Is Sin an Obstacle to Dua?

Are the prayers of sinners acceptable?

Committing sin is not an obstacle for making dua

Committing sin and supplicating are two different issues. Committing sin is not obstacle for making dua. Sinning is a result of being a human, while supplicating is a duty of a servant.

“Say (O Muhammad): My Lord would not concern Himself with you but for your prayer.” (Furqan, 77)

Being sinless is not a condition of the acceptance of dua

The condition of “being sinless” is a trap which devil sets up to obstruct the servant’s worship. The opinion; “If we become sinless and perfect, Allah will accept all our invocations. Otherwise, He will not.” is not correct. Allah accepts the invocations of even the infidel. For example, every need of an infidel such as eating, drinking, breathing, wishing to be successful is a dua that they make through their tongues of disposition. Although they deny Allah, He gives them their needs and grants their wishes in this world. Because, this world is a test for humankind. But unless they make tawba and convert into belief, they will never be given blessings in the hereafter.
That’s to say, even we sin we shall never give up making dua.

Sinning is a result of being a human, forgiving is a blessing of Allah the All-Mighty

Besides this, Allah blessed His servants with a “free will” to choose between good and bad. He commands His servants to prefer good to evil; right to wrong; halal (lawful) to haram (unlawful) and covenants “jannah”, the great reward, to them who obey His commands. As for those beaten to nafs and devil and disobey orders, Allah (swt) calls them to tawba (repentance) and opens the doors of His infinite forgiveness.
“And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed.” (Surah an-Nur, 31)
“O ye who believe! Turn unto Allah in sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will remit from you your evil deeds and bring you into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, on the day when Allah will not abase the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their light will run before them and on their right hands; they will say: Our Lord! Perfect our light for us, and forgive us! Lo! Thou art Able to do all things.” (Surah at-Tahrim, 8)
Our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) states in his hadith that making mistakes and sinning is a necessity of being a human:
“Every human commits sin. The best of sinners are those who repent (turn back from their mistakes regretfully)." (Tirmidhi)
In his following hadith, he states how a great mercy Our Lord has:
“By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have pardoned them.” (Muslim, vol. 4, Book 37, Hadith No. 6622 & 6621)

A non repented sin alienates tongue from worship and supplication

Which shows “sin” like an obstacle to dua is either the misgivings of devil or the heedlessness occurred in the soul because of sins. Because, each sin makes a wound in heart and soul. As long as we continue sinning, these spiritual wounds deepen and cause misgivings and doubts. Misgivings give harm both to faith in the heart and to the tongue which is the translator of heart.
For example, a sick person feels the need for nourishment and vitamin more than any time, but he doesn’t want to eat anything because of his lack of appetite. He is even annoyed from the smell of food. It is exactly the same as a tongue wounded by sins and became sick. Tongue is in need of remembrance of Allah, praying Him and performing worship, perhaps more than any time. However, sins take away his appetite and alienate tongue from worship and supplication, even give the feeling of “hate” against worship. So that man can’t feel enough effort and strength to perform worship.
Not until these spiritual wounds heal can we get rid of the negative effects of sins. And this is not possible until the sins are obliterated. And their being obliterated is not possible as long as we don’t “make tawba”, (to repent and ask Allah for forgiveness.)
“Every illness has a curative; the curative of sins is “istighfar” (to pray Allah for forgiveness).” (Shirat-ul Islam)
So, when we commit a sin, we shouldn’t give up making dua. On the contrary, we should make dua and tawba more than any time and ask Allah for help.

Shaytan (devil) does not want human to make tawba

Devil tries two ways in order to hinder man from making tawba. He gives man the impression that he is sinless or that he has such an enormous amount of sin that they will never be forgiven.

One who doesn’t see his “sin” never asks for forgiveness

Devil hinders man from seeing his sin by imbuing him with thoughts like “how much sin can I have? I’m an extremely good person.” Or when he comes face to face with a problem, he always accuses the others and says He is the guilty, not me. If he hadn’t behaved in so and so way, I wouldn’t do so.” A person who does not see and confess his mistake does not admit his sin and consider him to be impeccable. Such a person does never repent and ask for forgiveness. He is always conceited and arrogant. Thus, he falls in the trap of devil. One who admits his sin asks Allah for pardon; seeks refuge in Allah (swt) from the traps of devil. He asks Allah for help by making dua.

One who falls into despair because of the abundance of his sins does not ask for forgiveness

“Say: O My slaves who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” (Surah az- Zumar)
Regarding sins being impossible to be forgiven is definitely a situation of despair. Despair is the harshest enemy, the most serious illness of man and the most dangerous weapon of devil. Devil paralyses man’s ability of worshipping with this weapon. A hopeless man assumes that whatever he does, no matter how much he worships and asks for pardon; Allah will never forgive him. He thinks: “My prayers and supplications are not appropriate for Allah. So I can’t ask Him for pardon with such big amounts of sins. I can’t ask Him anything.” Therefore, he even doesn’t make tawba. That’s how devil entraps him. And that’s exactly what devil wants. With giving up worship and supplication, he utterly submits shaitan. However, Allah, the Merciful (swt) declares in many verses and hadiths that He will accept repentances (tawbas) no matter how much sin he has.
“Even if your sins are about to reach the sky, if you made tawba, they will absolutely be forgiven.” (Kutub-i Sitta)

Allah (swt) wants to accept the repentances (tawbas)

When man determines to make tawba, a new misgiving and doubt surrounds his mind: will Allah accept his tawba or not? What if Allah (swt) does not accept his tawba?
Ayahs and verses relieve us of these doubts, encourage to tawba and herald the repentant.

“Allah wishes to accept your repentance…” (Surah an- Nisa, 27)
“And whosoever repenteth and doeth good, he verily repenteth toward Allah with true repentance “(Surah al-Furqan, 71)
“Allah (swt) opens His hand (of bounty and blessing) at night in order to accept the tawbas of them who commit sin in the morning. He (swt) opens His hand in the morning in order to accept them commit sin at night. This will continue until the sun rises from west.” (Muslim)

We should make tawba immediately

Tawba should be made in the closest time, without loss of time and should not be delayed. Lots of glad tidings are covenanted to those who repent and ask Allah for pardon.

“Repentance with Allah is only for those who do evil in ignorance, then turn (to Allah) soon, so these it is to whom Allah turns (mercifully), and Allah is ever Knowing, Wise." (Surah an- Nisa, 17)

“Mumin makes mistake, but right after He does make tawba.” (Tabarani)