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?

Sometimes it feels like the whole world is closing in on me
Im suffocating
Begging for air to breathe
I feel like Your punishing me
And theirs no doubt as to what I deserve
I feel low without worth
And I've given birth to my sadness
Being in love
Driven in to madness
One eye sees clearly and the other is crippled
Half a mind loves your dearly
The other is filled with regret
Love, something close to madness
When will the sweetness come
and the rain stop?

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

Quranic recitation

We all love You
How You created this love in our heart
We do not want to know
Were to busy being grateful

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

I love you
I love you
I love you
Can you tell?
I love you
I love you
I love you
Can you tell?
I love you
I love you
I love you
Masha Allah
If you didn't know
I think now you know it well

I talk about you with longing
I never look at you with disdain
I'd lift the burden
If only you had pain
I'd serve you in the worldly life
Though your facing the next
And I would watch my every word
Though you care not what I say
And when I'm dressed up
You could care less
And no matter how close I am to you
Your heart is with Allah

Yet despite all your distance
I want you for myself
For its not passion or words that move me
And it couldn't be wealth
It's your clarity in knowing
That this life is a tool
If you use it to reach Allah
Then you will never lose

And I will never lose
If I could chose
A spouse solely for His sake
For love for the sake of Allah
Is limitless
And unconditional
And people mistake this world for the real thing
So they plan for marriage
But don't plan to meet Him

Marriage as a means to please our Lord
So I won't rush
Because I have seen
Only love for Allah is real
Everything else is just a dream

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.”

Lacking lover's poem

If I could have the heart to write a poem about modern day love
I would write one word
"heartbreak"
Love devoted to transient things
Love washed away by the sea
And I am the sea
And I say it can't be
Because I see only one for me
Only One for me

Leaving me behind
Could never be
It will be revealed
How fine He can see
And how fine He can hear
And now everythings clear

Yet the veil still remains
And I complain of being unfit to bear the name
Which of all names given
I cannot fulfill
Yet until I die
Or on my knees when I cry
Or the sincerity which I strive
In every wrong uttering, action or lie
In every broken heart I no longer ask why

I'm fully humbled by the fact that I am who I am
And you are who you are

So here I am lord
And I complain
Of my disdain for hard work
Or late nights in pray
And I complain that often I lack the energy to care

But I claim to love You
You alone know it's true
One word for lover's love of my day
"heartbreak"
But for You
Complete and utter lost
Complete and utter lost
With no fear of mistake

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. 

A woman walked in to the store I was working in. A store filled with random goods and a woman from Senegal who made African clothes. One day a veiled women in all black walked in. "Bonjour" she said, as all the Senegalese did when they walked in to the store. She looked around at some of the jilbabs which was part of my father's merchandise. Then she and the Senegalese tailor started to chat, she offered her to look at some of the Senegalese outfits she'd had. The woman refused and gave a roaring laugh "I use to wear that, but I would caused problems in the street". I laughed to myself not being a part of the conversation but unable to hold back at such an amusing cry. The moral of the story: Modesty is outlined by God and his Messenger (peace of God be upon him) but some of have to go the extra mile when blessed with exceptional beauty ;)

My heart's flying, God
Flying towards you
Please keep the debris from my eye
And the wind from my face
And please don't let the passing storms
Keep me from going straight

Every word you've said to my lonely soul

Every heart beat

And God knows 

I keep it to myself

Out of hopelessness

Not in Him

But in you

Not in sadness but in love

A burden not worth holding up

A treasure to deeply buried to care

A love that goes unnoticed 

Because it always there

A love that is unprecedented

At least in all I've know

Oh how I've seen it change

Oh how I've seen it grow

Oh how He knows

My hearts pain

A love I want so badly

The sickening pounding of my heart

Underneath the terror of return

Under a terror of longing

And belonging

The real fear of love being shared

The real fear of love being eternal

Knowing the pleasure of God 

Through serving you

Knowing the struggle of those honorable women

Those mothers of of mine

To love

And hold back jealously

In hopes of pleasing the Divine

Within your comfort

A worldly glimpse of paradise

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

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...

In my dreams

I can't really describe my love for him

Because if I did

I wouldn't even believe

Some how in his eyes I tend to dream

Somehow at all times I tend to care

Sometimes when he's not around

I feel like I'm not there

Sometimes I pray for him more then I pray for myself

Sometimes I put him before my parents and my wealth

Sometimes when we talk I know that I should stop

Because my heart drops

And its impossible that I could say anything to impress him

He's already lived a thousand lives

Already in the future

So far from a reality 

That I could ever see

Somehow he never paints himself very high 

But there's never been a moment when he didn't compete with the sky

Its a lie

I know it can never be

But nevertheless 

I hope to see him in my dreams