In the Name of Allah Most Kind, Most Merciful
A Message for Hajj and
A Prayer on Eid u/Adha. 1417
O Allah, our Creator and Sustainer
All praise belongs to You:
You alone we worship,
You alone we fear,
You alone we seek help from.
We thank You for giving us this day of Sacrifice to remind us of the
sacrifice
of your friend Ibrahim (AS) and his son Ishmael. Help us sacrifice our false
pride in wealth and ethnic origin and join the universal brotherhood of all
Muslims;
help us sacrifice our wealth, knowledge and time for the cause of Muslims and
all of
mankind.
You have told us "our prayer, our sacrifice, our life and our death
is for the
sake of Allah only." As ordained in Surah Nasr, our joys in our success are
always expressed with our praise for You, and asking Your forgiveness. We ask
Your forgiveness, as "You love to forgive and if You don't forgive, we will
be in
great loss." But how can we enjoy this Eid fully when our hearts are grieved
to see
the sufferings of our Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world.
O Allah, You ordained us to be united and gave us a rope (Quran) to hold
onto, but sometimes we seem to be busy only in fighting, letting down and
criticizing
each other. Give us in our heart love of each other and respect for others'
lives,
property and views (Amin).
O Allah, you Ordained Zakat (charity) to purify our wealth but so many
wealthy Muslims and countries love to invest billions of dollars for the
wrong causes,
while thousands of Muslims in many parts of the world die of hunger. Make us
share what we have with those who do not have. As we rush before Eid to buy
new
shoes, new clothes and gifts for our own children, help us remember those
Muslim
children who lost their parents in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya,
Somalia, Palestine and Kashmir, or millions of those children who have parents
but cannot afford food , let alone gifts. This is a test from you. Don't
fail us in this
test.
O Allah, You gave us freedom, but many Muslims are living under
oppression. O Allah, give victory to all those who are fighting for Your
cause.
O
Allah, give us leaders who are Alim and Muttaqee. O Allah, You who put
love in the heart of believers, unite us now, so that we can recognize our
enemy, the
Satan, and walk away from him and walk together toward You. O Allah, You
have asked us "to save yourself and your families from hell fire." Help us
achieve this
by establishing Islam in ourselves, our families, our community and our
countries
including the USA.
Our Lord, accept our prayer, for "You are the Hearer, the Knower, and
forgive us for You are the most forgiving." Accept the Hajj of all those
Muslims
whom you invited to your house (Amin). Help us submit to your will.
Shahid Athar,M.D.,F.A.C.E., F.A.C.P.
EID MUBARAK
Reprint Requests:
Shahid Athar, MD
Clinical Associate Professor
Indiana University School of Medicine
8424 Naab Road
Suite 2D
Indianapolis, IN 46260