Boonaa Mohammed fundamentally alive at TEDx

27 Comments

1. 

   Sabour Al-Kandari

   December 25, 2010 at 12:45 AM

   Wow mash’Allah, what a beast.

   Reply
2. 

   AnonyMouse

   December 25, 2010 at 5:00 AM

   THAT was straight up the awesomest thing I have EVER heard and seen. Masha’Allah!

   Reply
3. 

   nayma

   December 25, 2010 at 5:46 AM

   Beautiful!

   Reply
4. 

   Ashraf Ali

   December 25, 2010 at 7:19 AM

   Here you go :)

   Boonaa Mohammed – Fundamentally Alive

   Show me a stranger and I’ll show you a friend that you haven’t met yet.
   To say the obstacle in the way of anything
   Is usually one of the prices of success and
   People are more than numbers, to crack a smile is really no stress

   Divide my time like economics
   I love to say “Hi” and “Bye” less
   Multiply first impressions by everything, you might’ve guessed
   Prejudice takes time but my time is business and
   This just makes big dollars and sense
   Why would you hate when love just cost less

   In fact, the muscles it takes to make a frown
   Make more work than to just turn it upside down
   But you hate it when I’m polite, can’t stand when I’m sincere
   Calling me all these names wondering why I’m still just standing here
   Mainly because your ignorance leaves me to believe
   That you really need just a hug

   And I’ve been public enemy number one
   Ever since I learned to kill them with love
   I’m a psychotic serial lover
   Seriously only considering complimenting our mothers
   Because whether you like it or not
   I am your brother

   A teddy bear terrorist chilling with my well-mannered crew
   Yeah, you a racist but I’mma still hold the door open for you
   ’cause seriously dude, ain’t no need for the attitude
   and I ain’t mad at you, I have bad days too
   Here’e my cel-ly, let’s talk, I’m a great listener too
   Family driving you crazy? Man, I know how they do
   Let me know, I love kids. I could be your babysitter too!

   Yeaaah boy! ’cause i’m nice like that
   I’ll even watch your car if you promise that you’ll be right back
   So relax and be cool, ain’t no point in lying to you
   I am a servant and my master sees all that I do
   So tell me what you need dude?
   A dollar? Here, take two.
   Achoo’! May Allah bless you, guide you, and make things easy for you

   This respect thing is just what I do
   And it’s past tolerating
   It’s on the path of understanding and appreciating you
   So tell me what you gonna do when the love come for you?
   Insult my heritage? We both from Adam and Eve, fool!
   Aww snap! how you like that? You gave me extra change and I gave it right back

   I let people pass when they wanna switch lanes
   ’cause if it was me, I’d hope they do the same
   You butchered my name, but it’s a-okay
   It happens all the time, I won’t correct you anyways
   And it may sound strange, but I’mma be that change
   And prove every day, to prove that rudeness is lame

   I believe in modesty and tryin’ to lower my gaze
   And if everything is from above, then everything is the same
   I ain’t impressed by money, cars, clothes, or fame
   I am a Muslim, so the trinkets of this world don’t mean a thing

   I was taught that peace is not the absence of war
   But peace is a feeling that can only come from remembering your Lord
   So for the sake of peace, there is no point in hating me anymore
   It’s a big place, we can all live together in this world

   I invite you all to join me in this jihad of love
   And see first hand why fundamentalism still begins with fun
   And if you don’t agree, I won’t even judge
   I’ll just kill you all, with love. :)

   Reply
   • 

     Tariq Ahmed

     December 28, 2010 at 3:08 PM

     Jazak Allah khayr! Much appreciated!

     Reply
5. 

   Omar

   December 25, 2010 at 7:45 AM

   Boonaa, MashaAllah. I love what you do. May Allah grant you jannatal firodows for using the abilities Allah swt gave you the RIGHT way. I always remember the sahabi (Hassan ibn Thabit) and how he use to defend our beloved prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) through poetry. You got mad skills. Keep doing what you do, and I ask Allah subhanna wa ta’alla to bless you along your journey.

   Reply
6. 

   Yahya Ibrahim

   December 25, 2010 at 7:52 AM

   Masha Allah tabark Allah, la quwata illa billah.

   I always enjoy Boona’s verse.

   He is a good brother Masha Allah from what we hear. Jazak Allah khair for posting this.
   I missed him in Australia when he was down…I was abroad. He opens for me at the Journey of Faith Conference in Toronto and always shines Masha Allah.

   Allah grant him success in this dunya and the next.

   Yahya Ibrahim
   http://www.facebook.com/yahya.adel.ibrahim

   Reply
7. 

   Hidaya

   December 25, 2010 at 10:40 AM

   I exited without making a comment then I came back on web-site just to write how beautiful this was, MashaAllah.

   We pray that Allah swt puts Barakah in your time & talent so you keep spreading the message of <3 InshaAllah

   Reply
8. 

   Daughter of Adam (AS)

   December 25, 2010 at 2:48 PM

   I showed this to my English class last week and they absolutely loved it, especially the teacher! Boonaa is an inspiration masha’Allah subhanAllah!

   Reply
9. 

   Omar

   December 26, 2010 at 12:13 AM

   Brothers and sisters, if you liked this, then please make duaa from your heart that Allah grants him sincerity, always. It is very difficult for one to keep intention pure when he is such a breathtaking performer. The battle with the nafs is insane. May Allah help Boonaa, mashaAllah he is a great man.

   And secondly, that Allah grants him success, dunya and akhira, and benefits the Ummah through him.

   Reply
   • 

     Umar

     December 26, 2010 at 10:44 AM

     Good point.

     Reply
   • 

     Tanveer

     December 27, 2010 at 2:56 PM

     Ameen, Ameen

     Reply
   • 

     Starlight

     February 27, 2011 at 11:18 PM

     Ameen!

     Reply
10. 

    Abez

    December 27, 2010 at 1:03 AM

    MashaAllah, loved it! May Allah grant him success in this life and the next, InshaAllah. :)

    Reply
11. 

    Massoud

    December 28, 2010 at 6:21 PM

    Amazing!

    I love Boonaa Mohammed; he is indeed a great poet.

    However, when he came to my school last year, there were some issues in one of his poems that I found to be totally un-Islamic. He was talking about the challenges of being black in his days, and in one of his verses he said:

    ” . . . that I couldn’t even get a date except for Black History Month . . .”

    Now, I find that to be wrong.

    Reply
    • 

      Jeremiah

      December 28, 2010 at 7:44 PM

      Br. Massoud, I think that probably was just a play on words or at least we can use that as one of his excuses. He could have been talking about dates (the fruit) :-)

      Reply
    • 

      Qas

      December 28, 2010 at 11:50 PM

      He coupled date with a month. I think he might be talking about time.

      Reply
    • 

      abu abdAllah Tariq Ahmed

      December 30, 2010 at 5:14 PM

      Massoud, I have deleted your follow-up comment intentionally.

      If you intend good, then cover the mistakes of your brother and do not publicize them. Offer him naseeha directly and privately, and if you are not capable of giving him naseeha then at least hold your tongue. And fear Allah, Who covers the deeds of so many people, including you and me, that they might repent and reform.

      Reply
    • 

      Umar

      December 31, 2010 at 8:49 PM

      People change. He has changed. You’d notice his style and content has changed over the years.

      Step by step improvement.

      Reply
    • 

      Abû Mûsâ Al-Ḥabashî

      January 1, 2011 at 10:08 AM

      That was one of his old poems. It’s pretty well-known that he changed a lot from how he used to be ma shâ Allâh.

      Reply
12. 

    Your Brother

    December 29, 2010 at 2:38 PM

    Brother Boonaa, may Allah SWT keep you steadfast and increase you in your Love.

    Ameen.

    Keep doing what you are doing Brother!

    JazaakAllah Khayr!

    Reply
13. 

    Umm Salam

    December 30, 2010 at 1:20 PM

    fundamentalism still begins with fun…. hehe!!! Iaugh out loud!

    Reply
14. 

    Massoud

    January 1, 2011 at 1:09 AM

    Brother Tariq Ahmed,

    First of all, my intention was not to shame brother Boonaa, rather it was to advise him and the ones who listen to him that this mstake should be taken seriously . . . It is not allowed to take such matters as jokes, especially in a public gathering . . .

    And I believe that you have become confused in this (that I have harmed the brother even though that I have advised him), but Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali cleared this matter up when he said:

    “In advising and shaming, both share the qualities of being disliked. This is because there is a mention of flaws and mistakes of a person. So now, both of these statements can be confused to be one another.”

    If you still argue that I have shamed or backbitten the brother-and I seek refuge of Allah from that-then I would argue that this is an exception which is permissable, as a scholar clarified this in his lines of poetry:

    الذم ليس بغيبة في ستة . . . متظلم ومُعرِّف ومحذر
    ولمظهر فسقا ومستفت ومَنْ . . . طلب الإعانة في إزالة منكر

    Criticizing is not Gheebah in six (cases) – complaining, identifying, warning,

    When the person is committing evil openly, when advice is sought, and when one is asking for help in removing an evil.

    And Sheikh Ali Al-Halabi said:

    It is Haram in principle, but if what results from it is a benefit, then it becomes recommended.

    And it should be noted that it is forbidden to joke about such matters, as it shows a lack of responsibility and deserves to be admonished.

    أَبِو هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه ‏‏قَالَ ‏: ‏قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏: ‏ ثَلاثٌ جِدُّهُنَّ جِدٌّ وَهَزْلُهُنَّ جِدٌّ : النِّكَاحُ ، وَالطَّلاقُ ، وَالرَّجْعَةُ

    It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “There are three matters in which seriousness is serious and joking is serious: marriage, divorce and taking back (one’s wife).

    [Jami’ At-Tirmidhi (Darussalam Publishers, 2007), vol. 2, p. 554, Hadith # 1184. Abu Eisa (At-Tirmidhi) said: “This Hadith is Hasan Gharib.” Classed as Hasan by Hafiz Abu Tahir Zubair Ali Za’i; Sunan Ibn Majah (Darussalam Publishers, 2007), vol. 3, p. 167, Hadith #2039. Classed as Hasan by Hafiz Abu Tahir Zubair Ali Za’i; Sunan Abu Dawud (Darussalam Publishers, 2008), vol. 3, p. 29, Hadith #2194. Classed as Hasan by Hafiz Abu Tahir Zubair Ali Za’i.]

    And Allah knows best.

    Reply
    • 

      Tariq Ahmed

      January 1, 2011 at 3:03 AM

      Allah Knows best your intentions, akhee. May Allah put good in what you have written.

      Reply
    • 

      BintKhalil

      January 3, 2011 at 3:28 PM

      Assalamu alaikum

      Subhanallah, please don’t further the stereotype about practicing Muslims losing their capacity for abstract thought. He coupled the word date with Black History Month – I read it as African Americans not being remembered at any other time besides that single month. If you want to look for sins, you can find it anywhere, even when it’s not there.

      Reply
      • 

        Tariq Ahmed

        January 3, 2011 at 3:36 PM

        Jazak Allah khayr for that, sister. A very good post.

        Reply
15. 

    Massoud

    January 3, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    As mentioned before, Allah knows best.

    But the reaction of the audience proved otherwise, and therefore, a clarification was absolutely necessary if the case was as you described.

    Reply