{"id":1134,"date":"2016-12-16T15:35:14","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T21:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=1134"},"modified":"2016-12-16T15:35:14","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T21:35:14","slug":"prayer-forgiveness-aleppo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/prayer-forgiveness-aleppo\/","title":{"rendered":"My Prayer For Forgiveness Over Aleppo"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beautiful Beloved Lord my God,<\/p>\n

You know, better than anyone in this universe, how I would quickly gloss over the horrific images coming out of Syria and Aleppo<\/p>\n

You know, better than anyone in this universe, how I would try to always put the thoughts of what’s happening there out of my mind<\/p>\n

And You know, better than anyone in this universe, that it was because I was ashamed; ashamed at my inability to do anything to help them<\/p>\n

\n

There is plenty of blame to go around for the carnage<\/a> in Syria.<\/p>\n

We, the entire human community, failed the innocents in Syria<\/p>\n

Yet, worse yet, we – the Muslim community – failed the innocents of Syria even more<\/p>\n

You told us that they are our sisters and brothers; You told us that You made their lives sacred<\/p>\n

Yet, the Muslim world failed them. And it failed them miserably.<\/p>\n

\n

What’s worse, as You know, Muslims were actively involved in the carnage.<\/p>\n

Savages – posing as Your “warriors” – committed horrific atrocities in Your name<\/p>\n

And others – who claim to rule by Your law – fuel the fires of conflict on both sides<\/p>\n

The shame of this horrible war is too ugly to bear, O Beautiful Lord, and there is nothing left to say.<\/p>\n

\n

Except, O Lord, I am sorry.<\/p>\n

Forgive me for my inability to help.<\/p>\n

Forgive me for my indifference.<\/p>\n

Forgive me for not doing more to help the innocents who suffered so much.<\/p>\n

\n

Please, O Lord, do not judge me harshly for my failures.<\/p>\n

Please, O Lord, look upon me with Grace, Mercy, and Love, despite my weakness<\/p>\n

Please, O Lord, accept me into Your Presence despite the ugliness of my conduct on earth<\/p>\n

And please, O Lord, shower Your Grace, Your Mercy, and Your Comfort on all those who are suffering, not only in Syria, but all over the world.<\/p>\n

\n

Please, O Lord, grace us with Your Mercy, otherwise we will all be forever lost.<\/p>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring   Beautiful Beloved Lord my God, You know, better than anyone in this universe, how I would quickly gloss over the horrific images coming out of Syria and Aleppo You know, better than anyone in this universe, how I would try to always…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[802,229,9,167,803,778],"class_list":["post-1134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-aleppo","tag-forgiveness","tag-god","tag-prayer","tag-shame","tag-syria"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Prayer For Forgiveness Over Aleppo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Please, O Lord, do not judge me harshly for my failure to do anything about the horrors in Aleppo...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Prayer For Forgiveness Over Aleppo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Please, O Lord, do not judge me harshly for my failure to do anything about the horrors in Aleppo...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/prayer-forgiveness-aleppo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-16T21:35:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. 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