In the Name of Allah Most Kind, Most Merciful

A Message for Hajj
and A Prayer on Eid u/Adha.
By Dr Shahid Athar


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.