Poems

~ Side by Side ~

They lie on the table side by side
The Holy Quran and the T.V. Guide.
One is well worn and cherished with pride.
Not the Quran, but the T.V. Guide.

One is used daily to help folks decide.
No, not the Quran, but the T.V. Guide.

As the pages are turned, what shall they see.
Oh, what does it matter, turn on the T.V.
So they open the book in which they confide.
No, not the Quran, but the T.V. Guide.

The Word of Allah is seldom read.
Maybe a verse before they fall into bed.
Exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be.
Not from reading the Quran, from watching T.V.

So then back to the table side by side,
Lie the Holy Quran and the T.V. Guide.
No time for prayer, no time for the Word,
The plan of Istiqama is seldom heard.
But forgiveness of sin, so full and free,
Is found in the Quran, not in the T.V.
-Author unknown.

~ The Scarf ~

They stand there with shorts, so short, excessively short,
shorts that so deceptively capture from them all they know
of modesty...
...and I proudly pull my scarf over my hair
They stand there, face lost in a sea of make-up,
make-up that so ruthlessly captures from them all they know
of freedom...
...and I proudly pull my scarf over my hair
Tey stand there, hair raining with gels, colors -
chemicals that so menacingly capture from them all they know
of purity...
...and I proudly pull my scarf over my hair
They stand there, so close, so very close to their "lover",
devoted to them, the devotion that so mercilessly captures
from them all they know of individuality...
...and I proudly pull my scarf over my hair
And they stand there, talking of getting new shorts, new gels
and colors, new boyfriends, materialistic things
that so wrongfully capture from them all they know
of God and love...
...and I proudly pull my scarf over my hair
For my scarf is my protector, my lover, my devotion,
my pureness, my beauty, my rememberance of God,
And I proudly pull it over my hair knowing that when I wear it,
I so rightfully thrust away all the things that the devil brought about,
And when I put it on i'm
Free...

By: Nura Alia Hossainzadeh

ONE AND THE SAME

Once, in a High School Classroom, I saw a Muslim name

On closer observation the faces looked all the same.

There was no distinction of one from the other,

Lost in the melting pot was the Muslim sister/brother;

Neither posture nor attire could give out any clue,

Christ , Moses or Muhammad , whose follower are you?

Is ‘America the Beautiful” becoming a cultural wasteland?

Why people flock to its shore, it’s hard to understand.

Where all the sacred institutions, church, family and the school,

Have succumbed to the youth, simply ‘freedom’ is the rule;

Why produce and raise children, why go through all the pain?

Ask any parent here what is the ratio of loss and gain?

All deeds of the seed of Adam
are for him but one
Oh Lord of this blessed month
we praise you for Ramadhan
and for the kitab You revealed therein
to guide us to the light
Ya Rabb, give us the imaan
to stand in prayer that mighty night
let our siyam benefit us more
than mere hunger and unquenched thirst
and by Your Grace, the ayaat of Qur'an
each day we shall rehearse
may we be restrained from the evil deeds
and from evil in what we say
may we know and understand
and implement the Prophet's way
what joy was there when believers saw
the hilal, the crescent moon
may we all emerge from this month, insha'Allah muttaqun