In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He guides His obedient servants to His love and admits the doers of good to His Paradise. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master, Prophet Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his pure blessed family and companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
Dear brothers and sisters! Let’s pray:
Yaa Allah, unite our nation around the principles of justice, peace, love and faith.
Yaa Allah, put peace and love in our hearts for the diversity that makes our nation so beautiful.
Yaa Allah, Most Merciful, we pray for our nation to remain tolerant and loving, remove prejudice from our hearts, and allow us to love our brothers and sisters in humanity.
Yaa Allah, Allow our Governments to remain accountable to the people, give them vision and wisdom, as they take decisions affecting peace in our world so that they may uphold peace in the world, advance the welfare of our nation and deal kindly and justly with all our communities.
Yaa Allah, Most Strong, give us the strength to protect and care for our neighbours.
Yaa Allah, make our hearts and minds aware of our heritage, fulfilling duties and responsibilities as a citizen.
Yaa Allah, Most Merciful, allow us to show kindness to those most vulnerable in society.
Yaa Allah, protect us from evil, inspire and guide us in defending those open to abuse.
Yaa Allah, Most Generous, allow us to give in charitable activity, and to help those most in need.
Yaa Allah, make us more conscious of what is not good for us.
Yaa Allah, most merciful, Most Generous, please give us the patience to continue to learn from one another and work towards a more peaceful and kind world.
Yaa Allah, make our hearts generous so that we may treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Help us to share that which we have with others, for your sake. Strengthen us, love us and be kind to us all.
Yaa Allah, we thank you for allowing us to live in this country.
Yaa Allah, we lift up our country to you for blessings today. We thank you for allowing us to live in a place that lets us pray to you every day, that lets us speak out our beliefs. We thank you for the blessing that this country is to us and our family.
Yaa Allah, we ask that you continue to have your hand on this nation, and that you provide the leaders with the wisdom to guide us in the right direction. Even if they are not all righteous, Allah, I ask that you speak to them in different ways so that they make decisions that honour you and make our lives better. Allah, I pray that they continue to do what is best for all the people in the country, that they continue to provide for the poor and downtrodden, and that they have the patience and discernment to do what is right.
We also pray, Yaa Allah, for our country’s safety. We ask that you bless the soldiers that guard our borders. We ask that you keep those that live here safe from others who would do us harm for being free, for worshipping you, and for allowing people to speak freely. I pray, Yaa Allah, that we one day see an end to the fighting and that our soldiers come safely home in a world that is both grateful and no longer needs them to fight.
Yaa Allah, we continue to pray for this country’s prosperity. Even in hard times, we ask for your hand in programs that help those who have problems helping themselves. We thank you for your hand in already helping those who do not have homes, jobs, and more. We pray, Yaa Allah, that our people continue to find ways to bless those that feel alone or helpless. Again, Yaa Allah, we pray from a place of thankfulness that we have been given a gift like living in this country. Thank you for all of our blessings, thank you for your provisions and protections.
Give us, Allah,
leaders whose hearts are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.
In seeking a leader, let us seek
more than development for ourselves —
though development we hope for —
more than security for our own land —
though security we need —
more than satisfaction for our wants —
though many things we desire.
Give us the hearts to choose the leader
who will work with other leaders
to bring safety
to the whole world.
Give us leaders
who lead this nation to virtue
without seeking to impose our kind of virtue
on the virtue of others.
Give us a government
that provides for the advancement
of this country
without taking resources from others
to achieve it.
Give us insight enough ourselves
to choose as leaders those who can tell
strength from power,
growth from greed,
leadership from dominance,
and real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.
We trust you, Great Allah,
to open our hearts to learn from those
to whom you speak in different tongues
and to respect the life and words
of those to whom you entrusted
the good of other parts of this globe.
We beg you, Great Allah,
give us the vision as a people
to know where global leadership truly lies,
to pursue it diligently,
to require it to protect human rights
for everyone everywhere.
We ask these things, Great Allah,
with minds open to your word
and hearts that trust in your eternal care.
Today, Yaa Allah. We hold before you the leaders of the nations —
Kings, Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers — all who
are in positions of supreme leadership.
We can be quick to criticise: help us, Allah to first enter
their dilemma. On most issues of state we have the luxury
of withholding judgment, of not committing ourselves,
of sitting on the fence. Even when we have an opinion,
it has little influence and seldom any consequence.
Not so with leaders of the nations.
To the extent that they really lead, they must
make decisions, even if they are poor ones.
Help these leaders, Yaa Allah, in the loneliness of their decisions.
Put wise counselors around them.
Take, we pray, the bits and pieces of virtue that are
in each leader and cause them to grow and mature.
And take all the destructive motives and cause
them to vanish like smoke in the wind.
Allah, we know that many — and perhaps most —
leaders do not know you, nor do they seek you.
But you seek them! Help them see how good right decisions are.
And where decisions must be made that are not in their
own interest, deepen their sense of duty. Having seen
the light, give them the courage to walk in the light.
May we as a nation be guided by the Divine
to rediscover the sacred flame of our national heritage,
which so many have given their lives to safeguard;
Let the wounds of separation and division be healed
by opening our hearts to listen to the truth on all sides,
allowing us to find a higher truth that includes all;
May we learn to honour and enjoy our diversity
and differences as a people, even as we
more deeply touch our fundamental unity;
May we, as a people, undergo a transformation
that will draw forth individuals to lead our nation
who embody courage, compassion, and a higher vision;
May our leaders inspire us, and we so inspire
each other with our potential as individuals
and as a nation, that a new spirit of forgiveness,
caring, and honesty be born in our nation;
May we, as a united people, move with clear,
directed purpose to take our place within
the community of nations to help build
a better future for all humankind;
May we as a nation rededicate ourselves
to truly living as one nation, under Allah,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
And may Allah’s Will be done for the Nigeria,
as we, the people, align with that Will.
Yaa Allah, indeed we are Your slaves, and the children of Your slaves, and the children of Your female slaves, our forelock is in Your Hand, Your command over us is forever executed and Your decree over us is just. We ask of You with all Your names, which belong to You, which You have named Yourself with, or which You have taught someone from Your creation or revealed it in Your Book or that which You have taken unto Yourself with the knowledge of the unseen with You, that You make the Qur’an the life of our hearts and light of our breasts and keep away from us our sadness, and that our grief goes away – then Allah takes away this grief and sadness and replaces it with happiness. Ameen Yaa Rabb!
Praise be to Allah, the Ever-Living, Who does not die, and Peace and Blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and Companions.
Your brother:
Imam Murtadha Muhammad Gusau, sent this piece from Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusaumurtada@gmail.com or +2348038289761.
