The silence between the gunshot and the drop...
one more Palestinian child shot.
The silence between his last call to salvation and the rock fallin from his hand...
The silence of a boy who will never be a man.
The 10 seconds of silence we take when we hear his story.
The very silence that embodies his moment of glory.
The silence of it all on American T.V.
The silence we hold inside, thinkin, "I'm glad it wasn't me." That silence we claim to detest, but in it we find a place of rest.
Your heart, your mind and soul left unshaken with steady breath of your chest.
The silence of us saying nothin but never failing to blame the rest.
We scream out our  words, but hide our actions...
mostly cuz we're jus too proud.
We preach for revolution to the same old crowd...
but aint no one gonna hear us...
when the silence is so loud.

Disguise what you despise
     Place a mask
What lies is hidden from our eyes
     From head to heal
Change its utterly hideous appeal
 
This is what God did
when He created the dunya.
Unbeknoweth to those
Holding onto an empty candelabra.
The Light which you seek
Are not the ills that you speak
Or the ego we display
Repress your inner Cassius Clay.
 
Reveal yourself to us
Deceptive vile being!
Let us be free from your bonds...
Let us praise just Him and sing!

The state of the Ummah distresses me-
Nationality, Supremacy.
Our Birth of a Nation:
Arab vs. South Asian.
Whats the need of division?
Look past the man made partitions.
For who stands to be victorious,
When the world thinks us notorious?
Be it the men or the gentiles,
We're a clutter of beautiful tiles,
Unable to form the mosaic.

Madhabs are used to guide
Not the source to divide.
I always cried,
When Sunnis, Shias killed each other
During the Jumuah prayer.
Imagine a husband, a child
Intentionally exiled
Off the face of the Earth.
A part of my Ummah,
Dying while in Sajdah,
At the hands of a man
Who too, recites the kalimah.

Read a hadith or the Prophet's (pbuh) last speech.
Did he not teach? Did he not teach?
Or did you not learn?
We didn't learn.
Don't you see my brother?
We kill one another,
Yet complain when a third party bothers
To do the same.
What makes us different from those non Muslims we blame?
Hypocrisy comes in all our names.

You know that feeling
No, not the one when you're frightened,
But the other one, when your stomach begins
to shrink and tighten.  
When the sudden squinting of eyes,  
The hammering at the back of your head
Doesn't prevent you from realizing
It's the moment you've dread.

The dust has settled,
The lines have been drawn,  
Between black and white,  
They are gray.

That feeling ran through the valleys of north Georgia,
As those native to this land depart,
Leave a trail of tears,  
Roses grow where mothers once wept.

That feeling ran through the hills of California,
As Pearl Harbor fell to attack,  
The pain felt by a West Coast generation  of Children of the camps.

That feeling still runs through the  streets of Brooklyn,
As twin towers disappeared on that black
Tuesday,
Investigators and authorities lie await,
For fathers returning from houses of worship.

That is the feeling of uncertainty.

(A Teacher's Dua)

Children from many different places,
The same innocence on their faces,
The trust, the love they have is pure,
In Fitrah state with all it's allure.
 
The inclination to believe is already there,
But will only remain if handled with care.
So I speak of things they already feel,
And I just want them to see...
To see the beauty of Allah's creation,
To long for Junnah's highest station.

To see the world is full of wonder,
The tranquil sunset, the rumbling thunder.
Allah is the Giver,
Allah is the Shaper,
To love and to Praise Him,
Because He's our Maker.

To become true Muslims and develop Iman,
To know their enemy is the Shaytaan.
May Allah protect them.
May Allah protect me.
I just want them to see.