine attributes and Names — establishing the consciousness of the divine’s magnificence
The supplicant’s unworthiness — “I do not find within myself anything to plead with but Your mercy…”
Acknowledgment of sins — “My God, my Master, my Lord — O Allah — how many of my vile deeds You have overlooked…”
The central petition — liberation from the fire, from punishment, from distance from the divine
The soul’s longing — “My God, my Master — if You have willed for me punishment in the fire, then do so after You have pardoned me, pitied me…”
The impossible request — the soul asking the divine to be merciful even in punishment; expressing a love for the divine that makes any outcome acceptable

The munajat-character of Du’a Kumayl: What makes Du’a Kumayl a true munajat is the shift from third-person to second-person address — not “Allah is merciful” (information) but “You are merciful” (encounter). The soul is in genuine conversation, not merely reciting attributes.

Bohra recitation: Du’a Kumayl is traditionally recited on Thursday nights — considered the most spiritually receptive time in the weekly cycle.

The Fifteen Munajat of Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin

The Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya (The Psalter of Imam ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-‘Abidin, 4th Imam, d. 713 CE) contains fifteen named munajat — each addressing the divine from a specific interior state or spiritual station:

Munajat al-Tahibbin (Those Who Love): The prayer of the soul overwhelmed by divine love
Munajat al-Kha’ifin (The Fearful): The prayer of the soul trembling before the divine’s majesty
Munajat al-Raji’in (Those Who Hope): The prayer of the soul holding to hope
Munajat al-Mushtaqin (Those Who Yearn): The prayer of the soul sick with longing for the divine
Munajat al-Mutadharri’in (The Humble Pleaders): The prayer of the soul in complete surrender
Munajat al-Kha’ifin (Those Who Fear): The prayer of the soul caught in awe and terror
Munajat al-Muznibin (The Sinners): The prayer of the soul conscious of its sins
Munajat al-Rajin (Those Who Hope): The prayer of the soul in confident hope
Munajat al-Mustaghathin (The Imploring): The prayer of the soul crying out in need
Munajat al-‘Arifin (The Knowers): The prayer of the soul that has achieved spiritual knowledge
Munajat al-Dhakirin (The Rememberers): The prayer of the soul in constant dhikr
Munajat al-Wasilin (Those Who Have Arrived): The prayer of the soul that has reached nearness to the divine
Munajat al-Muridin (Those Who Seek): The prayer of the soul still on the way
Munajat al-Mutawassilin (The Intermediaries): The prayer through the Imams as wasila
Munajat al-Mutawakkilin (Those Who Trust): The prayer of the soul in complete tawakkul

This collection of fifteen munajat maps perfectly onto the soul’s journey — from the initial awakening of love (Munajat al-Muhibbin) through the fear, hope, longing, and humility that accompany spiritual growth, to the prayer of the knowers (Munajat al-‘Arifin) who have achieved direct spiritual knowledge, to the final prayer of the ones who trust completely (Munajat al-Mutawakkilin).

Munajat in the Bohra Liturgical Tradition

The munajat form is present throughout the Dawoodi Bohra liturgical corpus:

In Ashara Mubaraka: The majalis of Ashara include passages of munajat addressed directly to Imam al-Husayn — the soul lamenting to the Imam, addressing him as if present, expressing grief that has the character of intimate prayer rather than formal supplication.

The munajat before sleeping: The tradition of a personal du’a before sleep has the quality of munajat — the day’s accounting (muhasaba) expressed in intimate address to the divine before the night’s rest.

Personal munajat after salah: After the formal fard salah, the mu’min is encouraged to remain in prayer — in the intimacy of personal du’a that shades into munajat. The Bohra tradition preserves specific awrad (litanies) for this time, but beyond the formulas lies the open space of munajat.

The intimate address to the Imam: In the Bohra tradition, the relationship with the Da’i al-Mutlaq (as the Imam’s representative in ghayba) has a dimension of munajat — the mu’min’s inner address to the Imam through his representative, expressing walayah in its most personal form.

The Theology of Munajat

Munajat as Walayah in its Most Interior Form

The formal definition of walayah includes tawalli (love and allegiance to the Imam and Ahl al-Bayt) and the outer expression of this walayah in acts of ita’ah (obedience) and nusrah (support). But walayah has an inner dimension that only munajat can express: the soul’s direct, unguarded address to the divine, with the Imam and Ahl al-Bayt as the medium of that address.

When a mu’min addresses the divine in munajat, naming the Imam as their wasila (means of approach), speaking of their love for the Ahl al-Bayt, lamenting their own shortcomings in fulfilling their covenant (misaq) — this is walayah in its most interior and genuine form.

The Stages of Munajat

Not all intimate prayer is at the same depth. The tradition identifies stages:

Munajat al-Lisan (Munajat of the tongue): Speaking the words of munajat without full presence of heart. Valuable as practice but not yet complete.

Munajat al-Qalb (Munajat of the heart): The heart’s full presence in the words spoken — the words expressing what the heart genuinely feels.

Munajat al-Sirr (Munajat of the innermost secret): The prayer that transcends words entirely — the soul’s direct, wordless presence before the divine. This corresponds to what is sometimes called sukut al-arifin (the silence of the knowers) — the prayer that is beyond language because the soul has moved beyond the need for language in its relationship with the divine.

The three stages of munajat correspond to the three levels of ‘ilm al-yaqin, ‘ayn al-yaqin, and haqq al-yaqin:

Munajat al-Lisan: ‘ilm al-yaqin (knowing about the divine)
Munajat al-Qalb: ‘ayn al-yaqin (direct experience of the divine’s presence)
Munajat al-Sirr: haqq al-yaqin (complete absorption in the divine)

See also: Ilm Al Yaqin, Fana And Baqa

Ta’wil of Munajat

The zahir of munajat is the spoken prayer — the words addressed to the divine in intimate, personal, direct form.

The batin of munajat is the soul’s fundamental condition: the nafs in its longing for the divine, reaching toward the ‘Aql (the Universal Intellect, the Imam’s haqiqah) that gave it its existence. Every genuine munajat is the nafs’s recognition of its own deepest nature — not a separate being that happens to address the divine, but a being whose very existence is a continuous address to the divine.

Munajat is not something the soul does in addition to its normal existence; munajat is what the soul is, when it is most fully itself.

“And I do not call to you except because of the beauty of reaching You — O Refuge of the Fleeing, O Asylum of the Seeking.” — From the munajat attributed to Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib

Munajat — The Intimate Supplication