“O Allah, let us bear out and hold up that which Thou maketh known to us as the truth, and let us be fully aware of that which we fall short of doing.
O Allah, through him (Imam Mahdi), set in order our disorder; gather and unite our flock; stitch together our sundered separation; turn our want and poverty into sufficiency; lift us up from our degradation; free us from our misery; pull us out from our debts; help us to get out from the ditch of cares and sorrows; fill the gap created by confusion among us; let our difficulties be easy to deal with; refine our substance and style; untie our ropes and straps; let our efforts succeed well and secure success; make us fulfill our promises; give answers to our prayers; listen to our requests; cause us to obtain the good of this world and the hereafter; give us much and more than our expectations, O the best of givers and bestowers; and cleanse our hearts, unburden our emotions from hate and anger, and, in the event of dispute in the matter of truth, show us the right path.
Verily, Thou guides whoever Thou will to the right path. Let us, through him, get the better of Thy enemies and our opponents, O True God. Be it so.
O Allah, we feel uneasy about and are disturbed by the departure of our Prophet, Thy blessings be on him and on his family, the absence of our guardian-friend, too many enemies, our numerical scarcity, widespread disorder, and the vicissitudes of time.
So send blessings on Muhammad and on his family, and help us to overcome this state of affairs at once.
Disperse the ominous clouds hanging over our heads; lend a helping hand to achieve success; bring in the rule of justice and fair play; make us bright, free from grief; and take care of us. Through Thy mercy, O most Merciful.”
Joshua Charbonneau is an American Muslim. He was born in 1982 in Sumter, South Carolina. He is of French Canadian and American descent. He was born into a Christian family, and later chose to revert to Shi’a Islam at the age of 17, having studied both faiths. After reverting to Islam he chose the name Mateen which in Arabic means strong, firm and unshakable. His first language is English and he also learned Quranic Arabic.
At age 26 he moved to Washington, DC area and has been an active part of the Muslim community. He took part in a documentary by Al-Anwar Hussain TV entitled Journey of the Spirit where he narrated his incredible story on how he became a Shia Muslim.
Since March of 2013 he has been studying Howza (Islamic Seminary) classes in America and Najaf al-Ashraf under esteemed scholars such as Sheikh Mustafa Akhound, Sheikh Mirza Abbas Shamsuddin, Sheikh Saed Kulayni, Sheikh Mohammad Baghernejad, Sayed Ibn Abbas Naqvi, Sheikh Mohammad Jafar Danesh, Sayed Baqir Imrani, Sayed Raad al-Alawi and Sayed Muhammad Baqir Shirazi.
Sheikh Mateen has also written, compiled and published some very in-depth books entitled The Suffering of the Ahl ul Bayt and their Followers (Shia) throughout History, Christians who defended and died for Prophet Muhammad and his Family (English, Spanish, French), Mystery of the Shia, a Study Guide for Logic and an extensive book of narrations entitled Prophetic Gems, A Commentary to the Faith of Shia Islam (Aqaed Imamiyya) of Allama Muzaffar (4 volumes) and Recalling the Sacrifices of Karbala. These titles are available at Amazon.
In 2014 he founded a nonprofit organization to send free books to prisoners entitled 2nd Chance Books, which was filmed about in a documentary by Ahlul Bayt TV entitled Faith Behind Bars.
He received his turban from the hand of Sheikh Ahmad al-Haeri on the martyrdom of Muslim ibn Aqil (ra) / Day of Arafat in 2016 and also from Marja’ Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Taqi Modarresi in the Holy city of Karbala on the birth anniversary of Imam Sajjad (as) in 2018.
View all posts by Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau
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