Islamic Art
Boonaa Mohammed fundamentally alive at TEDx
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Sabour Al-Kandari
December 25, 2010 at 12:45 AM
Wow mash’Allah, what a beast.
AnonyMouse
December 25, 2010 at 5:00 AM
THAT was straight up the awesomest thing I have EVER heard and seen. Masha’Allah!
nayma
December 25, 2010 at 5:46 AM
Beautiful!
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. :)
Tariq Ahmed
December 28, 2010 at 3:08 PM
Jazak Allah khayr! Much appreciated!
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.
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
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
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!
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.
Umar
December 26, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Good point.
Tanveer
December 27, 2010 at 2:56 PM
Ameen, Ameen
Starlight
February 27, 2011 at 11:18 PM
Ameen!
Abez
December 27, 2010 at 1:03 AM
MashaAllah, loved it! May Allah grant him success in this life and the next, InshaAllah. :)
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.
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) :-)
Qas
December 28, 2010 at 11:50 PM
He coupled date with a month. I think he might be talking about time.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Umm Salam
December 30, 2010 at 1:20 PM
fundamentalism still begins with fun…. hehe!!! Iaugh out loud!
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.â€
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 ÙÙŠ ستة . . . متظلم ومÙعرّÙ٠ومØذر
ولمظهر Ùسقا ومستÙت ومَنْ . . . طلب الإعانة ÙÙŠ 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.
أَبÙÙˆ Ù‡Ùرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه â€â€Ù‚َالَ â€: â€Ù‚َالَ رَسÙول٠اللَّه٠â€ØµÙŽÙ„Ù‘ÙŽÙ‰ اللَّه٠عَلَيْه٠وَسَلَّمَ â€: †ثَلاثٌ جÙدّÙÙ‡Ùنَّ جÙدٌّ وَهَزْلÙÙ‡Ùنَّ جÙدٌّ : النّÙكَاØÙ ØŒ وَالطَّلاق٠، وَالرَّجْعَةÙ
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.
Tariq Ahmed
January 1, 2011 at 3:03 AM
Allah Knows best your intentions, akhee. May Allah put good in what you have written.
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.
Tariq Ahmed
January 3, 2011 at 3:36 PM
Jazak Allah khayr for that, sister. A very good post.
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.