One People, One Voice

One of the most beautiful moments from today's Rally in Solidarity with ‪#‎Aleppo‬. We began marching and by the time we got to the Trump tower we found ourselves merging with rallies against deportation, against unfair wages, against discrimination and hate. One moment in the microphone was our classic Arabic chants against Assad, the next moment we joined those from the other rally in yelling 'Sí se puede'. Eventually we were all one loud voice in unison--"The people United will never be defeated". They tied the flags together and we chanted side by side. Truth is on the side of the oppressed and we are one people who stand for justice, no matter who or where.

Purification of the Soul

I’ll never forget the first day of Tazkiyeh class. Our teacher brother Imran Salha said something that stuck with me throughout all the classes to come. He said, “Don’t make your goal of this class to simply share what you learn or to impress others—focus on yourself”. Focus on yourself. These three words I believe, are the core of Tazkiyeh which rely on self-awareness, self-observation, and self-criticism. In this way, tazkiyeh is purification of the soul for the sake of Allah (swt) alone. There is beauty that is felt when things are done for Allah (swt) alone, for what better audience is there for a good deed than the Master of the Universe, the Creator of all creation? When the action is done for Allah (swt) alone, it’s benefits can be infinite. Not only will you be rewarded from the Most High, but you will take off the shackles that chain you to the dunya. When you make Allah your main concern and you chase His pleasure, you will find the dunya chasing YOU. You will become rich, not in money, not in praise, but rich in the tranquility of your soul. For this is the true richness. And when you are rich, you are the one that gives because your supply is the infinite blessing of Allah (swt).

One of these blessings given to us is the gift of prayer: where our hearts are higher than our minds in elevation and our intentions are to please the One who’s in control of all our affairs. The way brother Iman taught this portion of the class on prayer really touched me and inspired me to look at prayer in a different way. He explained to us that salah removes the external and shows us our true relationship with Allah. Prayer was instructed to our Prophet in the heavens and for this reason it is divine and its essence is so lofty that it could not merely be given in this world. It’s establishment breaks arrogance, breaks rebellion, and when perfectly executed, it will break loving of the self and replace it with loving the Creator of the self. A practical application to our concentration in prayer is like that of a litmus test. The amount of concentration you put into prayer is a testament and an indicator for your love of Allah (swt). Do you rush to prayer? Do you pray during the most favored times? Do you imagine it to be your last prayer, with the Angel of Death behind your back? These are things I learned to ask myself. Remembrance of Allah is the polish for the heart. It is no doubt that our hearts may get rusty and our trials may make us forgetful, but the answer to all our worries lies in remembrance of our true purpose here on Earth: to know Allah. To know Allah during ease and to know Allah during hardship. Indeed knowing Him is the guidance from darkness into light—a paradise in this world and the next.

Finding the Courage

I’m not a poet

or a spoken word artist

Sometimes my voice shakes

and my words fall out of place

But sometimes I find the courage,

to look injustice in the face

When the silence is so loud 

and all that’s said is to please the crowds

When the news that’s presented “BREAKING”

is only breaking the hearts of those who's story its faking

When everything is painted black and white and anything in-between isn’t given its right

You find yourself searching

Searching for a way to give the voiceless a voice

The choice-less a choice

and the oppressed…a moment of peace in which to rejoice  

I’m not a poet 

or a spoken word artist

Sometimes my voice shakes

and my words fall out of place

But sometimes I find the courage, 

to look injustice in the face

When you see images of children drawing tanks and towers 

instead of houses and flowers

Childhoods scarred in a world that bombards, 

With nothing but sheer dis-regard 

Left as orphans to live alone, not knowing again the meaning of “home”

You wonder what you can do from countries away 

For such children living in eternal dismay

Fighting for dignity and liberty

Palestine and Syria, alone face an enemy

An enemy called ignorance and inequality 

An enemy with no regard for innocent souls 

Who's only goals were freedom with no controls

No limitation and segregation 

No checkpoints and humiliations

No violence…just peace throughout their nations 

I’m not a poet 

or a spoken word artist

Sometimes my voice shakes

and my words fall out of place

But sometimes I find the courage, 

to look injustice in the face

I find the courage to pick up my pen

Write until the ink runs out 

Till I’ve shattered all my doubts

I find the courage to put it on paper

To put it in words, to present “maybe later”

And in that scrambled paper and wrinkled page

I realized that the world is our stage

A place of liberation from our cage

Into a world where we are united and represented

Not disconnected and reinvented 

I used to say Somebody should do something about that

Then I realized I am somebody…

I may not be a poet or a spoken word artist

My voice may shake and my words may fall out of place

But sometimes I find the courage, 

to look injustice in the face

Light upon Light

No corner of the cosmos existing except with His light that illuminates

Closer to man than his jugular vein

Guiding him to a path away from the darkness and away from the pain

Light Upon Light

Our Creator exists eternally

His illumination, from the Infinite, perpetually flowing

His Essence infuses the universe with guidance

Showing man the correct path, living a life of true balance

Light Upon Light

Like nothing in all the universe

Allah’s guidance reaches the hearts of true believers

His eternal radiance polishing the mind and the soul

promising mankind a Paradise of bliss and much much more

To guide us along the way

He gave us the Quran here to stay

Purifying our souls and cleansing them

like a plant that grows from seed to stem

Blossoming out of the soil, widening the heart

Splitting darkness and light, far apart.

A gift from the Creator, up above

Showing Mercy, forgiveness, and beautiful love

A healer of pain, a book to cheer hearts

The book that feels the tears in your eyes

and testifies of your readings to the Most High

Food for the mind

its words so intelligent and so wise

A jewel and a treasure brought down from the skies

Revealed to our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him

A sacred treasure, a luminating jem.

Our source of guidance to the only source of Light

Our friend until the end, when no one else is in sight.

Except our Beloved Creator, may we be worthy of this sight.

Nuroun 3ala Nour.

Light Upon Light.

“O Allah we ask You from You of Your most illuminating Light, to grant us this most beautiful delight”

Ameen.

Real Change

Made of paper, exchanged through hands, crumbled in wallets, and sometimes written on—how can this seemingly insignificant object have the power to create power. When you have a lot of it you are “rich”, but rich in what? We are told over and over again that money can’t buy happiness, but isn’t happiness the most fulfilling richness? Money can be a tool; it can get you places and give you things but it is not anything more than a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. Without you, it is worth nothing. If we live our lives thinking that money will do everything, we will eventually live to do everything for money. Money will not create the success we desire, but it can be our tool to create change. But to make any progress, we must first severe our attachment to money and our attachment to the idea that its accumulation is what can bring us success and happiness. We are the driving force behind our success and our personal enrichment. The only change money can give us is that in quarters, nickels and dimes. We have to bring about the change we wish to see and enrich ourselves with that which money can’t buy.     

Like a Sky Scraper

When you go to the city, something about your vision changes. You find yourself looking up, around, and way-ahead more than looking down at your feet in the crowd. In fact, sometimes you forget to look where you're walking because what's ahead seems more exciting. Headphones plugged in, suitcase in hand, camera to the eye--everyone seems in their own world walking to a personalized destination following their own pace, and the only thing in common is the sky scrapers above. As they watch over the busy workers of the Chicago streets, they share something in common with the explorers that search above. No need to peer from their infinite windows in horizontal rows; they stretch high into the skies vertically reaching for the clouds while abiding at the center of their being. Maybe we are all sky scrapers. 

Picture taken in Downtown Chicago 09/06/13

Nature's Stories

Life is simple, but sometimes we tend to complicate it. Life is beautiful, but sometimes we only focus on seeing the negatives. There is peace in the world, but sometimes all people can highlight is the destruction. If we only took but a moment to reflect upon our existence and the many blessings that surround us on a daily basis, we would realize that there is more love than hatred, more opportunities than sorrows, and more light than darkness in our world. Life simply is. It follows its own course. If we stop analyzing and fretting, envying and regretting, we can begin to find beauty in the day to day moments that make up life. When you give yourself to the moment, life can reveal itself to you. Nature is the first to reveal its beauty to the eyes that seek it. Take a moment and observe nature in silence; you will realize that words are not always needed. Watch how the ant never gives up trying to hold the piece of bread double its size; watch how over time green is added to each twig and branch of a once bare and empty tree. We are fascinated by words, but nature can tell stories. How the sky goes on without end can maybe teach our hearts infinitude. Slowly, we can realize again...that life is beautiful.

In my Backyard :)

All you got is N:0W

An Arab poet once said, “The past is lost forever, and that which is hoped for is from the unseen, so all that you have is the present hour.” The past is never to return, the future is yet to come, and so we are left with the present day—this present moment. Time is something so often discussed and so often checked. Time is the first thing that pops up on your phone screen, it’s the one that hangs on almost every wall, the one that some even tie to their wrists. Time controls our nights and days; without time the day would not turn into night and the night would not turn into day. We know how time is counted and we know what time brings, yet why do we often find ourselves “running out of time” or feeling like there “ aren't enough hours in the day”? These questions can only be answered when we realize what time really is, how we should perceive it, and how we should manage it. What is time to a Muslim? In today’s society we often hear the phrase “time is money”, but is that really what it is? For when our time is done, will money be there to save us? Truly for a Muslim, time is not money, time is Allah. Abu Hurayra reported: I heard Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) saying: "Allah the exalted and Glorious said: The son of Adam abuses Time, whereas I am The Time. In my hand are the days and the nights”. This means that whatever occurs during the night or during the day-throughout time in general-happens only by Allah’s will and His design; according to His knowledge and by His decree in which no one else has any share. Whatever Allah wills to be will happen and whatever He wills not to, shall never be. For this reason, we should never curse time, we should never be angered by the way that things turn out, and we should always be conscious that Allah is the one who disposes of the affairs that unfold in time. This should be our mindset when we deal with time.

                Now that we know what time really is, we must perceive it in the correct manner; this is through looking at the lenses of solely the present day, the present hour, and the present moment. Being preoccupied with the past and dragging past woes into the present will only bring an unstable and unsound mind. At the same time, being anxious over events in the future only adds worry and stress. Rest assured that your Lord who provided you with solutions to yesterday can similarly provide for what is to come tomorrow.  And so, look to the present moment. Let events flow in their predestined path and have faith in Allah’s timings. “Do not cross the bridge until you reach it”—tomorrow has yet to arrive and you have the present moment to prepare for it.

                In knowing what time is and with what lenses to look at it, we still have to realize that we are “managers “of our time. It will run its predestined path, but it is the requirement of each of us to put in effort at every moment. Every day should be seen as one goal. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “When the morning comes upon you, then do not expect to see the evening, and when you see the night, do not expect to see the morning.” Do not have lofty and long term goals but rather short term appropriate goals that you can accomplish and surpass within the day. Expect death at any moment and do your best in doing good deeds. With this mindset, you will be able to concentrate and spend all of your energies on being productive each day. If I told you today was your last day to live, how would you spend the day? This should be our mindset every day. Pray like it is your last prayer every time. Respect your parents as if you will not be seeing them tomorrow. Live for the present moment and find comfort in the fact that what has been planned for you has been planned by the Best of Planners. Avoid fretting about the future, forget about the pains of the past, and embrace this present moment. In the remembrance of Allah you will find joy in your time and in His obedience you will find reassurance. Don’t think about when you can start to make changes, the time is N:OW.   

Ego Amongst the Dead

Narrated Abu al-Darda: “Worship God as if you see Him, and count your ego amongst the dead, and beware of the supplication of the oppressed." (Quoted by al-Tabarani) In this hadith, we can learn a wide variety of things varying from conquering the ego to detaching from the world and its desires. In the first line we see what is described as “ihsan” or worshiping God as if we see Him. This level of spiritual excellence is not something easily achieved. In order to see God everywhere, one must not see oneself anymore. This means, we must extinguish our concupiscent desires and detach from the world in a humbling manner. Only by eliminating our egos and remembering our graves, can we begin to journey on this path towards “ihsan”. Before reaching this level, we must perfect the levels before it. Preceding “ihsan” are the levels of “Islam” and “Iman”. Islam involves the basics: practicing the five pillars sincerely and testifying that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad (pbuh) is his Messenger. In order to reach “Iman”, a deeper degree of acknowledgment is required. “Iman” is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny, both the good and the evil thereof. In all of this, the Muslim is aware that life is a test: that we will be held accountable for our actions and that the Angels on our shoulders record all of our deeds. The level discussed in this hadith however, is the highest level of spiritual excellence: worshiping God as if you see Him. This means you are aware that although you do not see Allah (swt), He sees you.This is the level of righteousness, the level of perfection, the level of doing and saying the ultimate good, the level of I'hsan. As Muslims, we must always strive to reach this level of Faith. And the easiest way to do so is to detach from the world and “count our ego amongst the dead”. By doing so, we forget our selfish desires and we focus on praising the One who created us, the One who sees all that we do. Whoever purifies his character will extinguish jealousy, hatred, greed, anger, pride and all the other maladies of the soul from his heart. Once the heart is pure, it will illuminate all that you see and do. With the recent events in Syria and all over the world, many have asked, “what can I do?!” and “why is there so much hate?” Eliminating these evil things, believe it or not, starts with you. If you want to eliminate all that his dark in the world, cleans your heart until it is able to provide light for the darkness and hope for despair. If you want to eliminate the hate in the world, start by loving for your brother what you love for yourself. Dua is a powerful tool that can help you reach this level of “ihsan”. We must remember to pray for the oppressed, detach from the world, and purify our hearts from impure desires…surely then we will find peace.      

A Look in the Mirror

Imagine if mirrors never existed. Imagine for a second that a reflection of you was never seen–such that cameras were never used and when you saw that image in the water, it was never you. Imagine never knowing the appearance of that three-dimensional figure that encompasses your inner thoughts, desires, and dreams. But you wouldn’t be alone. Mirror mirror on the wall, wouldn’t exist for any or all. The only reflection you or any would have, is each other. To keep you in check & to point out your flaws, your friends would be mirrors. Your actions would be mirrors. Your thoughts would be mirrors, and your life; your life would be the ultimate masterpiece made by pieces of your everyday glass, finally mirroring who you really are. Then you will see. You will see that it never mattered your reflection, but what you reflected to the world.

Our Forgotten Brothers and Sisters

We hear the name once or twice and we see one or two images on Facebook, but do we really understand the unspeakable tragedy that the Rohingya Muslims are facing in Burma? It seems however, finding information about the crisis is very difficult as there is a flagrant inattention by many news media outlets to the heartbreaking tragedy occurring in this region. Without a doubt however, and as the UN claims, the Rohingya Muslims are the most persecuted group of people in the world today. But how did this happen, and what exactly do the Muslims in Burma face on a daily basis?

To start, Burma (or Myanmar), is located between South Asia and South East Asia bordering India, Bangladesh, and Thailand. The population is about 52 million people with the predominant ethnic group being the Buddhist Burmese followed by those of the Islamic faith which number about 10 million people. The country achieved its independence from Britain in 1948 but power was then transferred to the Burma Socialist Programme Party. Eventually this party was replaced by two councils the most recent being the SPDC or “State Peace and Development Council” which ironically was not very successful in restoring the peace and easing the already growing tensions between many ethnic groups. This regime, the SPDC, is widely accused for its human rights abuses against many of these groups specifically those living in Rakhine State—the state in western Burma with the largest population of Muslims.

Now that you understand a little bit of the history, it’s important to visualize and comprehend what exactly the Muslims are facing in Burma as a result of laws set by Burmese Buddhists. The Muslims in Burma are denied identity cards; this means they are not considered citizens. Despite the fact that their forefathers have lived there for centuries, the Muslims in Burma are constantly faced with intimidation, abuse, interrogation, and military violence. Imagine that–living in country that not only does not recognize you as a citizen, but also constantly terrorizes your land and your family. Hundreds of villages have been destroyed and burned and over 90,000 people have been displaced from their homes. The Rohingya are banned from traveling freely, marrying freely, practicing religion freely, having healthcare, obtaining jobs, pursuing higher education, obtaining motor vehicles, and even using a mobile phone! It’s safe to say they are being stripped away from their freedom and are placed in a state of constant oppression.

There is still hope.

Many have attempted fleeing to Bangladesh, but it seems they are being rejected there as well. Countless families have taken leaking boats to sea in an attempt to travel across the border, but are ultimately turned around by the military and forced to return where they are not welcome. Several families have told stories of even being attacked at sea without even making it back. All this has been happening while the international community remains silent to the atrocities. Burma won’t let in independent observers and information is scarce about the situation, but that does mean we should turn our backs to the most forgotten and persecuted people on the planet.

Although a new government took over under Mr. Thein Sein in March 2011, the Parliament is still largely controlled by the military-backed ruling party. At this point, dialogue, generosity, and prayer are of the few ways we can help those fighting for their rights in Burma. First and foremost, spread awareness. Tweet about the cause, share videos, and inform those that are unaware. Knowledge is the first step to action. Secondly, donate. Visit RescueRohingya.com and contribute what you can, any amount can make a difference. Lastly, pray. Pray for all those oppressed to gain their freedom and live in a state of peace and equality. Pray for the truth to prevail and remember to never ignore injustice, wherever it may be.

Peace: the destination and the means.

Photo taken at Walk for Children of Syria in Chicago.

So often we hear the word peace. The struggle for peace. So often we see the V sign symbolizing peace–raised proudly next to a smiling face or firmly in the face of oppression. Can peace be felt and grasped or is it a lingering intangible that always lies at the end of our quests? Will peace stand the test of time or will time test the peace that remains? Is peace the expression of love and harmony itself, or is it the outcome, the result, of hope and justice. To me, peace is both. Peace is the struggle and peace is the fruitful yield. Peace is the visible smile and the silent invisible joy of a relaxed heart. Peace is the destination, but peace is also the means. For love and truth to prevail, we must have the goal of peace in mind. And as we travel on this road to peace, we must join hands in the struggle, shake hands in the agreement, and raise the peace sign in that moment when we reach it. That moment of peace.