CHILDREN’S CORNER

Relish a selection of prayers from this amazing book. PRAYERS OF THE PROPHETS Remember Zakariyya, when he called out to his Lord, Do not leave me heirless Lord, You are the best of heirs.” So We heard his prayer and gave him Yahya and made his wife fit to bear him a child. They used to hasten to do good and they called on Us in hope and fear, and they were always humble towards Us*. (Al-Anbiya 21: 89-90) *The Prophet Zakariyya silently prayed to Allah and the prayer was granted in an astonishing and wonderful manner. This shows what real prayer is. True prayer is an outpouring of the firm belief that all powers vest in Allah. Man receives every single thing only on His giving it to him, and no one can own a thing if He does not confer it on him. True prayer needs to be directed solely towards the one and only God. That is why true prayer gushes forth when one is alone, when there is nobody present except Allah and oneself. ------- This is an account of your Lord’s mercy bestowed upon His servant Zakariyya, when he called upon his Lord in low tones, saying, ‘Lord, my bones have weakened and my head has turned hoary with age, but never, Lord, have I been disappointed in my prayer to you: now I fear my kinsmen when I am gone. (I have no hope of their continuing my mission) for my wife cannot have a child, so grant me a successor from Yourself, to be my heir and to be the heir (of the blessings) of the House of Yaqub; and make him, O my Lord, acceptable to you. ‘Zakariyya, We bring you good news of a son whose name shall be Yahya. We have not given such a name to anyone before.’ (Maryam 19: 2-7) ----- My Lord, let me land with Your blessing in a blessed landing place. You alone can provide the best landings. (23: 29) ‘O my Lord! I would prefer prison to what these women are inviting me to do. And if You do not save me from their cunning, I may yield to them and so become one of the ignorant.’ So his Lord answered him and protected him from their cunning. He is All-Hearing and AllKnowing. (Yusuf 12: 33-34) Nuh said, ‘My Lord, help me! for they have rejected me,’ (Al-Mu’minun 23: 26)