HIS PEACE UPON US

Fatima Abdullah, a 17 year old Muslim woman, wrote the following poem about the state of Muslims today. I was struck (as I often am) by how many of our concerns about the temptations of worldliness are shared by our Muslim neighbors.

What is happening to Muslims today?
Why are we imitating the western way?
Are we forgetting a crucial part of Islam,
Following the Prophet (alayhi  salaatu wassalaam)?

Although entertainment may bring about pleasure,
The Quran and Sunnah is what we should treasure.
What we commit to memory instead of ayaat and ahadith,
Are lyrics of songs that only weaken our belief.

When asked about Sahabah who struggled for this deen,
The response will be a shrug from many of the teens.
Biographies of singers and athletes fill their minds,
While daily adhkaar are sadly left behind.

Instead of preparing for our inevitable end,
We find ourselves spending endless hours with our friends.
Gossiping about celebrities and fellow kids at school,
Only so that we can be among the ‘cool’.

We find ourselves submitting to fashion and fame,
Instead of praising Allah with His glorious names.
Is it just me, or is the hijaab getting smaller?
Diets to get slimmer and high heels to look taller?

This ummah is in danger, and something must be done,
But first we must remember that as an ummah, we are one.
Like a single body undergoing trials and tests,
When one part feels the pain, it is felt throughout the rest.

Let’s go back in time to the seventh century,
And take examples from a people full of faith and purity.
The first Muslim generation knew divided they would fall,
So they stood together, may Allah be pleased with them all.

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was the Prophet’s closest friend,
Supportive of his mission till the very end.

Umar bin Khattab was a companion strong and fierce,
But due to taqwa of Allah, he could not hold back his tears.

And Uthmaan bin Affaan would always give more than take,
So he was known to spend  in masses, solely for  Allah’s sake.

And there’s another who submitted when he was just a lad,
Unshakable faith was what Ali bin Abi Taalib had.

And let’s not forget Musab bin Umayr, Abu Dharr al Ghifari,
Abdullah bin Masood, Bilal and Abu Ayyub al Ansari.

Enemies of islam did what they could to stop the call,
But the Sahabah stood together like a firmly fixed brick wall.
The same can be said for Islam in modern days,
Being attacked from many angles, and in many different ways.

The media tries its best to make this way of life distorted,
Pointing fingers at those who try hard to support it.
So let us all unite and show the whole world that we’re bold,
And spread Islam and its teachings to people young and old.

I found this poemat Muslim Matters. J. Hashmi left an interesting comment on the original post. He said:

We need to be cautious not to be stuck in the same level of discourse as those who are referred to as “Mullahs” in Pakistan, who think that ALL our Ummah‘s woes and problems are due to shortened hijabs and absent beards. The argument is that if we just wear proper hijabs and have lengthy beards etc etc., then all our problems will magically disappear and everything will become rosy and perfect. And you will find that these same “Mullahs”–who are supposed to be those who call people TO the religion–are the ones who have caused an entire generation of Pakistanis to flee FROM the religion.

Often Christians also like to paint our problems as primarily coming from outside of us, rather than from within.

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