Power of Prayers

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
“In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate Praise belongs to Allah, Who has taken away the shadowy night by His power and brought the sight-giving day through His mercy. He has clothed me in its and given me its favour. O Allah, just as You have spared me for this day, so also spare me for its likes; bless Prophet Muhammad and his Household; torment me not in it and in other nights and days by allowing me to commit unlawful acts or to clothe myself in sins; provide me with its good, the good of all within it, and the good of everything after it; and turn away from me its evil, the evil of all within it, and the evil of everything after it!
“O Allah, by the protective compact of Islam, I seek mediation with You! By the inviolability of the Qur\'an, I rely upon You! By Muhammad the Chosen (Allah bless him and his Household) I seek intercession with You! So recognize my protective compact by which I hope my need will be granted; O Most Merciful of the merciful!
“O Allah, decree for me on Thursday five things which none embraces but Your generosity and none supports but Your favours: health through which I may have the strength to obey You, worship by which I may deserve Your plentiful reward, plenty in my state through lawful provision, and that You make me secure in the places of fear through Your security, and place me in Your fortress against the striking of worries and sorrows! Bless Muhammad and his Household, and make my seeking his mediation as an intercessor give profit on the Day of Resurrection! Surely You are the Most Merciful of the merciful!
The above is the special supplication for Thursday in the Divine Court for all seekers of truth and God’s grace. It was taught by the person whose martyrdom anniversary we will be commemorating tomorrow.
He was the Survivor of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala, and the reason he could not wage armed Jihad with the sword on the Day of Ashura (Muharram 10) was because God Willed that he be sick and bed-ridden that day when his father, his brothers (an 18-year old youth and a 6-month infant), his cousins, his uncles, and the small group of devoted followers were mercilessly massacred by the Omayyads.
The enemies did not show any mercy to him and immediately put chains and fetters on his feeble body, and dragged him to Kufa and Damascus on foot, along with the noble ladies and children of his household.
Undaunted, as the great-grandson of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) he waged a unique Jihad through patience, piety, prudence, and sermons in the court of Yazid that almost changed the political climate of the Syrian capital and forced the tyrant to free the progeny of the Prophet.
For 34 years, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) carried on his novel Jihad, as the self-styled caliphs rose and fell, both amongst the Omayyads in Damascus, and in Hijaz, where for ten years, from 63 to 73 AH, Abdullah Ibn Zubayr who also masqueraded as caliph, made life torturous for the Ummah of the Prophet, especially the progeny of the Messenger of Mercy, before dying a miserable death.
As the 4th Infallible Heir of the Last and Greatest of Divine Messengers, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), before his martyrdom through poisoning on the 25th of Muharram 95 AH, bequeathed to posterity the pure and pristine teachings of Islam, including beautifully moving supplications that continue to be recited by the faithful, and are rightly called Psalms of the Household of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
Below is the Imam’s special supplication for Friday, which this year happens to be the 25th of Muharram, the day of his martyrdom.
“In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate All Praise belongs to Allah, the First before the bringing forth and the giving of life, and the Last after the annihilation of all things, the All-Knowing who forgets not him who remembers Him, decreases not him who thanks Him, disappoints not him who supplicates Him, and cuts not off the hope of him who hopes in Him!
“O Allah, I call You to witness - and You are sufficient witness – and I call to witness all Your angels, the inhabitants of Your heavens, the bearers of Your Throne, Your prophets and Your messengers whom Your has sent out, and the various kinds of creatures Thou hast brought forth, that I bear witness that You are Allah; there is no god but You; You Alone, who has no associate nor any equal, and Your word has no failing, nor any change; and that Muhammad (Allah bless him and his Household) is Your Servant and Your Messenger; he delivered to the servants that with which You charged him, he struggled for God as is His due, he gave the good news of the truth of reward, and he warned of the veracity of punishment.
O Allah, make me firm in Your religion as long as You keep me alive, make not my heart to swerve after You have guided me, and give me mercy from You; surely You are the Giver. Bless Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad, make me one of his followers and his partisans, muster me in his band, and give me the success of accomplishing the obligatory observance of Friday, performing the acts of obedience which You have made incumbent upon me within it and [receiving] the bestowal which Thou hast apportioned for its people on the Day of Recompense! Surely You are Mighty, All-Wise!