Invocation

== Supplication or prayer ==
As a supplication or prayer, an invocation implies calling upon [[God]], a god, [[goddess]], or person. When a person calls upon God, a god, or goddess to ask for something (protection, a favour, or his/her spiritual presence in a ceremony) or simply for [[worship]], this can be done in a pre-established form or with the invoker's own words or actions. An example of a pre-established text for an invocation is the [[Lord's Prayer]].

All religions in general use invoking prayers, [[liturgies]], or [[hymns]]; see for example the [[mantra]]s in [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]], the [[Egypt]]ian ''Coming Out by Day'' (aka ''[[Book of the Dead]]''), the [[Orphic]] Hymns and the many texts, still preserved, written in [[Cuneiform (script)|cuneiform]] characters on clay tablets, addressed to [[Shamash]], [[Ishtar]], and other deities.

In [[Islam]], invocation ({{transliteration|ar|DIN|[[dua|duʿāʾ]]}}) is a prayer of [[supplication]] or request.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Dua|editor=John L. Esposito|encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2014|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e561|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423045826/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e561|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 23, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Gardet, L |title=Duʿāʾ| year= 2012 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editor1=P. Bearman|editor2= Th. Bianquis|editor3= C.E. Bosworth|editor4= E. van Donzel|editor5= W.P. Heinrichs|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0195}}</ref> [[Muslim]]s regard this as a profound act of worship. [[Muhammad]] is reported to have said, "Dua is the very essence of worship."{{quote without source|date=February 2024}} One of the earliest treaties on invocations, attributed to a scholar named Khālid ibn Yazīd, has survived on a papyrus booklet dated 880-881.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tillier |first=Mathieu |title=Supplier Dieu dans l'Égypte toulounide : le florilège de l'invocation d'après Ḫālid b. Yazīd (IIIe/IXe siècle) |date=2022 |others=Naïm Vanthieghem |isbn=978-90-04-52180-3 |location=Leiden |oclc=1343008841}}</ref>

=== As alternative to prayer ===
An invocation can also be a secular alternative to a prayer. On August 30, 2012, Dan Nerren, a member of the Humanist Association of Tulsa, delivered a secular invocation to open a meeting of the City Council of [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=19423373|title = Atheist Delivers Invocation At Tulsa City Council Meeting For First Time Ever|date = Aug 30, 2012<!-- 9:27 PM EDT-->|publisher = KOTV.com}}</ref> Nerren was invited to perform the invocation as a compromise following a long-running dispute with the City Council over prayers opening meetings. The invocation was written by Andrew Lovley, a member of the Southern Maine Association of Secular Humanists who had previously used the invocation in 2009 to invoke an inauguration ceremony for new city officials in [[South Portland, Maine]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.secularstudents.org/node/2938|title = Andrew Lovley's Secular Invocation|publisher = Secular Students Alliance|date = 2009-12-15 <!-- - 10:08 --> |author = Lyz}}</ref>

In this usage, it is comparable to an [[affirmation in law|affirmation]] as an alternative for those who conscientiously object to taking [[oath]]s of any kind, be it for reasons of belief or [[non-belief]].