A Fils for Your Thoughts

This is a poem I wrote a couple of years ago to celebrate Eid Al-Ghadeer, which marks the occasion when Prophet Mohammed (peace be on him and his family) gathered all the Muslims who performed the pilgrimage with him in a place called Ghadeer Khum, and appointed Imam Ali (peace be on him) as his successor.

The occasion isn’t disputed by the various Muslim sects, but its significance and meaning is interpreted differently. The Shi’a, on one hand, believe it to be the appointement of Imam Ali as the successor to the Prophet, whereas Sunni Muslims generally regard it as an assertion of companionship.

Today is the anniversary of the occasion, so I thought I would share it on the blog 🙂

Celebrating Ghadeer

I begin in my Lord’s name
And without feeling guilt or shame
Raise my voice in His praise,
In remembrance of His days.

Best of all the days held dear
Is the blessed day of Ghadeer
And read this poem to celebrate
This joyous event and momentous date!

No other day is more renowned,
Ali was in the heavens crowned
Chosen by God to succeed
The holy Prophet, and to lead.

It’s a day when believers rejoice
God’s wisdom and His noble choice
To appoint a righteous, just Imam
For the sake of the Muslims and Islam.

When the Prophet, in the scorching heat
Waited for all Muslims to meet
In Ghadeer that it be shown
Who will succeed him, and be known:

“Whosoever takes me as his master,
Without Ali will face disaster.
God’s religion is now complete
And His favour will be your treat.”

The hypocrites were quick in their frowning
At Ali’s illustrious crowning
“Why this delay? Why all this fuss?
Isn’t Ali just one of us?”

I ask in return where have they been?
Do they know Ali, have they not seen?
He was the foremost in faith and deeds
Tending to all the Prophet’s needs.

He understood Islam as it should be
From sin and vice he was free
Without him Islam’s message is lost
Our prosperity will be the cost.

With these words I mark my stand,
And place my hand in Ali’s hand.

There is nothing that I would hate more than for my poem on the Prophet’s birth to be read as an empty propaganda piece. One of the things I strongly criticise about Muslims is how they’ve built up a devotion to the Prophet without really knowing what the Prophet is like, or what he represents to them in terms of his character. They were simply fed, from their childhood to the mosques they attend as adults, how great the Prophet is, but without elaborating on what kind of a man he was.

They praise him for being the chosen one, for being a mercy to mankind, for taking the Arabs out of ignorance, for being a man of peace, for being the final messenger, and so on and so on, without being clear about what this praise really means. Usama Bin Laden can begin a letter with the words: “In the name of God the Most Compassionate, the Ever Merciful,” then go on to order the killing of all Westerners in Islamic lands. What does God’s mercy mean, if He approves of, and even sanctions, the killing of Westerners, even if they are civilians?

I, therefore, would like to put the poem I’ve written in perspective, and to explain what I mean by it, and how I justify every verse in it. (more…)