Muslims offer prayer as we near Sept. 11

As the country remembers Sept. 11, Muslims in the Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena area remember and mourn as well. Our

feelings are represented in the following prayer:

Dear God, as our country remembers the heartbreaking events of

Sept. 11, 2001, we humbly turn to You in prayer. At a time where our

nation is facing unprecedented challenges, we need Your spirit, mercy

and strength, now more than ever, to guide us down the right path.

Dear Lord, we pray that you have taken under Your merciful wings

those who innocently perished on that tragic day. We are grateful

they were once a part of our lives. We thank You for the love and joy

they gave their parents, spouses, children, friends and co-workers.

We thank You for the testimony of their faith in their churches,

mosques, synagogues and temples. We thank you for the comfort and

courage they extended to others in their last moments.

Dear God, with Your compassion, please answer our prayer. Dear

Almighty, shower Your comfort upon the families of the victims. We

pray for all who searched the streets and hospital rooms and rubble

with fading hopes of finding a dear one alive. Replace the pain in

their hearts with the knowledge that their loved ones are in an abode

of peace. We pray their tears of grief are replaced with a

tranquillity of the soul that only You can bestow. Dear God, with

Your compassion, please answer our prayer.

O our Sustainer, bless the children of the victims. Bless them

with bountiful lives, with direction and remembrance, with discipline

and virtue. Bless them with all that is good, and protect them from

all that is evil.

May the loss of one or both parents be replaced by Your merciful

and blessed guidance. For You are the best of all guides. May the

country do what it must to ensure their future. Dear God, with Your

compassion, please answer our prayer.

Dear God, we pray for the rescue workers and volunteers from

across the nation, who worked faithfully and tirelessly to find

survivors and cleared the debris. Sustain them all, dear God, and

please answer our prayer.

O Lord, strengthen our nation and protect us from evil. Guide our

leaders, elevate our society, and enrich the fabric of the country.

Dear God, with Your compassion, please answer our prayer.

O Most Merciful, we have seen the very worst that we are capable

of -- vengeance, greed, and murder. But we have seen the very best

that we are capable of -- courage, compassion, service, faith,

heroism, community, love. Strengthen us and make us better people who

will choose the latter and better way.

Dear God, it is in You that we place our ultimate trust; it is to

You that we pray; it is to you that we ask for guidance.

Dear Almighty, please bless the victims; Dear Sustainer, please

bless the families; Dear God, please bless America.

OMAR S. RICCI

Muslim Public Affairs

Council