Poem: version 1

Between expectations and resignation

he sits-  Thoughts flowing,

interrogating his mind

trying to figure how this could happen time-

after time.

 

Once upon a time he was brimming,

expectations swelling inside like

a high tide lessening the ocean shore-

but what he sought couldn’t be,

it was only a tease going back to sea. 

 

His mind is a mess confused.

Today they say you’re too direct

past times though you’re too discreet,

should’ve said something before a season’s time.

His mind was jarred by the broken rhyme.

 

His mind is a confused mess

not to be confessed in public yet,

the facial distress snitched more than any words.

 

What’s so wrong with being direct?

In front of me was one so immense

I couldn’t take the chance of not saying

and not showing…

couldn’t take the chance of silence…

 

from the left they told great things

from the right was even better.

My eyes took in great scenes that

Fit the character to the letter-

Should I have acted like I’d never seen?

Never heard?

Should I have taken the chance of silence?

 

            He didn’t know the subtleties,

            unwritten rules and regulations

            of this game where you don’t say

how you feel-

            Of this game where you don’t show

                        how you feel-

            of this game that’s

 far from being anything real

 

            solid floors and open doors,

            windows from which to behold sights-

            without tint, in its own perfected light.

           

Sadly he was simply too simple.

Fortress walls he wasn’t a fan of,

nor was he of holding a falsified fortified stance

for him it was about being open and direct

being open with and fully honest.

Coming soon

I'm gonna get back into the blogging soon...insha'Allah. Stay tuned!!!

An Era of Clarity

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahiim

As I'm writing this we are into the second day of what has been termed a shaky cease-fire between Palestine and Israel.  Nearly 2000 Palestinians killed, many more injured, around $2 billion dollars in damage to Ghazzah's infrastructure, countless homes demolished, burned out or outright bombed.  The 3 weeks of Ghazzah being turned into a sporting spectacle and a slaughterhouse didn't have to occur, this is my humble belief. It all could have been stopped in its first few days if not prevented before the Israelis decided to once again attack the Palestinian people.  Had people, groups, nations spoken out, not even taken physical action but just spoken out strongly and firmly with resolve this situation could have been corrected from the get go and the lives that were snatched and martyred would probably have been less than what it is now.  This might have been the case had people spoken out but people did not speak out on the whole. So many were quiet, only a select few were confident enough in what's right and what's wrong to speak out against the wrong in favour of the right. Countries like Venezuela and Bolivia had the guts to kick the Israeli ambassadors out of their nation while Lebanon and Iran vigorously spoke out against the zionist entity and pressed the Muslims worldwide to support their suffering sisters and brothers. Qatar was yet another nation with some kind of conscience trying to press the Arab nations to get into action immediately and not to delay for one second with each moment potentially meaning the life of yet another Palestinian.  

Unfortunately these nations appeared to be only a drop in the bucket.  Expectedly the majority of western nations were in favour of "Israel defending her freedom and doing whatever is necessary to live in security" while the Arab lackey nations were nearly silent and in some cases complicit with the attacks against the Palestinians. Most notable of these is Egypt's Hosni Mubarak who openly sealed the Palestinian border on the Egyptian side.  Knowing the amount of people being killed, the medical and food shortage and the general suffering being faced Mubarak kept the border nearly completely shut off.  Not only were Palestinians denied entry into Egypt (with Egyptian troops stationed there and allegedly American troops keeping watch), doctors and aid workers who were willing to volunteer their services were prevented from crossing the border into Palestine.  Mubarak had the ability to open a door for the Palestinians yet he chose to seal their fate into the hands of the zionist nation-state. 

The Saudi government also presented the same kind of attitude.  In fact, their reaction was no different in this Palestinian situation than it was in the 2006 Lebanon war. The Saudis, having plenty of influence in the Muslim world could easily have led sentiments of Muslims into being more proactive in this situation yet they chose to stand on the sidelines as they always seem to do and have been doing increasingly in the last few years.  These who are said to maintain and secure the Haramain failed to maintain and secure their brothers and sisters in Palestine.  Their failure wasn't due to an inability but it was due to a lack of want, they didn't have a desire to help.  In fact, Egypt and the Saudi government held up some of the Arab summit meetings losing precious time and in a way procrastinating while blood was being shed daily.  

While before excuses could be made in favour of Arab governments and it wasn't apparent to many in the Muslim community what they were about, today everything is out in the clear.  Most admitted to there being corruption, to certain officials in certain governments being tempted by money and even by women but many still felt that the governments weren't all too bad. They were happy about the haramain getting air conditioning or having shade or being kept up to date, they were happy about their respective nations keeping its history intact.  Others were simply to scared to speak out against or about their rulers.  Now, the story has been turned over because things are in an utmost state of clarity...when people die, it sometimes becomes that way.  Everyone has seen the behaviour and action (or inaction) of these regimes towards the Palestinians who've been suffering for the past 60 years and now they are wondering. "What happened to the great Arab nation we were taught about in school as kids"?  Some have said "The great Arab nation we learned about is a fantasy, it only exists in books and in the dictionary, it's not in real life".  Where were the governments and what were they doing?  Why didn't they force the Egyptian government to open its border for the Palestinians?  Where was the unity for these Palestinians?  People are wondering these things and as they think on these things they come to realize one thing after another and slowly but surely clarity hits them like a flash of light in the dark. 

Something else which has become extremely clear is the realization of who is genuinely for the Palestinian cause and who is only for their own private, personal cause.  In Mahmoud Abbas, time and time again, we've seen a behaviour in which this "leader" has been willing to sell out his own people.  Even in this situation this lackey and his own lackeys have tried to stir division between the Palestinians in on the smaller level and Muslims on the larger level.  He's almost blamed the elected Palestinian government of Ghazzah for the situation they were in when Israel aggressed against the peopled of Ghazzah.  Additionally, his party in the West Bank has attacked and arrested fellow Palestinian protesters when they rallied in support of their brothers and sisters.  Where is the heart of Mahmoud Abbas?  What is his interest?  Does his interest reside with his people and their welfare and safety or is he simply another in a long line of Arab puppet "leaders" who are propped up by western governments and do the bidding of such governments?  These are questions and thoughts which are coming out in this era of clarity and especially pushed by this latest trend of zionist aggression.  This is of course only on the Muslim side of things.  There is clarity coming on the horizon for the non-Muslims the world over.  

Where before when Israel was talked about and thought of, there was always a shadow of the holocaust and the Nazi (NOT GERMAN, but Nazi) campaign in the background today that image is being erased rapidly so.  Finding recourse in labeling a person or group anti-Semitic due to their questioning and condemning the atrocious acts of the zionist Israeli state is becoming old and is wearing out completely.  The labeling has been over done and is about to be done. And here, a question has to be asked: who is anti-Semitic?  The one who questions the program of the zionist nation? Or is it the zionist nation and its western backers?  The literal term "anti-semite" means to be against one who is semitic.  A semite is a person who is Arab, Ethiopian, Somalian, from other parts of East and North Africa which are semitic.  However, a European person, unless they have blood from these backgrounds is not a semitic individual.  Simply adopting a religion and part of the language does not make one of that background.  When an African-American becomes Muslim and learns Arabic, does that make the person an Arab?  Do they all of a sudden have an Arab background? No, they don't and this holds true to those of European background too.  Of course it's said that there was a great migration from the middle east to Europe however we need to have evidence of this and it has to be strong evidence. Going back to the topic at hand, the aggressive tendency of the Israelis has now become apparent to all except those who are in support (whether overtly or covertly) of the zionist nation and those who are extremely shielded and living in a box set up for them by the western media outlets.  Those however, who take the opportunity to read and who watch a variety of news programs and who are able to differentiate between propaganda and true news reporting have begun to see the not the over reaction by the zionist entity but, the pushing of the Palestinians to defend themselves with whatever means they have then accusing the Palestinians for being the aggressors and using this accusation as a justification for brutally attacking those who live in places like Ghazzah.  They see the nearly 2000 who've been killed, they see the zionist usage of white phosphorous on civilian populations, the usage of new weapons against the civilians () the blaming of attacks on schools and hospitals and every other structure that serves as a shelter on "militants firing from 'x' building".  All of these and more have been seen by the world at large and where it wasn't exposed before and allowed the zionists to continue their facade of innocence and their ability to escape condemnation by crying whenever someone vigorously questioned them, today the truth has been clearly seen by the world and that image of the zionist entity has yellowed away into the past.  

There is sadness, disappointment and for some there is seething anger growing in the hearts of people in the world.  They are disgusted, from the local socialist, to doctors who have begun to come across stories of what's been happening in Ghazzah.  It is clear that lies have been told and have been sold for decades and now, as the truth comes out and is clear and upfront the people see that there is an inhuman, brutal, savage in this world; a satanic one at that.  It kills everyone including children, then it presents itself as being innocent.  It creates new weapons to shoot from corners, to remove limbs, to penetrate into the organs of individuals and kill them within hours with no way of surgically saving the individual and presents itself as being innocent.  

As the fog dissipates and this story becomes more clear questions again will be asked.  Just as Muslims are asking and thinking about their nations and the lack of response from them, the non-Muslims will ask and think about the zionist entity and its western backers.  Attention will focus on it as well.  All this talk about genocide in the world over, it's focus will turn on the 6 decade genocide.  Talk about ethnic cleaning?  The focus will fall on the 6 decade ethnic cleansing). Talk about crimes against humanity and war crimes?  The focus will be on the 6 decade crime against humanity and war crimes.  Whatever the Nazis of Germany did will only be a footnote because there are real life zionist Nazis in our contemporary era.  This is a time of clarity and the only ones who will not see are those who don't want to see but, things are too clear for people to be unwillingly blind.  Those who try to hide the facts will trip up on their lies and stumble down every road because their lies can not be kept up .  

Wonderful Leaders we have

As of this post over 1000 Palestinians have been killed due to israeli Nazi tactics. This is not to mention food shortages, water shortages, lack of electricity, lack of water treatment, lack of medical aid, lack of sanitary conditions especially with the burial of bodies being made nearly impossible in some situations. The apartheid state of israel has been given the go ahead by the United States (as usual) and is given an unquestioning support by this country.
On January 9 2009 the United States House of Representatives voted on House Resolution 34 which essentially was "Recognizing Israel's right to defend itself from attacks". Without surprise this resolution was passed and sadly the two Muslims in congress didn't vote a "nay" when they cast their decision. Andre Carson of Indiana voted "yay" while Keith Ellison voted "present". For some of us who know how politics is conducted and who understand the pattern of behavior by people in power the way these two Muslims voted doesn't come as much of a shocker. For others who had faith in them, this is something that's going to shake their faith in their elected leaders and so-called representatives.

There is no doubt at all as to the kind of atrocities, massacres, genocide and ethnic cleansing that has been going on in Palestine and is going on in Ghazzah currently. There are plenty of news sources (outside of the U.S. of course) which are reporting on this with the reality on the ground. There's information about who broke the cease-fire and who broke it repeatedly, who broke the cease-fire and who went into it with bad faith from the get go so there's no excuse that these two so-called leaders (for some reason, some of us look at these types as leaders) can pull out of their magic hat to convince the public that they didn't know what was going on. They were and are very well aware of what is happening in Ghazzah but their actions show that they could care less.

The idea of not going against a declaration of continued aggression or even in Carson's case voting for this aggression should serve as a wake up call for the Muslim community that these people are not working for the best interest of their constituents or their brothers and sisters. What these types do is rely on people who look like them, talk like them, have the same apparent beliefs as they do and use these people to gain more votes. They may go to masajid after masajid collecting supporters to give them a victory but when it's all said and done they don't look back and do what is in the best interest for a community. In fact why do we expect a person to change things when they enter a machine that is already functioning in a certain way? The person who alters a machine from the outside, who is able to see all of its faults and flaws and potential good is one who can change the machine for the better. The one who enters the machine becomes part of the machine and works like the machine, in fact they have no choice because if they don't work as the machine does the machine will destroy them. Saying this, why do we expect that when a person is elected to a position in this country they'll be able to change the system for the better? If they want to change the system it'll be next to impossible to change it by working within it because its influence and effect will be too strong. A person can stand next to dirt only for so long before they themselves become dirty. When will the Muslim mind begin to understand that things can not change by working in a way that is structured by the oppressor? Any oppressor obviously does not want the oppressed to have freedom and by common sense it should be clear that they would not present any means or options which bring about a state of freedom (mental, physical, financial, etc). If a people truly want freedom they have to seek a means towards it and that requires a lot of work, time and thinking. What has been presented by the status quo to the general public as a way towards freedom is a joke. Voting and participating in the electoral system has been presented as such. The Muslims voted in bloc for GW Bush and we see what happened. They're supportive of Carson and Ellison and we've seen what has happened. They have hope in Barack Obama and we're already seeing what is happening, from his picks in his cabinet to the support they've thrown towards that zionist entity. Where's the freedom? Who is getting freedom and liberty? Surely not the Muslim or any oppressed people for that matter. So, if we've been doing something for years and years and that has brought no result whatsoever, is it pragmatic to continue doing that thing and hoping for success?

Muslims today are living in an unfortunately pathetic state. We have made ourselves ultra politically correct, we don't want to appear angry, we don't want to voice our opinion, we want to be cool. No matter how many atrocities occur, no matter how many people are unjustly arrested, abused, deported and so on for no real reason whatsoever, we want to put on this image of being cool, calm and collected. Proof of this is seen in the comments made at the bottom of a youtube video. Keith Ellison, after showing he didn't have any heart whatsoever to speak out against apartheid israel's murder of Palestinians appeared at a rally and the audience knowing how he voted boos him out. The comments made by users who saw the video went along the lines of "Muslims need to show more akhlaq, this is not the right thing to do, we should not disrespect our leaders" or "this is why the Muslims aren't respected, because we act like this" etc. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjagbIZzNcw) How pathetic is this? You mean to say that hundreds of people can be murdered while thousands more are starved and dehumanized and when a group of people express discontent about that they are in the wrong? Are we supposed to remain calm and cool when people are dying? So many of us have our heads in the sand and are so terrified of being labeled one thing or another that we don't want to even show our emotions, our justified emotions.

It has been said that the people reflect their leaders and the leaders reflect their people. If that statement has ever been true it is true with Muslims today because both sets of people are cowards, terrified to do what is right and to speak truth to power. Others want to retain what little semblance of power they have (that which has been granted to them by an outside ruling group) so their greed and fear of losing power keeps them in check. Keith Ellison and Andre Carson represent this in their action. Hosni Mubarak represents this in his locking the Palestinians in their concentration death camp as do the vast majority of the other Arab "Muslim" leaders of today.

Thoughts on Ghazzah

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahiim

With all the murders being committed by the nazisrael zionist machine against the Palestinians in Ghazzah it's interesting how there are individuals who have taken a position that essentially says the suffering being dropped on the Palestinians is equivalent what the Israelis are facing. What is even more saddening is when individuals make the claim that the Palestinians are suffering because of the actions taken by certain groups in Ghazzah. When I hear some of these claims and ideas I am usually stopped in my movement and wonder where these thoughts come from and how they even develop.
Let's understand something, Palestine is an occupied land and it has been so for the last 6 decades. Because of what happened not as a result of Palestinians, or Arabs or even Germans in general but a particular German regime the people in Palestine were first occupied, then had their land taken, then were killed, ethnically cleansed and squeezed into an area that is less than a quarter of what it originally was. From that time to the present the Arab population of Palestine has been subject to abuse, harassment, arrests, murders and essential liquidation. Keep in mind again that this has been occurring for 60 years. These things that have been happening were not caused by the Palestinians, they did not start it, nor did they exacerbate it yet the blame is repeatedly placed on them.
One thing that I've been hearing constantly in the last few days during these events is that both sides are using these situations for political gain. For the Israelis this assertion is understandable. There's an election coming up in the very near future and some parties want to appear more capable of ruling the country and protecting it from harm and additionally they want to save face from their miscalculations with the 2006 encounter with Lebanon. However, this same accusation is thrown in the face of certain Palestinian groups. The accusation says that the Palestinian groups are wanting to gain political power and power over the society even at the cost of innocent lives. Statements like these are extremely ridiculous to me. In what way do these Palestinian groups and their leaders gain? How many of these leaders are driving a Rolls or a Bentley? How many palaces and mansions are there in Palestine? What kind of riches are there in Palestine, one of the most densely populated countries on this earth? On top of that how could anyone benefit when they are under virtual house arrest while they are being targeted for death at every turn they make, with every morsel of food they eat and sip of liquid they drink? Where's the benefit coming from? What material gain is there when putting one's life on the line everyday, every minute, every second and being locked in a virtual prison?
Another accusation made is that this thing is an "us against them" thing, that certain groups are against other groups due to religious differences. When has this been the case in Palestine? If we take the opportunity to read and to listen to what those people involved with this situation have to say we see that for the most part it's not the religious differences that provoke these situation, it's the oppression meted out to the oppressed that bring out the anger in individuals.
When a person or a group is being oppressed do they not have the right to defend themselves and protect themselves? Yet, when they do, the oppressor doesn't say that they're protecting themselves against oppression, the tyrant says they're haters, they're racists, they're this that and the other. It's to be expected for the murderer to say such a thing but for people to carry the line and run with it is extremely shameful. It's judging a situation that's been in the works for years upon years with various dynamics within them and simply looking at the superficial make up of the situation and judging everything based on that surface appearance. There is no way a judgment can be soundly made like that.
I still find it hard to understand how individuals can put an oppressor and the oppressed into the same category, they're not the same, their position is not the same, their power is not the same. There is more give and room for the oppressor and less for the oppressed. Who can compromise? The oppressor, they have more, in fact they possess most and therefore have more to give away while the oppressed does not. Some say that both sides are violent...I say one side is violent and one side is preserving life and limb against being put at the level of animals. Do people not have a right to protect themselves? Maybe it's thought that since the oppressor is being violent, the oppressed should take the higher road and resort to getting help from groups like the UN however, this is impossible, the UN won't help the so-called lower classes of humanity. For the most part the UN benefits the countries which are in the so-called upper echelon and those countries which are aligned with it. The U.S. is the most powerful country in the UN and exercises extreme authority within that "international" body and in the case of what's going on now, exercises it for the benefit of the nazisraelis. Time after time since its inception nazisrael has been given resolution after resolution to follow and abide by which have been in favour of the Palestinians yet the zionist nation has blatantly treated these resolutions with disregard and disrespect with no penalties faced. They repeatedly commit crime after crime and act with disrespect for human rights with no penalties incurred. Who can the Palestinians turn to then? The Arab nations don't protect it, they don't help with much aid, the UN doesn't, it's an isolated and lonely nation that's brutally treated by zionist dogs so what exactly should the Palestinians do? Surely they want peace, but can there ever be peace without justice, human rights, human dignity, basic respect? Malcolm X once said a man can never be at peace if he doesn't have freedom...what freedom does the Palestinian have? So much demand after demand is placed on the Palestinians while little is placed on the Israelis, it should be the reverse, yet its not. Too many of us who are here, comfortable in our couches, with windows in our panes, light in the rooms, heat for the winter night are so quick to pass judgment and we don't even ask the people what they themselves want, how they feel, what they feel. Sometimes people ask "if you had a magic power, what would it be"? If I had a magic power, I would put everyone who judges the Palestinian in Palestine, to live there, for life....lose hope, be stuck in an imprisoned country and then make the judgment call.

For the sake of Allah?

They say “fisabil Allah, we’re getting married”,
When I hear that, I wonder what they mean.
To me that phrase has a certain sound
As if they only do it because they’re duty-bound.
It’s true we have certain obligations to meet
And doing this will help make our diin complete
But, does Allah want us to go into this thing
Like it’s a job devoid of all, or most, human feeling?
Or are we to act with high levels of compassion
Moved by respect, love, and mutually growing attraction?
When we become engaged, get married for Allah’s sake,
We should continue treating one another in the same way
Remembering that our actions be colored for Allah’s sake.
Allah is The Source of Mercy and The Source of Peace,
Shouldn’t our homes have touches of these at the least?
Fisabil Allah requires work with genuine effort,
It shouldn’t be dry like a dead-zoned desert
Looked upon with anguish and increasing dread,
Every color bleached, every sound mute, every feeling dead.
Irrigating rivers to feed yielding trees,
Relaxing the earth so it gives the best and takes the least
This is how it should be.
We have our niqahs and look at our mates,
We don’t use the word but they become our slaves
Spewing out money like they’re ATM machines
And at the other end we have the same thing.
At home we work them near to death
In a few years patterns become set.
Before we were beings so alive,
After, we’re ghosts, living, but many times we’ve died…
They say “fisabil Allah we got married”,
I wonder what it meant and what it means.
Because when we do for Allah shouldn’t hearts be free of distress
And our minds free and easily at rest?
Shouldn’t we feel that our unions are sincerely Allah blessed?
Something that’s done fisabil Allah isn’t restricted and locked in a box,
It’s loosened, freed, ever expanding and having nothing to make it stop

Mistaken perception

Once upon a time I had hope
But that was a hallucination gone up in smoke;
Powdery dreams like lines of coke.
Once when I would look in from the outside
I thought everything was so dignified,
I thought everything was done with pride.
Little did I expect the rude awakening,
The feeling of most of my world forsaking me
Or at least the method of how my thoughts were processing.
I used to dream with energy and vigor
Ready to take all the world’s rigors
If it meant raising us to something bigger.
Dreams filled with color and clarity
Every single detail covered unsparingly;
None of it could be touched by HDTV.
In the sunlight I could see the glow of fireflies,
Smell the slightest scent of the softest spice
But eventually my dream reached twilight,
Dreams are now nothingness. Night to day
I’m hit and I’m plagued
By nightmares that won’t go away,
I’ve become an insomniac
Afraid of sudden attacks
From left, right, front and back.
Demons of my optimism are haunting,
Pointing their fingers and they’re taunting me.
Their rotted faces leave me in a mess
I’m sprouting whites and grays by living frustrated distress.
These are the zombies of what I wanted to be part of,
They’re laughing and pointing,
Following and stalking,
Watching and waiting.
Once upon a time I dreamed of wonderful things
But now it seems
That I was just being naïve.
Sometimes I fall into this trap of mistaken perception
Often easily successful at self-deception,
Any touches of pessimism quickly going into recession.
My eyes see, my heart feels, my thoughts are clouded
Numbing my senses, regardless of how often alarms are sounded