Allah is near! (2:186)

And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.  (Surah Baqarah 2:186)

According to some narrations, this verse was revealed when a Sahaba asked Nabi Kareem ﷺ whether they should make dua silently or loudly i.e. Is Allah near or far? Or, a sahaba asked Nabi Kareem ﷺ at what time they can make dua to Allah? This verse was revealed to tell us that Allah is always there for us and always listening. 

Imagine a mother sent her soldier son to a battle. She is extremely hopeful of his return, so she says that "when" he returns, I will rush to welcome him. The mother doesn't say "if" because she loves her son unconditionally, and cannot even consider the possibility of her son dying and not returning.

Allah is more than a loving mother to us. Allah begins the Ayah by saying "when" "my" slave ask "you" about "me", "Indeed I am near". Allah is in anticipation of our call and calls us "my" slaves. Allah owns and loves us by saying عبادى, My slaves! Imagine that Allah is the highest of the highest as our Rabb, and we are the lowest of the lowest as His slaves, but Allah is there for us.  He also uses "me" instead of "us" to establish His closeness to us. Allah is so happy that He responds to the question directly, instead of responding through the tongue of Nabi Kareem ﷺ. Allah establishes a direct relationship with us, without the need of any intermediary or intercessor. Allah says انّى to place emphasis and remove all doubts about whether He is listening. قريب is an Ism Sift which has the internal meaning of "always" so Allah has always been near and always will be near. Allah never turned away from us, but we are the ones who turn our back to Allah. The advantage is that when someone is near, it is easier for us to communicate with them, as opposed to someone who is far away from us. 

I respond to the invocation of "the" caller "whenever" he calls me. اجيب means "to respond." Allah does not say استجيب  which means to try to answer, or to respond over time, but Allah says اجيب which means that Allah responds immediately. Allah responds to even the silent, unspoken duas in our hearts that have not even come upon our tongues yet. Allah does not put any conditions for responding to our dua, but He responds to every call, even if it is a single call دعوة. Anybody who calls, qualifies to be caller, even if he is not a Muslim. Allah listens to us even if this is the first time in our lives that we are making dua to Him and remembering Him. Don't forget that Allah has the right to be angry with us for neglecting His remembrance, but He still responds immediately. Some people lose patience and feel that Allah does not respond to their duas,  but Allah always responds immediately with that which is best for us. Moreover, Allah first mentioned His response, and then mentioned our call, which implies that Allah is so eager to respond to us that He flipped the sequence in this ayah! SubhanAllah!

Also, note that Allah says "the" caller الداع as if He knows every single one of us personally. It is very hard to gain access to any person of authority or importance in the dunya, but Allah has given each one of us so much importance that He calls us "the" caller. He identifies and recognises every single one of us.  Allah is closer to us than our jugular vein and can distinguish us from the millions of other people who may be calling Him simultaneously.  If we are asked to listen and respond to multiple people simultaneously, we will not be able to make any sense or even recall their names! Allah also emphasises that He will respond whenever He is called i.e. immediately اذا دعان.  It is very hard to arrange an appointment with important people, but Allah is with us 24/7. Allah is always available to listen to us, be it in the brightness of the day or the darkness of the night!

Allah follows it by saying that let them فليستجيبوا "try to respond to me". Allah values our niyyah and efforts, even if we are imperfect and unable to achieve the desired results. When they respond to me, they should believe in me وليومنوا. Allah mentioned belief because some people lose faith and assume that Allah is ignoring their duas, so Allah is reminding us to have tawakkul and sabr. Trust in Allah's plan, as His plans have the most khayr for us. Recall how the mother of Musa AS placed trust in Allah, and placed baby Musa AS in the river to protect him from being killed by Firaun's soldiers  It was apparently a suicide mission, but Allah quickly reunited Musa AS with his mother, in the palace of Firaun. SubhanAllah!

Allah ends by saying يرشدون "that they may be rightly guided" because those people who have such a strong reliance upon Allah, stay firm on Sirat ul mustaqeem. The revelation from Allah, and dua made to Allah when combined together, set our lives straight. Allah speaks to us through the Qur'an, and we communicate to Allah through dua, SubhanAllah!

This verse is placed after the Ayahs about Ramadan. Ramadan is specifically the month to reconnect ourselves to Allah through dua. Dua is the most intimate conversation with Allah so we should call Allah with presence of heart. We should make dua with the belief that Allah is always, constantly listening to us, and waiting for us to call upon Him. 

An-Nu'man bin Bashir (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Du'a (supplication) is worship." [Abu Dawud].

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

The supplication of the servant is granted in case he does not supplicate for sin or for severing the ties of blood, or he does not become impatient. It was said: Allah's Messenger, what does:" If he does not grow impatient" imply? He said: That he should say like this: I supplicated and I supplicated but I did not find it being responded. and then he becomes frustrated and abandons supplication. (Sahih Muslim)

Abud-Darda' (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The supplication of a Muslim for his (Muslim) brother in his absence will certainly be answered. Everytime he makes a supplication for good for his brother, the angel appointed for this particular task says: 'A meen! May it be for you, too'."[Muslim].

Abu Hurairah [may Allah be pleased with him] narrated that:

The Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever wishes that Allah would respond to him during hardship and grief, then let him supplicate plentifully when at ease.” (Tirmidhi)

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "You must not supplicate: 'O Allah! forgive me if You wish; O Allah bestow mercy on me if You wish.' But beg from Allah with certitude for no one has the power to compel Allah."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Another narration of Muslim is: "A supplication should be made in full confidence and one should persistently express his desire (before Allah) in his supplication, for no bounty is too great for Allah to bestow (upon his slaves)."