Fiction

Insightful Poem on The State of Muslims Today

Published

July 31, 2009

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Bismillah

The poem below has been penned by a Muslim sister, 17-year-old Fatma Abdullah. We thought it reflected depth of thought and a keen observation of the state of Muslims today. (Tramadol)

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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.

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28 Comments

karen walker

July 31, 2009 at 10:58 AM

A lovely poem but I feel that muslims are the ones trying to change everybody else! Wherever there is fighting or wars at present it always appears to be muslims who are the root of the problems? Am I wrong?

Reply
- Omar
  
  July 31, 2009 at 4:57 PM
  
  Hi Karen,
  
  You should appreciate that almost all the information you get is through the mass media, which chooses what to emphasize and what to downplay or ignore. So I would say yes you are wrong.
  
  When bloody conflicts arise that don’t involve Muslims, they are presented as political problems (e.g. tamil tigers, south american drug wars, congo, burma), but religion is emphasized when Muslims are involved. When Muslims commit crimes, gory detail is reported. When far more Muslims are victims, general figures are reported, and often justified as inevitable collateral damage for “freedom”.
  
  But at the end of the day, Islam is about far more than transient geopolitics that will be forgotten tomorrow. It is about our pure monotheism, dedication to God, and true inner peace. Read the Quran sister.
  
  peace
  
  Reply
  - karen walker
    
    August 2, 2009 at 8:01 AM
    
    Hi Omar – thanks for replying – I do undestand what you are saying but find religion very difficult, especially where people use it to justify the hurting of others ( I am certainly not just speaking about Islam here, as all religions have carried out atrocities in the name of religion. I just wish people could find some middle ground. As nobody has ever been able to actually prove there are any gods I choose the path of Humanitarianism, which seeks to ease the pain and suffering of his fellow human beings and not rely on something we cannot see.
    I think the media does portray issues in the way that they want to but as I wanted to air this as like I said in my original blog I just could not understand what muslim people were fighting for.
    Like many others who would like to read the Quran I have been put off by people and scholars saying that different cultures interpratate it in different ways, and again, usually for their own gain or beliefs. However to get a true picture I will read it!
    Kind regards
    
    Reply
- Faiez
  
  August 12, 2009 at 12:08 AM
  
  Yes you are wrong.
  
  Reply
Suhail

July 31, 2009 at 11:06 AM

Very nice poem.

Karen walker i see American politicians everywhere there is a mess.
Don’t you think they are the ones who are trying to change everybody else.

And by the way you should learn your history better. Did muslim occupied Palestine or were they living there? Did muslims occupied Afghanistan? Did muslims occupied Iraq? Did muslim encourage Ethopia to invade Somalia? Did muslims invade Bosnia and Kosovo?

Reply
karen walker

July 31, 2009 at 11:12 AM

Hi Suhail

Reply
karen walker

July 31, 2009 at 11:21 AM

Hi Suhail – I have to admit I dont know plenty about Islam and Koran etc, however what I do know is that I like a lot of what it advises, however I still cant help feeling that many muslim people seem to battling for something but I do not know what. I have purposely come onto twitter to try and understand things more. You are right I should check up on the history but like most people I only see what I see and hear today. I have recently been reading that there has been fighing with with muslim people in Thailand and Russia and like you have said the same was to be said in Yugoslavia. Like I indicated above I just dont undertand what they are always fighting for and here in England when this question has been posed to many asian people they just say that muslims fight for an Islamic world?

Reply
- Ibn Masood
  
  July 31, 2009 at 10:04 PM
  
  Muslims who fight nowadays, are fighting for the freedom to practice their religion without being oppressed or being forced to choose between their religion and another ideology that runs contrary to the religion of Islam.
  
  Most people around the world when they see Muslims and the faith of Islam becoming strong, they fear for their own sovereignty and power and they fear their values will be erased. However this is not what the Muslims intend, they only intend to practice their religion and let others have the chance to learn it too, then make up their mind about whether they wish to become Muslim or not. But this is why people and governments usually turn to strong Muslim communities with opposition and try to defame them through the media, hoping perhaps to reverse the growth of Islam.
  
  And the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth knows best.
  
  I hope that answers your question.
  
  Reply
  - karen walker
    
    August 2, 2009 at 8:31 AM
    
    Hi Ibn Masood
    
    Although I choose not to be religious I do think you are right on many of your points. People should be able to choose and believe in what they want to believe in; who is to say Who is right or who is wrong?. I can also see and understand the challenges that the faith has where muslim people are being raised in western societiess and the need for morals and values of the Quran to be upheld.
    
    What many people forget is that a lot of the morals and values that come out of the Quran are morals and values that have been practiced by many societies and cultures, it is just in some socieites they have ‘gone to the wall’. I for one believe it is good that muslims feel so strongly about their faith; it does however make me want to ask is why so many others religions have lost theirs? what has changed? When one does not believe in anything it is easy for them to critise someone elses!
    I feel that the hardest thing for any of us is to told the way we live our lives is wrong, however like I said above who is right and who is wrong? I feel that if somehow different societies and cultures could reach a Humanatarism approach (as well as practising their own religion) and find some middle ground then the world would be a much better place.
    
    Kind regards
    
    Reply
- Sarah
  
  August 1, 2009 at 11:54 AM
  
  Hi Karen,
  
  I would also like to add that a lot of times, Muslims, similar to how the poem describes, due to lack of knowledge of their religion etc, do not implement Islam the way it should be implemented. We cannot generalize, there are some of us who do this, while there are many others who are struggling to protect their families from violence and oppression, while others who are lost in the material wealth and pleasures of this world. I just want to point out that the teachings of Islam cannot be understood through what we see in the media or what people may do in the name of religion.
  
  I would like to emphasize that Islam should be understood through the Quran and the authentic teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who was sent to show us how to act upon Islam. The best three generations of Islam, those that were with the prophet (peace be upon him) and those that came after and those that came after, are people that we can look up to and whose lives we can also study to understand how to implement Islam.
  
  If you are interested in learning about Islam’s true teachings, there are many opportunities online and organizations that you can receive information from. Just be careful where you go and that obviously we can’t trust everything that we read on the internet. Here are some useful links if you would like to learn more:
  
  http://www.whyislam.org/
  http://www.thedeenshow.com/
  http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/
  
  May Allah guide us to the truth and to that which pleases Him. Take care.
  
  Reply
  - karen walker
    
    August 2, 2009 at 8:43 AM
    
    Sarah – thankyou for your reply. Rather than keep saying the same things please have a look at the replys I have posted to Omar and Ibn Masood.
    
    Kind regards
    
    Reply
'Uthmaan

July 31, 2009 at 11:24 AM

May Allah reward this sister. Let us read this poem, yes, but do not just turn the page after that. We need to seriously act upon the points this sister has raised. We need to bring about some positive change and we can only do that when we come together Insha’Allah.

Reply
'Uthmaan

July 31, 2009 at 11:34 AM

In fact, what I just said isn’t strictly true. We do not necessarily even need to come together to bring about change. We must all do whatever we can on an individual level to correct our wrong ways and return to the right path. Insha’Allah.

Reply
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Ibn Masood

July 31, 2009 at 10:05 PM

Btw mashAllah great poem

Reply
Ibn Muhammad

August 1, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Salam alaykum

Mashallah beautiful poem,may Allah bless that sister. People, one the reasons the muslim now a days are not united is because of argumentation, so people take some action or stay quiet.

Reply
Faruq Ibn Khaldun

August 1, 2009 at 10:52 AM

Masha’Allah – may Allah reward this sister greatly for succinctly conveying the issues facing our Ummah in the modern day.

May Allah facilitate for us success in addressing these issues according to the just, moderate approach exemplified best by our beloved Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu 3alayhi wa sallam.

Reply
Pingback: A poem by a 17 year old sister! « My Struggle Within
MM Associates

August 4, 2009 at 7:37 AM

As-Salam Alaykum.

Although the poem does raise some important points, I think it is also missing much. I think we need to be extra cautious of simply falling into the same mentality that permeated our Sunday school experience back in the days before the arrival of the new breed of dawah-carriers (such as Hamza Yusuf, Yasir Qadhi, etc).

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.

We’ve reduced Islam to this legalistic religion, a Pharisee Islam, with absolutely no emphasis on justice, tolerance, love and mercy. Most importantly, we must stand up against injustice consistently, and we must speak the truth even if it be against our own selves. Why is it, for example, that Muslims only started to care about torture recently, even though Muslim countries had a long history of torture? We need to ask ourselves these tough questions, and rise to the challenge.

No, we can’t reduce all our problems to hijabs and beards. I think we also need to dump the desire to blame every evil on the West, since that stunts our ability to progress and improve ourselves. We need to engage in some healthy self-criticism. That doesn’t mean we fall into the Irshad Manji self-hating mode. There is a difference between healthy self-criticism and self-hating.

Anyways, I apologize if this came off as too harsh against the poem. Like I said, it does raise some good points. I just don’t think it summarizes our problems.

-J.Hashmi

Reply
- Suhail
  
  August 5, 2009 at 12:02 PM
  
  I don’t understand your arguments against Ulema of Pakistan. The condescending tone that you use against the muslims of Pakistan is amazing. None of the Ulema in Pakistan say that all the problems is with Hijab and Beard. You are just putting words in there mouth and making a mountain out of a mole. If they admonish people for keeping Hijab and Beard than that is from the Quran where Allah says that call people to good and stop them from evil.
  
  Isn’t Hijab important, isn’t beard important? Is admonishing people for hijab and beard important as it is part of Shariah. Why do you think it is not important? Remember when the Dua of Musa(AS) was not answered and Musa(AS) asked Allah why the dua was not answered. Allah said to Musa(AS) that a man in your community is commiting a big sin.
  
  There are many problems with Ummah and Hijab/Beard is one of them. All the problems cannot be solved just by keeping beard and hijab but it does not mean that you can ignore them. There is a reason why Allah has asked us to wear hijab and Prophet(SAW) commanded us to keep beard. Hijab is vanishing from the Ummah each day and thus it is important to constantly remind people of this fard.
  
  Regarding blaming everything on west well who is blaming everything on west. We are blaming them for what they have done. Regarding torture issue it came to light only after the they arrested so many brothers and sisters. Who said that muslims only cared about torture recently. It may be correct for muslims in west but the muslims in muslim country know full well the torture that go in the prisons there and still they have no power to do anything about it.
  
  Reply
- Suhail
  
  August 5, 2009 at 12:08 PM
  
  I also think you do not read many forums where muslims participate. I think people hate Saudi, Algeria, Egypt, and other countries rulers more than the west. There is so much criticism of muslim countries by muslims themselves that we need to tone is a bit down.
  
  Not just that Muslim doctors, scientists and engineers are leaving the muslim countries to settle in west. That is enough criticism of muslim countries. I mean muslims who migrated to west should stop criticising muslim countries because they came to the west looking for better oppoutunities while leaving there respective countries to rot.
  
  Reply
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mystrugglewithin

August 8, 2009 at 12:56 AM

Asalamalaikum,

Is there a way that I can contact this sister? Someone stumbled upon my blog’s entry for the same poem, and left a message for her.. I am at a loss about how to forward it.

Thanks.

Reply
Abdallah

August 8, 2009 at 11:09 AM

Wow!

That is a wise poem from a 17 years old sister!

Look at the words she choosed. Amazing…!!!

Reply
gopi thomas

August 12, 2009 at 4:13 PM

Obviously the poem from a “poem quality” ,especially written by a 16yr old is good.

At the same time it is frightening too.. When she talks about enemies of islam, non believers etc.

It is high time Muslims move away from paranoia – there is no state or govt against ISlam, People all over the world (may be except Muslims) have their lives to focus on, their own challenges, their childrens futuree tc vs any blind commitment to a religion.. If ISlam thinks people are ganging against their religion, same can be then told about other religiosn also.. In fact, other than ISlam, nobody is fanatical about their religion. Christians dont go to churches, Hindus dont go to temples, jews dont go to temples as a must. They all pick and choose –there are no 5 day/week madrasas, compulsory five times prayers etc…nothing wrong either way.

Muslims have to stop living for a religion. Nothing wrong in being religious. Live a religious life; but dont live for religion.

Muslims, wherever tehya er, have created havoc – PAkistan, Saudi arabia, Egypt, Somalia, yeme, Sudan, nigeria..the lsit goes on..

It si time that they stop violence, eb introspective, and learn to adapt in a community of nation sattes. Which emans they ahve toe xamine the concept of Umma, citizenship, education, etc various things that have frozen them in an AD 600 year mentality.

Reply
- Hafiz KK
  
  November 23, 2009 at 7:33 AM
  
  Assalam Alikum Wa Rahmat Allah Iwa Barakatuhu Friends..
  
  First off all amazing piece of poetry. Secondly i read through the whole page and saw the conflicting feelings going on btwn different sorts of people here. Well there is soo much to say but soo less time and space… Ill try to say what i have in mind in the shortest way possible.
  
  Thomas, u think islamic education is backward, but in fact this “revealed” knowledge is essential for the advantageous usage of the “acquired” knowledge.. On top of that many new scientific discoveries are being made which were found to be foretold in the QURAN 1400 years ago.. One example is the existence of BLACK HOLES (Surah An-Najm, forgot the verse numbers).. Another one is the river in Cape town in South Africa.. These rivers flow together and they DONT MIX and there nature came to know in the starting of 20th century where as ALLAH (SWT) mentioned the nature of these two rivers in Holy Quran around 1400 years Back in Surah Ar Rahman (Verses 19-20)..
  
  I know all this because i get islamic education where i live.. Many muslims in the world only know about Prayers and Fasting and Hajj (Pilgrimage) and only the basic pillars but in fact there is soo much in our Deen that if one dedicates his life to research on the Deen, then he will probably not even come close to understanding everything..
  
  People realize the miracles of the Quran day by day, and then convert to Islam, and live a happier life.. I know some converted people myself who say that the world looks soo different.. More miracles are showing themselves slowly, and more and more non believers realise what a wrong path they were following the whole time.. ALLAH is the Most Benificent, the Most Merciful, and he will INSHALLAH accept thier conversion..
  
  P.S.: Islam has the highest conversion rate from all religions, maybe thats why everyone else is workin so hard to bring down muslims, and mind it, ITS NOT FORCEFUL CONVERSION ;)..
  Thats my two cents..
  
  Assalam Alikum Wa Rahmat Allah Iwa Barakatuhu
  
  Reply
Khadijah C.

April 30, 2010 at 2:15 AM

Masha’Allah!!! Great reflective insight! =)

Reply
tanya

August 12, 2010 at 4:28 PM

Salaam,

Lovely poem masha’A.

Insha’Allah this response is directed to the writer of the poem and to any brother/sisters who love to write.

Insha’Allah I am currently seeking Muslim writing talent and am accepting submissions.
Please forgive me if this isn’t the place, but if someone could direct me towards accomplishing my goal I would appreciate it.

Thank you!

Reply