DO WE PRAY FOR OTHERS?

As my eight year old kid was reciting the Doa after his maghrib prayer, he looked up to me and asked, “Ibu..Adek really miss Nadim….Adek’s best friend”, he bemoaned . “What happened to him? I shrugged.”He has not been around at school since last week, he had met with an accident…”, my son replied. “I am so sorry son, maybe we can visit him today and hopefully that will make you feel better”, I murmured. “ Can I ask Allah to take care of Nadim, ask Allah to heal his wounds so Nadim can get back to school soon?” suddenly my son interrupted.” But of course son, you can always ask Allah anything as long as the intention is good, go ahead, recite that in your Doa”, I concurred.As I left my son’s room I heard him continued reciting his Doa and I can hear Nadim’s name in the background…

I started to reflect on the conversation with my son that evening and relate to my own life, our society and the planet that we live in. Do I pray for my neighbours? Do I pray for my neighbours’ kids? Do I pray for my teachers,my teachers’ kids,my friends and their kids? Perhaps if all the neighbours’ kids are blessed, all school children are blessed, community and society will be blessed… our kids will be mingling around in a blessed surrounding and the planet will be a much better place to live in....