Befriending the Quran by Ayesha Syahira

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IM

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE FOR NURTURING CLOSENESS TO THE QURAN

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Publishing Coordinator

Second Editor & Proof reader

: Nor Liana Omar

Author

: Ayesha Syahira

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BEFRIENDING THE QURAN: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE FOR NURTURING CLOSENESS TO THE QURAN

IM

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CONTENTS Appreciation ������������������������������������������������������������������������3 Foreword: Quran in Today’s Hectic Age ������������������5 3 Years After the First Edition:

Looking Back on My Journey of

Befriending the Quran ������������������������������������������������14 Preface ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������20

IM

About the Author ��������������������������������������������������������� 160

~ Quran and You ~

1.1

First Encounter With the Quran ����������������� 23

1.2

Falling in Love With the Quran ������������������� 26

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~ Relationship With the Quran ~ 2.1

How to Befriend the Quran ��������������������������� 32

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How to Treat Your Quran:

The Adab ����������������������������������������������������������������������35

How to Interact With the Quran: 4R ���������������46 How to Connect With the Quran ���������������������� 81

2.2

How to Create a Routine With

the Quran ��������������������������������������������������������������� 85 How to Build the Habit ����������������������������������������� 87

IM

How to Make Time for the Quran ��������������������� 93

~ Istiqamah With Your Quran ~ How to Istiqamah ��������������������������������������������������������� 103 Why We Need to Maintain Istiqamah ��������������� 106 Ways to Maintain Istiqamah ����������������������������������� 109

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~ Conclusion ~ Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 118

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Special Section ~ Quran Tag ~

What is Quran Tagging? ��������������������������������������������124 How to Do It? ������������������������������������������������������������������129 Quran Tagging Process ���������������������������������������������� 141

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Why Quran Tagging? ������������������������������������������������� 142

Special Section ~ Du'aas ~

10 Favourite Du’aas From

the Quran and Sunnah ��������������������������������������������� 146

Special Section ~ TADABBUR TEMPLATE ~ Tadabbur Template ������������������������������������������������������155

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A N NP ot u Fo bli r S cat ale ion َ ۡ ُ ُّ َ َ َّ َ َ ۡ ُ َّ َ َ َ ۡ ُ ۡ َ َ ۡۖ‫كم‬ ‫ِإَوذ تأذن ربكم لئِن شكرتم لزِيدن‬ َ​َ ٞ َ َ َ َ َّ ۡ ُ ۡ َ َ ٧ ‫ولئِن كفرتم إِن عذ ِاب لش ِديد‬

IM

And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’ {Ibrahim 14: 7}

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Falling in Love With the Quran

Why do you want to build a relationship with the Quran?

What is the Quran?

IM

What is the function of the Quran?

The Quran is regarded as the sacred book containing revelations from God – Allah SWT. It was sent down to The Prophet Muhammad PBUH in stages. It is derived from the Arabic root-word qara’a which means ‘to recite’.

The Quran contains 114 surahs that touch all aspects of human existence.

The Quran is the manual guide book for all, the one that the Prophet PBUH had left behind for us, alongside with the Sunnah – as mentioned by him in his last sermon. The Quran was revealed to the Prophet PBUH through the angel, Jibrail AS.

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Alhamdulillah. Over the years of learning the Quran from the day I decided to embrace my religion wholeheartedly, it was indeed the best decision I ever made in my whole life. I am truly grateful to be given the opportunity by Allah SWT to learn and I really thank Him for guiding me and for making my Quran journey as one of the most exciting endeavour I’ve ever encountered. I find comfort and ease in the Quran and practicing it day by day becomes a lot easier when the foundation of the relationship is getting stronger.

When I am asked why building relationship with the Quran is needed, I choose some of these points that I find very relatable to me:

1. Quran is the Way of Life

We all know that the Prophet PBUH told us to live this life according to the Quran and Sunnah, and I must say the more I read the Quran, the better understanding I have about this life. I was taught that Quran is our manual book. And I honestly see it in that way now.

IM

Like a literal manual book that you must read, understand and start acting on or practice. Just like when we buy furniture from IKEA and need to assemble everything together. What do we need to do that? The manual, of course.

How do we do it? We read, understand and do things according to the instructions.

Simple, isn’t it?

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2. Quran Puts Everything Into Perspective

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When I started learning the Quran, I see myself improving in all aspects. The most of all, it built up and strengthen my tawheed, my faith in Allah. Everything in life came into perspective and my goals became clearer. I started to put Allah in everything I did, be it in business, personal affairs, rizq, everything! I wanted to do things because of Allah and to attain His highest level of home in the Hereafter, Jannah.

Hence, I told myself, I needed to keep on studying the Quran, so that I could live the life to please Allah, because Allah loves those who do things for Him.

3. Quran is My BFF (Best Friend Forever)

IM

I had seen people treating the Quran like their BFF, and I aimed to be just like them. Carrying it wherever they went, read it anywhere that was convenient. In a nutshell, the Quran was pretty much 24/7 with them. I envied those who had that type of relationship with their Quran until I started being one and the feeling was indescribable!

Now, even when I am alone sipping tea in a café, or riding the train to places, or having a quick lunch in the car, I never feel truly alone. I usually take this ‘solo’ time to read few aayahs from the Quran and do some reflection on myself, feeling close to my Lord all over again. You know, it is feels like being apart from Him and needed to be reminded. Well, isn’t that the role of a BFF?

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4. Allah Becomes My Closest Friend Too!

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Being close to the Quran resulted in me being close to Allah, too!

When I started reading the Quran again, I fell in love with Allah. I got to know my Creator, and His attributes. How He is subhanallah so ever forgiving and merciful. How He is always wanting the best for me and how He is always there to listen, to guide me, to support, and to be there for me in times of trials and happiness.

I remember a quote I read somewhere , ‘When you want to talk to Allah, pray, and if you want Allah to talk you, read the Quran’.

I love the aayah where Allah tells us that He answers to du’aa, I hold on to that aayah firmly to myself. I talk to Allah a lot. I tell Him so many things every day. I strengthen my bond with Him regularly.

I love my best friend so much: Allah.

IM

5. Quran Gives Me Hope and Motivation

The Quran taught me to have good thoughts towards Allah. Indirectly, it taught me to be positive. Allah’s words are calming, soothing and empowering. When life dragged me down, I flip through my tags, of those aayahs where Allah reminds me about trials and tribulations in this life. I will cry a river, let things out, but it doesn’t drown me to my lowest point. Allah’s words give me courage to buckle up and stand up again.

Ever since the Quran became part of my life, I find myself being very positive person. I am always conscious about Allah and Allah revolves around everything that I do, even just to buy a pen.

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6. I Speak About the Quran Daily

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I do not come from a religious family background. The knowledge about the deen that I learned back then was very limited. The Quran has changed me by the will of Allah. I cut off many of my bad habits, including cursing. Ever since the Quran was in my life again, I find that I am always quoting aayah from the Quran when speaking even though the conversation isn’t related to anything ‘Islamic’ at all.

I never imagined this side of me. Sometimes, I sit alone in my home office crying and thanking Allah for guiding me, for softening my heart and allowing the Quran and its lessons to come into my life and to be able to practice it little by little throughout my life.

*****

IM

Just like in any relationship, building a strong and reliable relationship requires effort, time and attention. Building a relationship with the Quran is no exception. There are numerous things required to make sure that the ‘relationship’ works. Alhamdulillah for all great things in life. This whole Quranic journey I’m in right now is just too great that I am always lost for words to describe it. My ‘dark’ days now has nur in it.

I still have a long journey ahead of me, and I hope my relationship with the Quran is one of the deeds that Allah accepts from me and will be the reason for me to be placed in Jannah with our beloved Prophet PBUH, His companions, the al-Anbiya’ and soleheen and most importantly, my loved ones. Ameen.

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IM

Relationship With The Quran

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How to Befriend the Quran

IM

In the previous chapter, we discussed about my first encounter with the Quran and I hope you will get to experience your first moment with the Quran, too. By now, hopefully, you have sparked the love with the Quran yourselves. So, in this chapter, I will discuss on how we can befriend the Quran.

What is the Quran? To befriend someone, one needs to get to know the ‘friend’ before he or she can build a solid and wonderful relationship with him or her or it (referring to non-living friend).

Wikipedia translates the literal meaning of the Quran as ‘the recitation’ or the revelation book of God (Allah). As stated in the pillars of Islam, Muslims are to believe in the six pillars of faith. One of the pillar is ‘believing in the Quran and its contents’. Building a strong relationship doesn’t happen in one day. It takes time, process of learning and getting to

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know each other, emotional engaging moments, and constant willpower to maintain the established relationship. Hence, it is the same with the Quran.

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Yes, building a solid relationship with the Quran doesn’t happen all in one day. For as long as I can remember, it took me years to develop such a bond with it. But I must say, I fell in love at first sight when I started reading it again after years of abandoning it. That feeling is still fresh. How those translations of the Quran’s words that I read gave such a tremendous impact on my own self. I felt like I was in my own bubble – as if there was no one around me.

I was alone but felt completely at ease, a surreal form of tranquility. I didn’t notice I was shedding bucket after bucket of tears. My heart churned with mixed emotions in many forms. I was overwhelmed but sad at the same time. Not that miserable kind of sadness, but more like deep melancholy. I keep asking myself the same question over and over again, “Why have I not found you, my beauty, all this while?”

IM

Have you ever felt like you heart has a hole in it, but you didn’t know what to fill it with? A huge hole but nothing can fit in it – not money, friends, fame, even family or your loved ones. Do you know that exhausting feeling of searching high and low for a true meaningful love and life purpose?

Sometimes, you even question yourself, could you have missed it while they were all in front of you for a very long time because you were too blind to notice it?

That was exactly how I felt about the Quran. I was so busy finding happiness and love to fill in that gap but all those time were wasted for nonbeneficial things. It still left me feeling unfulfilled. But, the moment I found the one that fit the gap – the Quran, I rushed to rekindle the relationship that has long gone south.

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If you’re finding that way back too, do not worry, your time will come.

However, for some people, I guess Allah has planned it in such a way that they had to ‘mess’ up their lives first so that he or she will find the right way back to Him. Well, at least that was how it was for me. But never once did I regret those ‘hoo-haa’ days as they all directed me to my true purpose in life and to the One whom loved me the most. Allah the Almighty has never left me out of His sight, not even once.

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Only with those bumpy rides’ in life, will we truly appreciate the good that comes next. As for me, I am truly grateful for all that has happened, how Allah placed them in my life. I honestly cannot wait for the day I meet Allah in Jannah and happily telling Him, that I am thankful for the path He put me through in this dunya.

Ever since that ‘Quran moment’, I became all enthusiastic to get to know more about the Quran, to learn about it, to restore the lost hopes within me. I was all into the spirit of learning the Quran and understanding it better with the intention of becoming a devout slave to my Most Forgiving Lord: Allah.

IM

That’s how it all started, my journey with the Quran.

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How to Treat Your Quran: The Adab

IM

I grew up learning so many restrictions about my religion. It was always about what was ‘halal’ and ‘haram’. Learning about Islam was all about fearing Allah, His wrath and the Jahannam. All the great things about His Love and Jannatul Firdaous, were all meant for the very religious and pious people and obviously, I was not one of them. I questioned myself though, “Where did I stand in His sight? I knew that I was way too far from being in the groups mentioned above. But I was not from the ‘bad’ group either. Is there any way I could stand in the middle of these groups?”

Islam is a simple religion. I hear this phrase a lot but never really understood it. What and which point is it simple and easy? For me, it was all difficult, sinful, too rigid, almost everything was ‘haram’ and I was up to the point I nearly gave up practicing the religion that claimed to be the one and only true religion. I felt the pain and uneasiness inside me, but it was hard to explain it to people. It was most likely because I grew up in the society

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which culture had made it such a way that we did not question about the religion too much.

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We just accept it, dive into it and practice it as how the ancestors before us had. No further questions asked, period. It was like being trapped in a body that needed the right things, but your soul demanded for the fun and easy things because the rule of the religion was practically so inconvenient to follow.

َ ۡ َ ۡ َ ۡ َ ۡ َ ُ َ ۡ َ َ ُ َّ ‫ف َمن يُ ِردِ ٱلل أن يهدِيهۥ ي‬ ‫شح َص ۡد َرهُۥ ل ِ​ِل ۡسل ٰ ِمۖ َو َمن يُ ِرد أن‬ ٓ َّ ۡ ۡ َ َّ ُ َّ َ َ ً َ ِۚ ‫ٱلس َماء‬ ‫ضل ُهۥ ي َعل َص ۡد َرهُۥ ض ّيِقا َح َر ٗجا كأن َما يَ َّص َّع ُد ِف‬ ِ ‫ي‬ َ ۡ َ َ َّ َ َ َ ۡ ّ ُ َّ ُ َ ۡ َ َ ٰ َ َ ١٢٥‫ِين ل يُؤم ُِنون‬ ‫ٱلرجس ع ٱل‬ ِ ‫كذل ِك يعل ٱلل‬ So whoever Allah wants to guide - He expands his chest to [contain] Islam; and whoever He wants to misguide - He makes his chest tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky. Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe.

IM

{al-An’am 6: 125}

No one can ever supersede the power of Allah. As much ignorance and arrogance that you have in you, when Allah has decided to guide you and grant you the understanding of Islam, no one can stop Him nor block you from receiving it. I am very moved by this aayah, seeing myself as who I was in the past and to be able to learn so much about the deen and actually loving it to the core. I am very blessed and never a day passes by that I am not thanking Allah for helping me and guiding me to seek knowledge and learn about Him, the Quran, and the religion as a whole, alhamdulillah.

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‫‏ قال رسول اهلل صىل اهلل‬:‫وعن معاوية ريض اهلل عنه قال‏‬ ً ‫‏ «‏من يرد اهلل به‬:‫عليه وسلم‏‬ ‫خريا يفقه يف ادلين‏»‏ ‏(‏‏(‏متفق‬ ‫عليه‏)‏‏)‏‬

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Mu’awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah said, “When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of the deen.” {al-Bukhari & Muslim}

IM

As I was searching for the truth in life, I was introduced to the Quran.

Once, a teacher recited an aayah in a halaqah (small group of people sitting in circles learning about the deen) that I attended, and my heart melted. Her recitation soothed my heart. Words cannot express what I feel inside at that very moment. It was too good to my ears although I neither understood nor spoke any Arabic. I literally recognised none of the words that came out from her mouth, but my heart was so full, my mind was comforted by each line of the aayah that she read. For once in my life, I felt like the gap inside me that was empty all this while, was filling up bit by bit, making the heart whole again.

She later read its translation and began to explain the aayah and related it to the issues everyone was struggling with. We actually started the halaqah, sharing some challenging situations we were currently facing at that moment. Some shared on marital life complications, problems at the workplace, troubled kids, and financial difficulty. In a nutshell, all sorts of trouble.

And there I was at one end of the circle corner, trying to figure out what was my biggest challenge, compared to all these women’s, because they truly were the unsung heroes for all the things they went through. The

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teacher started to unfold each issue and began to ‘solve’ it with the Quran.

As I was patiently listening to her, I was crying my heart out and trying to control those tears from falling. Her teachings moved me so much that I was all pumped up to start learning the Quran, pronto!

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She made the Quran so easy to be read, understood and practiced. It was the opposite from the previous teachings especially on how one needed to cover up (wearing hijab) when reciting or hearing the recitation of the Quran. When I reached the halaqah’s place, I noticed some sisters who were not covered up seated together in the circle. I was miserably confused because I thought that we all needed to cover up when we were learning the Quran.

What happened to all these sisters? Weren’t they aware of it? I was talking to myself and waiting for the teacher to remind them about their head covers, but guess what? Nope, she did not remind them until the very end. I wasn’t disappointed but rather, I was eager to learn if it was permissible not to cover our heads when we were learning the Quran.

IM

Another story about wearing hijab while learning the Quran is during my Quran studying at one of the academies. Fast forward to few years after the halaqah, I enrolled myself in a Quran tajweed learning academy and that is the best decision I’ve ever made my whole life, truly! I am still learning there and I must say the academy has done a pretty good job in teaching people about the Quran. They made the learning fun, easy and nothing complicated.

So, the first time I joined the class at this one double story house, my ustazah wasn’t wearing her hijab and she invited us to remove our hijab as well, (I felt uncomfortable, so I politely declined her invitation). I was shocked but never had the guts to ask her why. It went on again and again for the next few classes till one day she explained to the whole class why it is okay to not cover you head while reciting the Quran.

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She graciously point out that our class was a sisters only gathering and we should have fun when we were in the companions of just us, sisters. Islam prohibited us from showing our aurah to the non-mahrams, but among the sisters, it was permissible to show some parts of our body which included our hair. She would encourage us, her students, to ‘doll up’ a bit before classes, as we were learning in the ‘halal’ companion group. Now can you imagine my excitement? Growing up learning that make up was haram and excessively presenting yourself is tabarruj, my inner self was jumping up and down knowing that now I could be all pretty in my mengaji class, and it was so much fun!

I learned so many good teachings over the years and broke the taboo regarding the learning and understanding of the Quran. Knowledge really empowers people. Hence, I really support my dear readers to study and seek knowledge for the betterment of your own self. Invest on learning because it can really shine the potential that is in you that you might not discover before. I wish I had realised this sooner, but there is no time limit in learning.

Even the Prophet PBUH encouraged us to seek knowledge to the highest level and to the best of our abilities and not just the Islamic knowledge, but all the other knowledge that are beneficial to the ummah.

IM

As you recite or learn the Quran, there are many etiquettes that you can apply. These are some of the learnings and pointers from the classes regarding reciting and learning the Quran.

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1. Be in the State of Cleanliness and Wudhu’

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This is the most important lesson to take note of. This applies when you are reciting from the mushaf (full Arabic Quran without translation) and this is stated in surah al-Waqiah. Quran is a sacred book and it is the Words of Allah SWT, so we need to be in the best of state of cleanliness when reading the Book of Allah.

ٞ َ ۡ ُ َ ُ َّ ٞ ‫ان َكر‬ ٧٧ ‫يم‬ ‫إِنهۥ لقرء‬ ِ ُ ۡ َّ ٰ‫ف ك َِت‬ ٧٨ ‫ون‬ ِ ٖ ‫ب مكن‬ ٖ

َّ ۡ َّ َ ٧٩ ‫ل َي َم ُّس ُه ٓۥ إِل ٱل ُم َط َّه ُرون‬

Indeed, it is a noble Quran. In a Register that well-protected.

None touch it except the purified.

IM

{al-Waqiah 56: 77-79}

Although this does not apply when you’re reading from the translation , it is always best to keep yourself in a state of wudhu’ or ablution, not just when reciting or learning the Quran but on other occasions too.

As for the sisters, if you’re during your ‘time-of-the-month’, you may use covers to help you hold your Quran, i.e. wearing gloves.

(This is what I practice).

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2. Sit at a Respectable Place and in a Respectful Manner

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Quran isn’t just any normal book but it is a holy book, a book of Words from Allah. Therefore, it is our priority to put utmost respect upon it while reciting the Quran. I learned that it was best to sit facing the kiblah while studying or learning because it invited barakah in the process of learning.

However, there was no specific ruling on this but my teacher’s clarification on it made so much sense and subhanallah, it was so beautiful that we were constantly in a state of remembrance towards Allah SWT in everything that we do, even in the position of sitting especially when seeking knowledge.

3. Reciting al-Isti’adhah and Basmalah

IM

Al-Isti’adhah is recited to seek protection from Allah against the accursed shaytaan mainly before reading the Quran.

Al-Isti’adhah is َّ َ ٌّ ُ ْ ُ َ ْ َ َّ the terminology for: ‫جي ِم‬ ِ ‫ أعوذ بِاللِ مِن الشيط‬which means, “I seek ِ ‫ان الر‬ Allah’s protection against the accursed and the rejected shaytaan.”

It is mustahab (recommended) to read it before the recitation of the Glorious Quran and not compulsory as agreed by the majority of the Scholars.

As for what I’ve learned with my shaykhah, al-Isti’adhah is recited in two conditions as follows:

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i.

Recite loudly •

When someone is listening to your recitation

•

When you are the first one to recite in a halaqah

ii.

Recite silently When you are reciting alone silently or loudly

•

When you are other than the first to recite in a halaqah

•

When you are performing both silent and loud prayers

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•

Basmalah on the other hand is the terminology derived from the َّ ‫الر ْحن‬ َّ ِ‫ ب ْس ِم اهلل‬which means, “In the name of Allah the verse: ‫الرحِي ِم‬ ِ ِ Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.”

It is compulsory to recite the basmalah in the beginning of every surah except for surah at-Tawbah because the first aayah in that surah speaks about Allah’s wrath but basmalah is about Allah’s mercy and it is clashing.

IM

You may recite basmalah loudly when someone is listening to your Quran recitation and recite it silently when you are performing both silent and loud prayers.

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