Ahl Sunna Wal Ja'maa

When the argument stops

And you begin to realize

That you’ve been sold a bill of goods

And it’s just no good

The sack of lies they taught you

The Islam they brought you

The broken chains

And missing narrators of the new age

“The saved group” that can’t be saved

The ones propelled in to the flames

The ones saved from the torment of the graves

Are the ones who don’t break away

The earlier inheritors of everything that came

And it’s not about the name

And it certainly isn’t a claim

Allah’s hand is over the majority

And once you look it’s plain to see

The methodology is clear

There is no knowledge without teachers

And no teachers without chains

Shafi’I, Hanbali, Hanafi, and Maliki –but what’s in a name?

Nature

It just makes you want to sit down and be quiet
There’s a freeing feeling that comes with it
It heals you without knowing your illness
It nurtures you without use of words
It becomes a part of you as though it was never separated
Maybe it is you
Unadulterated
Full
Completely free of expectations
Just living
Without argument
Bearing with grace every hardship
In complete beauty
And submission
To God

And It Is

by: Sajida Mohammed

Adult Category Winner

IWA Poetry Contest 2011

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll drown with its meaning

You'll sink with its lovely essence

Dumbfounded, you'll think your dreaming

Give Him a word

One word

And He'll craft a work of art

Design an untold masterpiece

Deep rooted in your heart

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll shine with its brilliance

Glow beautifully in its depth

A story filled with magnificence

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll know what it means to smile

To Laugh, to love, to live

To go that extra mile

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll see the essence of your being

The wonders of what lies around you

The fragility of this life your living

Give Him a word

One word

And trust that nothing will be missed

Give Him a word

Just one  word

'BE!'

And it is.

Cherry Blossom

by: Farah Razeena Abduz-Zahir

I touched the petals of a cherry blossom, bowing low on laden bough

today, while waiting for the bus.

Low enough for me to reach out and caress,

And feast my eyes on their angelic hue.

My bus came then.

I jumped on, keen not to miss, a ride to deadlines upon deadlines.

But that moment my fingers connected

I swear; the electrons in my skin jumped. Excited

Pulses rushed to the brain.

Somewhere, some deep synapse

Reverberated. In some deep way.

The signal synchronized with the soul of me

Often am I oblivious. To this inner soul.

A me in constant worship

By virtue of being a created being. Regulated, kept alive, harmonized

To laws of physics and nature. Indisputable, irrevocable, inescapable.

I exist;- an embodiment of the slave of Allah

A cherry blossom invoking a profound lesson

Magnificent slave of the Magnificent Maker

Look! Cherry petals everywhere… carelessly strewn by a dancing wind

Swirl and twirl and settle, in eddies and corners,

Filling nooks and crannies of busy sidewalks

People busily hurry over.

Unaware, Unknowing, un-remembering.

So hard to be always aware of where

we came from, where we are going.

But look! Look at all the cherry trees, boughs bent low in worship.

Always aware.

Carelessly it seems, the Glorious One scatters His glory,

Each petal a miracle

Thousands upon thousands fall and pile.

A powerful reminder, we trample on.

Oh resplendent Lord, not needing our worship

I look everywhere and everywhere I see

Your immense bounty

Let me then, worship thee

As my body, my mind, my life, my existence worships thee

Let me be aware.

Like that cherry tree I saw

Connected to my Maker, in serenity

O beloved one

I get so weepy just to see you
And I'm so filled with joy to know you
With your final look from the distance
You were so pleased
You said
'Salah, Salah'
Then you closed your eyes with ease
Are you still smiling my beloved?
It's so painful
To watch you go
It's been more then 1,000 years
I know
It's such a joy to say your name
O beloved without you we'll never be the same

Are you still still smiling my beloved
Be there peace with your name
The earth and heaven rejoiced the day you came
...and were still weeping
Nothing but despair to be near your grave
Nothing but peace will ever be with your name
Are you still smiling my beloved?
May God's mercy, peace and blessing be upon you
And may you smile, O beloved

Don't dwell on your failures in the past
Or long for your hopes in the future
Just do what's most just for this moment

Make sure the good deeds add up
And that will be enough

Whether rain or shine
In the presence of the Divine
That will be enough

The mind wanders
But the heart does not
Forever connected
Without stop
Beyond time
And continuously
There's never been a moment when it wasn't You and me

I use to believe that I was incomplete
Deficient in some way
Because I was different
Or at least that's what I heard them say
At least that's what I felt
And with God
And with a lot of help
And with a lot of books
And with a few teachers
And with a few years
And with some travels here and there
I've come to learn that who I was
Was deficient
And incomplete
But not because I wasn't cool
Or would rather not hang out
And not because I was quiet
Or keep most of it inside
It was because I had yet to see
That my true fulfillment was to be
With Allah
Seek Allah
Worship Allah
Talk to Allah
Be friends with Allah
Gain the pleasure of Allah

Every time I turned away before and tried to see if there was more
Without turning to You
I was left with the shadow of failure
Because it's not real love
When people say they love you
And when the people who need you go away
And when their are no friends
And the screen is removed
Your left with nothing
Because there was nothing
In them
No real substance ever existed in them

It's near impossible to focus on the goal
But at least now I know
At least now I know

Imam Ghazālī woke up one early morning and as usual offered his prayers and then inquired what day it was, his younger brother, Ahmad Ghazālī replied, ”Monday.” He asked him to bring his white shroud, kissed it, stretched himself full length and saying “Lord, I obey willingly,” breathed his last.

And underneath his head rest they found the following verses; composed by him, probably, during the night:

“Say to my friends, when they look upon me, dead
Weeping for me and mourning me in sorrow
Do not believe that this corpse you see is myself
In the name of God, I tell you, it is not I,
I am a spirit, and this is naught but flesh
It was my abode and my garment for a time.
I am a treasure, by a talisman kept hid,
Fashioned of dust, which served me as a shrine,
I am a pearl, which has left it’s shell deserted,
I am a bird, and this body was my cage
Whence I have now floron forth and it is left as a token
Praise to God, who hath now set me free
And prepared for me my place in the highest of the heaven,
Until today I was dead, though alive in your midst.
Now I live in truth, with the grave – clothes discarded.
Today I hold converse with the saints above,
With no veil between, I see God face to face.
I look upon “Loh-i-Mahfuz” and there in I read
Whatever was and is and all that is to be.
Let my house fall in ruins, lay my cage in the ground,
Cast away the talisman, it is a token, no more
Lay aside my cloak, it was but my outer garment.
Place them all in the grave, let them be forgotten,
I have passed on my way and you are left behind
Your place of abode was no deweling place for me.
Think not that death is death, nay, it is life,
A life that surpasses all we could dream of here,
While in this world, here we are granted sleep,
Death is but sleep, sleep that shall be prolonged
Be not frightened when death draweth night,
It is but the departure for this blessed home
Think of the mercy and love of your Lord,
Give thanks for His Grace and come without fear.
What I am now, even so shall you be
For I know that you are even as I am
The souls of all men come forth from God
The bodies of all are compounded alike
Good and evil, alike it was ours
I give you now a message of good cheer
May God’s peace and joy for evermore be yours.”

Love, Rabia

I have loved Thee with two loves - 

a selfish love and a love that is worthy of Thee.
As for the love which is selfish, 
Therein I occupy myself with Thee,
to the exclusion of all others.
But in the love which is worthy of Thee, 
Thou dost raise the veil that I may see Thee.
Yet is the praise not mine in this or that,
But the praise is to Thee in both that and this. 

My Lord's knowledge

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
For my dua and my agonizing supplication
is a witness to my poverty.
For this secret I make supplication
in times of ease and times of difficulty
I am a slave whose pride
is in his poverty and obligation
O my Lord and my King
You know my state
And what has settled in my heart
of agonies and preoccupations
Save me with a gentleness
from You, O Lord of Lords
Oh save me, Most Generous
before I run out of patience

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
O One who is swift in sending aid
I ask for aid that will arrive to me swiftly
It will defeat all difficulty
and it will bring all that I hope for
O Near One Who answers
and All-Knowing and All-Hearing
I have attained realization through my incapacity,
my submission and my brokenness

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
I am still standing by the door, so please my Lord
have mercy on my standing
And in the valley of generosity, I am in itikaf (solitary retreat)
So, Allah, make my retreat here permanent
And Im abiding by good opinion (of You)
For it is my friend and ally
And it is the one that sits by me and keeps me company
All day and night

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
There is a need in my soul, O Allah
so please fulfill it, O Best of Fulfillers
And comfort my secret and my heart
from its burning and its shrapnel
In pleasure and in happiness
and as long as You are pleased with me
For joy and expansion is my state
and my motto and my cover
My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing

Qad Kafani Ilmu Rabbi

It use to be that I would never say a single thing to object
It use to be that their was a barrier between him and I
It use to be that I'd object to such a thought
It use to be that I wouldn't let my mind get so wrapped up
it use to be that he was who he was
And I was who I was
It use to be that I would dream and then I'd wake up
It use to be that I would stop or focus in time
It use to be never more then a few lines
It use to be that love was solely in respect
It use to be that he saw only glimpses of me

It use to be that I'd wake up from the dream
Now it seems that it continues in to my days
Now it seems that a passing moment has turned in to my state
It use to be that only momentarily he would come in to my mind
Now it seems like at all times
At all times
At all times...

Glory

Was it just a dream?

For me it remains unseen

Were you just a ghost

Wrapped in our hopes

Just to see you smile

Would be a reason to rejoice

I've cried a thousand tears

To listen to your story

I've let go of a thousand fears

Because you overcame with glory

Oh smile at me

RasoolAllah (peace and blessings upon him)

Oh smile at me

HabibAllah (peace and blessing upon him)

Oh quench our thirst

At your pool

Our love for God through loving you

A bloodless conqueror

A king and yet he's still a slave

I long to stand near you

Or even to sit by your grave

God we end our heads, just like he taught us to

Laillahaillala

Muhammad ar-rasoolullah

The path to the kingdom

Allahuakbar!

Allahuakbar!

Have you heard the news?

Have you heard the news?

After lost of faith

Hope is renewed

After all sorrow

Joy is repaired

After your troubles

Their is no fear

Verily after difficulty comes ease

And after there is hardship

You will be pleased

AllahuAkbar!

AllahuAkbar!

AllahuAkbar!

Have you heard the good news?

After teary eyes

The pain is removed

After desperation

Hope is restored

After tribulation

The kingdom is yours!

Journey

It is a matter of certainty

That day will come

When none will matter but the One

And yet our aims are different

Each striving for success

Striving for happiness

Our aims will be unmet

When our hearts, our minds, and limbs forget

For were all traveling on a path

And we who would like to meet our Lord

will be met the same by him

And we who would spend every moment of breath denouncing his being

Will be before him with despondent souls

Begging God to go back home

Begging God for a second chance

For some -what we would do for just one glance!

For those who know

the hereafter is home

The present life is the time for growth

I beg of you

As I beg of me

Please don't be blind in this sea of illusion

Please bring your heart to this final conclusion

Where all going to meet our Rabb

Where all on the same journey

So why not hope to meet with him?

Why not face the afterlife hoping for his mercy?

May God bless us all, all of us on the journey

Running

Sometimes when the darkness comes
I'm enshrouded with tears
Overcome with fears
The anxiety over powers me
I lay in bed but I cannot sleep
Sometimes when the darkness reaches its peak
I finally fall asleep
Only for the sun to rise and awaken me
Wake up young soul you've missed your prays
Why did you not run to your Lord with fear
He blessed your beings with sajda and rukuh
Purification with wuthu
Wake up old soul, your time is nearly dead
Your last days are running towards you
Remind your soul of its permanent dwelling
Arise oh soul, so you have a chance at heaven

The honored

Sumayya

O the beauty that you claim
To die as a matyr in Allah's name
I can't even begin to say what they did
Ya Allah its unmentionable what they did

What does it mean to be a Muslim?

To live and breath for the sake of Allah
To give your limbs over in devotion
Its not meaningless what you've done
The first of the matyrs
Dying to say "God is one!"

'There is no God but Allah and Muhammad (saw) is his messenger'
For most of us that's what it means to be Muslim
But what if being Muslim meant being in the constant danger zone
What if enemy lines where drawn in our home

Don't ever say oh the Muslims of today,
how we struggle to keep our name
Airport security?
Are we kidding ourselves
What if being Muslim meant losing your health?
What if being Muslim meant be tortured in the sun
And the only mercy came from saying "god is one"

What if being Muslim meant your friends were now your enemies?
What if it meant moving to a foreign country?
O Sumayya what if it meant what it did for you?
You are enough of an example for me
May God rest your soul in peace

On that fateful day for all to see
Sumayya will rise before her Lord in glory (Insha Allah)
And those who thought they brought shame on to her
Will never have seen a blacker day
When only Allah will be judge
And exalted ranks are by deeds not names
When only the truth remains


Sumayya you won't even remember your pain
When the light shines on you
On that righteous day
Death is a gift for the believers
And this life an imprisonment
To be with God is the only goal
The reward of heaven
The ever lasting gift for the righteous soul

Faith

O Hannah
Your beautiful prayer
I pray it myself
Not for wealth nor even your health
But for an offspring
Dedicated to the one we give thanks
Ya Allah, her child was Mary
And the woman is not like the man
Except in worship
Oh Mary your faith prayed for by your mother
Cared for by Zacariah
Mary where do you get your provisions?
By Allah he is the one
To say 'Be' and it is done
To provide without struggle for the world bows to him
Ya Allah
Eve created from Adam's rib
And Jesus born without a father, without sin
Those who accused didn't really know, not true in faith
Their accusations so great
Esa spoke in defense of his mother
As if the strength of faith was born in each one of you
Oh my followers which one of you are true?
The disciples stood as true followers
Your message strengthened with their oath
Giving you hope
But what do the masses want but to follow the ways of their fathers
Killed on a cross by their imaginations
Allah saves who he wills
With his discrimination

Oh Jesus the strength of your mother could not keep away the oppressors
Oh Mary the strength of your mother could not keep away the accusers
Yet Allah tries the faithful among us so let us stand when we should
And be meek when we must

Its not about the qibla you face
But the words that you follow
Oh Muhammad the honor of the greatest of men and women and you are still greater
For God is the greatest giving whom he will taking what he will
Commanding and watching over forever existent and merciful
And our sincerest friend
Protector and guide
Worthy of all praise
Looking up to the great men and women of faith
May we say laillaha illala before we hit our graves

Before we reach that day where the wealth of pharaoh can't save our face
But the sincerity of Asiya will keep us in his grace
Oh Allah protect our faith
Save us from the burning flames
Save us from disgrace

Oh Annah let us pray like you prayed
So our children can pray for us
And on that day of certainty
For some our burdens will be set free
For those on the left a burden beyond belief
Oh Allah please love us
And let us not be fooled by the deceit
Shaytaan and his friends
They'll lose in the end

Oh Asiya you gave up the kingdom for Allah
May he shower you in blessing
Keeping you under his shade
Some of us are blind to the coming of this fateful day

Measure on a scale all the good you have done
Measure across from your sin
Take account for your life
Stop to breath the reality of the passing of time
For in the end hope in the one
Will be better that anything else you could have done

Our father Abraham the friend of Allah
Doing any and everything for the one
We weak in faith must remember these name
Those of us not facing a life sentence for practicing our faith
Allah has provided us an open space
Believe and pray and fast
Do the others if you can

For O Annah you gave your child for the will of Allah
For we with little sincerity
Barely measure up to these great names

Are we really Muslim, or have we lost the sweetness of faith?

Come to success!

Come! Come!

Come to success!

Come to success!

Hurry! Hurry!

Follow the path!

Follow the path!

The followers are hungry

The followers are bending there backs

The followers are giving away their money

The followers are going on a long journey

Come! Come!

Come to success!

Come to success!

Hurry! Hurry!

Follow the path!

Follow the path!

The submitters ar submitting to their creation

The submitters are adhering to the truth

The submitters are on the right way

The truthful are crying

The truthful have hope

The truthful are waiting

Patiently waiting for their Lord's decree

The believers are worried

There hands are up in their air

There praying for forgiveness

There looking out their windows at the destruction of the world

There for the young and old

For the boys an girls

They have all from beginning of time

From Allah (swt)

Not a picture or a shrine

From the one creator

of the heavens and earth

The one who has not partner

The one without children

The living

The living the eternal

The merciful creator

Seek the the light

Before the light is dimmed on earth

Allah the sustainer

Allah the evolver

The righteous know the truth

The righteous know the truth

Come! Come!

Come to success!

Come to success!

Hurry! Hurry!

Follow the path!

Follow the path!

Hurry!

Poem taken from sunnipath.com

Treasure

Posted by Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Instructor on July 24th, 2009

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

Treasure

Have you ever seen a beggar?
Have you ever heard a mourner?
Have you ever wondered, ever,
how everything you have’s a treasure?

Yes, that bite of bread’s a treasure.
Yes, that roof and wall’s a treasure.
Your healthy, laughing child’s a treasure.
Your peaceful, restful sleep’s a treasure.

The next time you complain, remember.
When irritated, chafed, remember.
If your life seems dark, remember.
Remember when you grieve, remember.

That God has given you a treasure,
lavished favor after favor,
that you are debted to His pleasure,
and that His blessings have no measure.

How ugly to consume a favor!
Greedy!–Favor after favor!
Thankless!–Then, when black and glum, to mutter,
“Never did He bless me, never!”

That ingrate, prideful heart’s a sinner.
If humbly it would praise its Master,
its world would be a shining treasure,
a grateful bliss and joy, forever.

– Hamza Karamali, Hayy al-Kharabsheh, July 24, 2009