a friend

whether we leave
or we stay
if we're here or away
when joy brings you madness
and sorrow brings you sanity
when the day's moments are no longer shared
and the night's pain no longer felt
and we've forgotten one another
remember this
i've carved in me a place
for your life
a home
for my friend

be mindful

be mindful of the images shared on social media. be mindful of whose hearts might sink deeper into their chests because of the things we post. be mindful of the information we are sharing and whether or not it is true. be mindful of the fact that some videos or images may be better left unshared out of respect, love, and dignity for the people involved. out of respect for communities we may not be a part of. be mindful that we are not perpetuating pain. perpetuating stereotypes. perpetuating falsehood. find ways to convey information that don't contribute to dehumanization. be mindful of our humanity.

body

Your mind has rights over you, nourish it.
Your body has rights over you, be gentle with it.
Your heart has rights over you, protect it.

Your soul has rights over you - it's inclination is towards Good. Give it Purpose.

#bismillah

When you go back 

Don't count the fingers you

Lost getting here 

Or the limbs your neighbours lost 

Don't let the memories you caged 

Come out to play don't 

Unfold the crumpled pages

of your passport  don't

Poke your stomach and sigh

Wistfully where it crosses the 

Borders your aunties set for desirability 

Don't carry any lovers in your chest 

Don't 

Don't go back, you can't go back 

Not all of you anyway

-We miss time (not places)/ we miss people (not places)

Sometimes we patch up our wounds
and so the only place we can bleed
Is from our mouths with our words
But what we forget is that with the blood
Comes fragments of the razors we were cut with

-Toxic

Dear Muslim Women

Dear Muslim women:

can we love & accept each other without tearing each other apart? Is it possible to appreciate women for being hijabi fashionistas, or wearing hella thick eyeliner without judging the content of their character? Without questioning their devotion to modesty or God? When we make these underhanded remarks under the guise of reminders I wonder how much benefit comes from it. Sometimes "reminders" can be more harmful. I have always found that reminders that are rooted in shaming people have never been productive. There are millions of muslim women on this planet and to expect that they they will all interpret and act upon things in the same manner as you is a disservice to this faith. Understanding religion differently than someone else does not make you wrong, it does not weaken your faith, it does not take away your commitment to this community or God. So can we allow for women to express themselves while we hold them gently and cheer for them along the way? Is this possible?

To my beloved Muslims

Hi Muslims,

Make sure you're properly hydrated and eating well. Try to make time to pray regularly. And make Dua for everyone. If you, by Gods grace, wake up tomorrow say alhamdulilah. If you're feeling a little scared walking outside recite ayat ul Kursi iA its a source of protection. The weather is supposed to be a little chilly in the next few days so dress warmly. If you can, call/msg/text those who you have wronged or have wronged you and try to mend relations - it will make you feel better. Take a few minutes tomorrow and completely unplug from social media and just sit by yourself, you might gain some new perspective.

Our prophet pbuh said that our community is like one body and if one part of the body is in pain, then the whole body is affected. So what I'm saying is that I care about your well being because it is intrinsically linked to my own. Please take care of yourself and each other.

Ok goodnight. Salaams

If I could tell you all the words I really want to say. 
    
       Spell out all the feelings and emotions, rising, brimming, spilling.

If I could tell you all the words I really want to say instead of the vile poisonous jibberish that topples out,


                                                          If I could 'remove message' every meanly modulated word that came out of my mouth like I can on Skype, 

    If there were a drop-down language option to transliterate emotion to word.  From mind to pen. 

Put pen to paper.

If I could know that you really heard me the same way you R'd a bbm message, 

If I could courier you my thoughts running free and wild in my mind, have you sign off when you receive it.  

Three  Ten business days later.

If I could source code all the anger.

Show you the bits that matter.

I would.     Without question. 

Without pause.

Without wax.

do not call on my strength.

do not reflect the steely hardness in my eyes.

do not reward the roughness of my hold as we chafe against each other.

do not drink in the firmness of my inflection.

do not lap up the bitter taste of my words.

do not sing praise to my withering stare.

do not applaud my clenched fists.

instead,

instead.

appeal to my softness,

draw out the saltine tears that refuse to well up,

run your hands along my skin; go on, 

discover the dimples of my flesh,

hear the tremble in my modulation,

taste the vulnerability on my lips,

open my palms and sand down the calluses,

to be hard is effortless.

it takes everything, 

everything.

to remain soft,

let me be soft.

-I cry when I'm angry

How often we forget
That all the evil he has
Created is within us
When we ask him
To protect us from
All the evil he has created

Isn't it strange that
People can leave and
Live inside us simultaneously