I read a Hadeeth (in Sahih Muslim) about the hour of acceptance of Du'aas. It says that there is a particular time every Friday (very short period of time) in which whatever the supplicant asks for, it is granted. My question is: what does this Hadeeth exactly mean? How literally is this to be taken? I have started devoting the whole day of Friday every week to supplicating and Ibadah. And Insha Allah I will continue doing so. But I would like to make sure with what 'intention' I should pray. Right now, I always have faith in my Du’aas being accepted by Allah, provided they will be good for my life and the Hereafter. But is it wrong to EXPECT my Du'aa to be granted when I pray a full Friday? I don't want to end up having false expectations. Please clarify this issue for me.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Hadeeth that you referred to in the question is as follows:

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said: “There is a time on Friday at which no Muslim servant would pray and would ask Allah for a thing (that is good) but He would give it to him.” Qutayba pointed with the help of his hand that it (the time) is short.

In another narration, the Prophet said: “This is a very short time”.

The meaning of this Hadeeth is clear. The Prophet informed us that there is a time on Friday at which Allah accepts the supplication of those who supplicate Him.

There is no confusion in this Hadeeth since Allah is the Lord of everything. He gives priority to some periods of time over some others and some places over others.

If the questioner devotes his whole day in worshipping Allah, no doubt, this is a good practice as long as he is not leaving any obligation nor committing any sin. This practice would be considered as giving more importance to this day. Otherwise, the sound Ahadeeth establish that the time in which Allah gives a person what he asks for, is after 'Asr prayer.

Some of the Ahadeeth are as follows:

1. Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet said:  “Friday is divided into twelve hours. Amongst them there is an hour in which a Muslim does not ask Allah for anything but He gives it to him. So seek it in the last hour after the ‘Asr prayer." [Abu Daawood and Al-haakim]

2. Abu Salamah Ibn Abdurrahman said: “Some companions of the Prophet gathered and discussed the time which is in Friday. They did not disagree that the time is the last hour of Friday.” (This is a sound Hadeeth as stated by Imam Ibn Hajar)

The narrations which state that this time starts when the Imam gets up on the pulpit and continues till the end of the Friday prayer were criticized by some scholars of Hadeeth to be Mudhtarib (i.e. the reporters disagree about a particular narrator, or about some other points in the Isnad [chain of narrators], or the text in such a way that none of the opinions can be preferred over the others) and to be Munqati' (i.e. a link in the Isnad before the Tabi'e [successor of the companion] is missing or one of the reporters is known to have never heard the Hadeeth from his immediate authority, even though he may be his contemporary).

As for your question "with what intention I should pray?"; we would like to inform you that there is no special prayer in this day for Du'aa’ (supplication) which needs a proper intention.

No doubt, Allah accepts those supplications which do not contain a sin or cutting of kin relations. One should know that supplications are accepted when they meet the conditions set by the Sharee’ah. The most important condition is following the Commands of Allah and His Messenger, and avoiding all prohibitions.

When Allah Ordered people to supplicate Him and He promised that He will accept their supplications, He also Ordered them to follow His Commands so that the supplications would be accepted.

Allah Says (what means): {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.} [Quran 2:186]

Eating from lawful earnings, doing what is permissible, and avoiding what is forbidden are among the conditions for having one's supplications accepted.

The Prophet said: “O people, Allah is Tayyib (which implies pure) and He accepts only that which is pure. Allah commanded the believers with what He Had Commanded the Messengers. Allah Almighty Says (what means): {O messengers, eat from the good foods and work righteousness. Indeed, I, of what you do, Am Knowing.} [Quran 23:51] Allah, the Exalted, also Says (what means): {O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We Have Provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.} [Quran 2:172] Then, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, mentioned (the case of) a man who travels a long distance – unkempt and dusty – and who raises his hands towards heaven and supplicates, “O Lord! O Lord!” while his food is ill-gotten, his clothing is ill-gotten and he is fed with ill-gotten money; then the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “How could his supplications be answered? ”

There are other conditions also.

In fact, those supplications, which meet the mentioned conditions, would be accepted as Allah and His Prophet have confirmed.

Dear brother, you should be patient and ask your Lord as much as you can for what you need, and do not suspect any delay in acceptance since the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Allah accepts the supplications of one of you as long as he does not hasten and say: “I made a supplication but it was not answered.”

Allah knows best.