Amin

I was in the chapter of Al-Fatihah.  Unbeknown to my mother, she asked us for the meaning of Al-Fatihah, verse for verse as my sister and our family gathered for tea.  I didn't answer, my sister and her husband did and they got through smoothly.  Of course I knew all the meaning, except, when it came to Amin.  My sister was quick to answer "perkenankan" (please grant the request).  I was quiet but the truth was, I was not quite sure the exact meaning of Amin.  I had some idea but I had not come to that yet.  It turned out my sister was spot-on.

Amin means: "Oh Allah! Accept our invocation".

With that it brought me to beautiful doa's (supplications) I found in the book The Salah, by Shaikh Muhammad Nasir.

"Oh God! Forgive me what I have done in the past, and what I will do in the future, and what I have concealed, and what I have done openly, and what I have exceeded in, whatever You know about me more than I. You are the Bringer Forward, and You are the Delayer, there is no god except You."

"O God! indeed I ask of You, O God, the One, the Only, the Absolute, Who begets not and nor is He begotten, and there is none like Him, that You forgive my sins; indeed You are the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

"Oh God! Indeed, I ask of You, by the fact that to You belongs all Praise; there is no god except You, the Bestower of Favours; Originator of the Heavens and the Earth; O One that is Full of Majesty and Honour; O Living One, O Eternal One; indeed I ask of You the Garden, and I seek refuge with You from the Fire."

"Oh God! by Your knowledge of the Unseen, and Your control over the creation; give me life as long as You know that life is best for me, and take me when death is best for me. O God! I also ask of You fear of You, in secret and in open; I ask of You the word of wisdom and justice in anger and in pleasure; I ask of You moderation in poverty and affluence; I ask of You joy which does not fade; I ask of You pleasure which does not pass away, nor that which ceases; I ask of You the delight of looking towards Your Face; and eagerness towards meeting You, not in harmful adversity, nor in misleading afflictions. O God adorn me with the decoration of believe, and make me of those who guide and are guided."

Amin