Words of Imam Hussain on Ashura..

"If the religion of Muhammed (P.B.U.H) cannot be saved, except by the sacrifice of my head, then O swords, come and take it"

Imam Hussein (as.)

His mouth dry of thirst, his brothers, sons, companions all martyred and lying on the ground beside him, he didn't look back, he didn't hesitate, he didn't think twice before fighting alone and by himself against an army of thousands to save Islam in the same form the Prophet (P.B.U.H) spread it till this day.

Sermon of Imam Hussein to the Army of Yazid

Listen to me and do not make haste to kill me so that I may tell you what I must, and apprise you of the reason of my coming to Iraq . If you accept my excuse, believe in what I say, and behave towards me fairly, you will level for yourselves the path of prosperity, and then you will have no reason to kill me. And even if you do not accept my excuse and deviate from the path of justice, you must ponder over the pros and cons of the matter before you kill me, and should not undertake such a delicate task rashly and without deliberation. My supporter is the Almighty Allah Who revealed the Qur'an. Allah guards His deserving slaves.

Am I not the son of your Prophet's daughter? Is the wasi (vicegerent) of your Prophet and his cousin and the first person, who expressed belief in Allah and confirmed what was brought by His Prophet, not my father? Is the Doyen of Martyrs, Hamza bin 'Abd al-Muttalib, not the uncle of my father? Is the martyr Jafar bin Abi Talib who has two wings and flies with Allah's angles not my uncle? Have you not heard that the Holy Prophet has said about me and my brother.. "These two sons of mine are the Chiefs of the young men of Paradise ". If you think that whatever I am saying is true so much the better. I swear by Allah that I know Allah hates the liars, and I have never told a lie. And even if you do not believe in my words and refute me, there are, still some companions of the Holy Prophet amongst you who, when asked, will apprise you of the facts. Ask Jaabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari, Abu Sa'id Khudari, Nahl bin Saadi, Zayd bin Arqam or Anas bin Malik, so that they may tell you that they have heard these words from the Holy Prophet about me and my brother. Is this tradition itself not sufficient to restrain you from killing me? If you are doubtful about this tradition can you doubt even this that I am the son of your Prophet's daughter? I swear by Allah that between East and West there is no son of the daughter of a Prophet except me either amongst you or amongst others.

You should tell honestly whether I have killed anyone from amongst you so that you may take revenge! Is it that I have appropriated your wealth and you are claiming it? Have I injured you for which you have risen to compensate? (None of them, however, came forward to give a reply to what the Imam said He was, therefore, obliged to call some of them by their names and addressed them in these words): O Shabath bin Rabie, Hajjar bin Abjar, Qays bin Ashath and Yazid bin Harith! Did you yourselves not write letters to me saying: 'The fruits have become ripe and the lands are green and fresh and the soldiers of Iraq are ready to sacrifice their lives for you and you should, therefore, proceed to Iraq as early as possible?'.

I will not swear allegiance to these people like weak and mean persons and will not flee the battlefield like slaves while fighting against the rascals. I seek refuge in Allah from the mischief of you people and of every arrogant person who does not believe in the Day of Judgement'.

A Constant Pain in the Heart...

O people of Yathrib

May you never stay therein

Al-Hussein was killed, so my tears now rain,

His body is in Karbala , covered with blood

While his head is on a spear displayed…

Verses recited by the poet Bishr b. Hadhlam outside the Mosque of the Prophet on being informed on the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (as.)

A constant pain in the heart on the tenth of Muharram. Indeed the tragedy fell on Ashura, the tenth of Muharram. A bold seventy two rose against over thirty thousand. Imam Hussein (as.) alongside relative and loyal companion laid down their lives in the way of Allah (swt). He fought to preserve the sacred message of his Grandfather Muhammad the Final Messenger (SAW.)

Within fifty years of the Prophet's death his Ummah was in a state of crisis. A Godless tyrant had taken the reins of power and the Ummayad regime's propaganda machine had rendered the minds of people paralysed. Falsehood was deformed into truth.

It was on this day that faith stood against ignorance. The Prince of the Youth of Heaven confronted the tyrannical, hegemonic and hereditary prince of the lowest of the low. This day the master of martyrs Imam Hussain (as.) exposed the dark, treacherous and most ugly face of Yazid for generations to come.

Imam Hussein rose against tyranny. He refused to give allegiance to Yazid . He sparked a revolution which destroyed the Ummayad's claimed victory and liberated people from fear and tyranny.

It took the spilt blood from the Prophet's sacred slain to wash away impurity from the soul of Islam and into it was breathed an eternal spirit of steadfastness against injustice and corruption and deviation from the path of Allah (SWT). The falling standard of Islam was raised lofty by Hussain (as) and his companions through patience and sacrifice. Truly the world was shown religion and the will of God have precedence.

Blast of the Month..

More than 100 dead in Baghdad Blasts...no month can pass in Iraq where there's no blast, no new orphans and widows and graves. Just when you think of a possibility of your country's situation getting better, just when you're attempting to start to dream of living peacefully, you're reminded that you shouldn't have such a dream. There should be a new explosion to always keep you on your toes. No Iraqi's mind should rest in peace. No Iraqi should assume that he's definitely going back home that day. Some Iraqis die and other Iraqis have to watch and wait for their turn. No Iraqi should have sweet dreams. Not in Iraq atleast.

More than 100 dead. More than 100 families will be short of one person tonight. More than 100 children will be orphans tonight. Then they'll be added to a list of orphans for people to sponsor. They'll each have a sheet with their photo, information about them and how their fathers died. Then someone faraway will look at the orphan's paper for a second and decide whether the orphan is cute enough to be sponsored. If he is, he won't sleep hungry tomorrow night, he'll wear new clothes in a month maybe, maybe he'll finally sleep on a mattress like he used to a long time ago, maybe he'll smell better if he's cute enough. But if he's not cute enough, nothing will change. And his fate will wait till the next person looks at his paper and photo. Will this next person find him cute?

Weak Chickens to Loud Music

Even though it's been two days since I heard it the rhythm is still in my head. Everytime this happens I am fascinated at the power of music and how it could stay in your head for days. It's just a few sounds, a few frequencies, in some cases a few words, a few bings and bangs and it stays in your head for days. Didn't I hear so much after those two moments? Didn't I read after that? Didn't I talk to people and have conversations? Weren't more thoughts absorbed by my brain? But it still stays in my head. It's amazing how it stays in your head and doesn't get out. It disrupts your thinking, your talking, your walking, your movement, your feelings. Gosh how powerful music is. And gosh how weak a human is. It's just two minutes of loud sounds and it takes over his/her head and brain and mind for days.

How hard or easy is it to control human thinking? Why are we suprised when we see ourselves/others becoming victims of crazy, abnormal, irrational trends? Why are we suprised when we see epidemics of a crazy thing? Why are we suprised when we see victims of wrong thoughts brainwashing their brains?

The brain- the most powerful organ can go singing for days because you heard a few frequencies. How about your other parts? Then how easy is it to control those? How many of us know this? How many of us are aware? When I do an action, am I doing it out of my own will? There is no easy way of knowing whether it is me thinking independently or if it is me being a robot to commands and instructions. A robot to follow commands and instructions.

We wonder how slaves and maids lived/live their lives following orders. We are all maids. We are all slaves. We are slaves to so many weak things. We are slaves to music. We are slaves to money. We are slaves to momental pleasures. We are slaves to fame. We are slaves to disgusting animal like desires. We are slaves to illusions.


"Greed is permenant slavery"-Imam Ali (A.S)

If I were a maid?

Yesterday I tried to have my usual half an hour (ok maybe sometimes abit longer) afternoon nap. I tried to close my eyes I couldn't. A close family friend has gone for a short vacation and has left the maid with us and since there wasn't much space in any other room and it wouldn't work out otherwise, the maid is sleeping on the mattress in my room. She was having her afternoon nap as well. I don't think she could sleep either I think I caught a glimpse of her still awake. What was going through her mind? I would think of my personal trivial problems, how many assignments I have left, what to do after I graduate, etc. What was she thinking? Was she wondering whether her small brothers and sisters had enough food for the day? Was she counting the dirhams she's saved so far and what it would bring for her parents?

I found out that she was the same age as me. She's been a maid for my family friend for over 2 years and she had worked before that in other houses too. She must have been 15 or 16 when she first had to start this job. Did she know since she was little that she would eventually have to do this? Or was she told one day that she would have to leave her country, home, family and friends to live under the orders and commands of a family she did not know? What was she thinking on the plane? Probably wondering about how the family she would go to would be. Whether the mother would slap her if she did wrong or the father would harass her when no one was around. But she has seen the poverty in her homeland and the hunger of her city's babies. She knew there was no other choice if she wanted them to still be alive in 5 years.

We're both having an afternoon nap in the same room. She might be wishing we could switch roles and that she would be in my place instead. I hear about poverty and starvation on CNN but I am sleeping in the same room as a person whose family background is in the same condition, if not worse, as those on TV. A lot of us wish we could go to Somalia to help the people we see on TV when we have a poor, weak person in our own homes.

She is the same age as me. She is the same gender. It just happened to be that Allah decided that she should be born in a country that is disadvantaged and I should be born in a country that's not. Allah decided that this family shouldn't have enough money to eat and this family should have two cars. Allah could decide to switch roles. Overnight if He wants He could turn me into a maid and she into who tells me what to do.

But either way they're both tests! Allah didn't put me in a comfortable setting because my patience and tolerance don't need to be tested. She has no choice but to be patient and she will be rewarded for her patience. I could be grateful for the blessings He has given me and be rewarded or I could very easily and absent mindedly forget that Allah has given me these blessings and be ungrateful. In that case Allah would take these blessings away.

"If the most abundant of blessings reach you, do not drive them away by your lack of gratitude", Imam Ali (A.S.)

Patriotism....

It's UAE National Day. I was listening to a local based radio station yesterday and the celebrations are really on. Good for them. It is nice to belong to somewhere. I have mixed feelings on National Day. I'm reminded of how 'homecountry-less' I am. I remember someone asked where I was from once and I said 'Iraq'. 'Have you lived there?' he asked. No. 'Oh okay but you were born there' No. 'Oh yeah but your passport is Iraqi of course' No. 'So how are you Iraqi?' Well I'm from there. My parents were born there and my ancestors lived there. But you didn't? No.

That's when I started thinking of this seriously. Do I really belong to Iraq? I know that I don't belong to anywhere else. But do I belong to Iraq. Is it true that my blood is Iraqi or was I talked into loving Iraq by my parents, family and surroundings just like I could be talked into liking anywhere. I've never felt at home in London. Its people didn't consider me to be one of them so I'm definitely not 'from' London even though I have a British passport. Nothing in my appearance shows thatI'm from London. I hadn't seen Iraq then so I knew that when I go to Iraq everyone will want me to beone of them. Iraq's people will consider me as one of them. I came to Dubai and thought Iraq will be something similar to here. I'm not frowned at because I look different or because I wear Hijab. I'm a fellow Arab and a Muslim but am I one of UAE's nationals? No. That's what I thought until I went to Iraq in 2001. This is my home country. This is the Iraq that I belong to. But do I feel this way because I'm telling myself this? Or is it really that I feel the 'homeliness' here and I can sense the presence and past of my ancestors and grandfathers. Everyone is supposed to be similar to me here. They're all Iraqis like me right? But whenever I talk everyone laughs because my accent isn't as Iraqi as theirs. I use English words sometimes and nobody understands what I mean.

The incident that made me feel that I'm an 'Iraqi from outside' was when I got into a taxi in Baghdad. 'You're from outside huh?' the taxi driver asked. 'Outside?' I didn't get what he meant. 'You're definitely not from here. I can make out' That means my appearance doesn't show I''m Iraqi either. But it doesn't show that I'm English either. And it doesn't show that I'm Emarati either. Does it have to show that I'm from a particular somewhere?

If I was born 500 years ago I would have said I am from Madina. But because I'm born now I have to say I'm from Iraq. When someone talks about home I think of Iraq but I don't know if I feel it. But are people really from where they are? God created a land on this earth that has different shapes, locations, climates and vegetation. Some people lived in Iraq and figured they felt comfortable where they are so they were called Iraqis. Some of them weren't comfortable so they went to Iran and became Iranians (just an example). Home countries are human made concepts.

But it has been proven that humans need a sense of belonging to somewhere. I think I have figured that this is true. I know I really am sad when I see Iraq being damaged day by day. I know I feel a connection when I see another Iraqi. I know that whatever my accent is it is more Iraqi then anything else. I know that I admire how Iraq has contributed and formed a base for civilisation and that I would be happy to be there with Imam Ali present closeby. I'm going to assume that all this is enough to be Iraqi.