About 13,000 firefighters  have been deployed to fight the fires

WASHINGTON, October 31 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the epic blazes sweeping across southern California left two deaths, mosques and Islamic centers around the state are to offer prayers for rain following the normal Islamic congregational gatherings Friday, October 31.

People of all faiths should offer prayers for rain according to their own religious traditions to provide a spiritual dimension in the efforts to bring California's deadly wildfires under control, the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) southern California office had said in a press release last Wednesday.

The special Islamic prayer, called Salatul Istisqa (sal-at-al-istiska), was performed by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and is traditionally offered during times of drought.

California authorities say the months-long drought in that state has contributed greatly to the death and destruction cause by the fires.

In Salatul Istisqa, the Prophet would offer supplications such as: "O God, give us rain that will replenish us, abundant, fertilizing and profitable, not injurious. Grant it now without delay...Send down rain upon us and make it a source of strength and satisfaction...O God, give us a saving rain, good and productive, general and heavy, now and not later, beneficial and not harmful”.

CAIR also referred to the Glorious Qur’an, stating: "O my people! Seek forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him in repentance. He will send you from the sky abundant rain”

"Perhaps this spiritual effort during the blessed month of Ramadan can add to that of the courageous firefighters who place their lives on the line every day," said CAIR’s California office LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush.

Ayloush asked that churches and synagogues throughout the state join their Muslim neighbors in praying for rain and urged Muslims to use the month of Ramadan, a time of increased charity and prayers, to help the fire victims y donating generously to the American Red Cross.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered I Washington, D.C., and has 25 offices and chapters nationwide and in the country.

Fresh Deaths

Meanwhile, the blazes have now chewed up a 300,027-hectare (750,689-acre) zone of the state, from the Mexican border to north of Los Angeles, costing around two billion dollars so far, the state officials said.

Two more deaths were confirmed Thursday as a result of the fires that have now killed 16 people around the southern city of San Diego, four in San Bernardino and two across the border in Mexico, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

But cooler weather and drizzle in some areas gave the firefighters some relief in their 10-day-old war against the flames that have swallowed up vast swathes of the parched south of the state.

Levels of containment of the flames rose to between 30 and 70 percent, with only one major blaze - in mountainous San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles -- still roaring out of control.

Not Fully Contained

"We have got good news in the form of lower temperatures and higher humidity which is helping us, but it won't put out the fires and we still have a lot of hard work in front of us," said Larry Benson, spokesman for the fire fighters' southern command centre.

"The fires won't be fully contained for at least another week and we can't be at all sure that the weather will keep treating us kindly until then," he added.

Firefighters lost their battle to save towns around the popular mountain resort area of Lake Arrowhead, in the San Bernardino mountains, where some of Hollywood's top stars have weekend homes.

About 13,000 firefighters - many of them weary from days without rest - have been deployed to fight the fires, with reinforcements expected from the neighboring states of Arizona and Nevada, reported the BBC NewsOnline.

The flames destroyed 350 buildings, including 300 houses, leaving piles of cinder-covered rubble where luxury vacation cabins once stood.

Some 40,000 people had to flee the area on Wednesday as the flames advanced and many thousands were in emergency shelters.

"We are giving special attention to assisting people who have lost their homes," Patty Roberts of the governor's Office of Emergency Management said.

At least 105,000 people have been forced from their homes by fires that have charred 56,434 hectares in San Bernardino, 160,000 hectares around San Diego and 42,780 hectares  in the suburban Los Angeles area of Simi Valley.

"The tragedy is that whole communities have been eliminated," Roberts said of the blazes that officials say have already cost the state two billion dollars.

Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger has cut short his two-day tour of the U.S. capital to tour areas badly hit by the blazes.