2017
Issue 14
The UIC MSA Publication
By any means necessary.
February
Al-Bayyan
from right to left: saba Ali nida fayyaz shapla shaheen farooq chaudhry aarish shahab sara alattar abdul basith basheer
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Introduction Letter from Mecca April, 1964
Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this Ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors. I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca. I have made my seven circuits around the Ka’ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad. I drank water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of Mt. AlSafa and Al-Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat. There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white. America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered ‘white’--but the ‘white’ attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color. You may be shocked by these words
coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth. During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug)--while praying to the same God--with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the actions in the deeds of the ‘white’ Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana. We were truly all the same (brothers)-because their belief in one God had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behavior, and the white from their attitude. I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man--and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their ‘differences’ in color. With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called ‘Christian’
white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster--the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves. Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities--he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth--the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to. Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a ‘white’ man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. ... Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors--honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King--not a Negro. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds. Sincerely, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
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X We shall overcome; By any means necessary. I am who I am because somebody loved me; I think what motivates us is not great hate, But great love for other people; See, I don’t personally trust any revolution Where love is not allowed; I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot Accept; We gon’ be alright; We have nothing to lose, But our chains; If you dare to struggle, you dare to Win; We are the change That we seek; For, the best of you are those who Are most excellent in Character. So, Love for humanity what you Love for Yourself. By: Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Cornel West, Huey Newton, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis, Kendrick Lamar, Assata Shakur, Fred Hampton, Barack Obama, the Beloved Prophet Muhammad, may God’s perfect peace be upon him. Compiled by Farooq Chaudhry
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Take A Stand
The Muslim Ban
By any means necessary, I will persuade you, try to dissuade you
So much on my mind Exams, homework, applications, but unable to focus Mind circling, frustration Fatigue settling in
from thinking that you’re the only one who’s scared, because my friend, that’s a feeling nationally shared immigration limited freedom inhibited racism running free, and the overall diminishing of our liberty maybe they should have called it the American daydream, because it seems too good to be true, too good to redeem suddenly, we know only one fact about tomorrow, with each ban and each comment, it becomes increasingly filled with sorrow it’s true, they say all good things come to an end, but to that statement, I believe we can amend you see, I’m a Muslim and the effects of the presidency have hit me hard, the rhetoric and intense executive orders have left me scarred but I still wake up every morning with a smile, because no matter how scared I am, I know this is just a trial
My family, friends, and fellow citizens in fear The uncertainty The anguish Are we going to be able to stay here? Turn on the news and see the love pouring in My fellow Americans, you have proved me right You are strong, fearless Loving and kind Reaching out from all angles To masjids, through emails, Saying I’m not with him, I’m with you Relief and hope, settling in So why are we afraid? No one said it would be easy Our Prophets, peace be upon them, never had it easy We will fight, grovel, and we will fail many times But by any means necessary, Through the Will of Allah, Exalted is He, We will survive, win and thrive. So don’t lose hope my fellow Muslims and immigrants, Because we have most of the world and Allah, right by our side. Sabreen Arman
one day, we will get what we deserve, but for that to happen, we cannot just sit back and observe we need to fight for it, speak for it, we have to show them that we won’t ignore it start a petition, join a rally, or go protest do things to ensure your voices are heard, and your opinions expressed only then, can we make a change to our state State of mind, state of the country, to make them great (not again) thus, by any means necessary, we must take a stand, and fight for our future, for our communities, and more than anything, for our rights
Ummesalmah Abdulbaseer
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Oh loved one Usually I write poetry, but today I speak to you. You are young. You study, you work, you have friends, you wind down, you have free time, you get happy, and you get sad. Your life is constantly changing - it keeps you on your toes. So let me repeat myself again...You are young. There may come a time in the future when your life becomes a cycle of “lather, rinse, and repeat,� but for now you are alive. The blood in your veins is laced with adrenaline that was spiked by youth, your eyes shine brilliantly with hope because you have so much ahead of you. Use that to your advantage, oh loved one. Inspiration, passion, excitement - These are the building blocks of youth. If you feel inspired, harness that inspiration and do good. If you feel passionate, harness that passion towards the greater good. And if you are excited... Oh, my love, if you are excited... hold onto that excitement. It is a blessing to feel such raw emotion. Laugh hysterically, scream at the top of your lungs while sticking your head outside of the car window, hold people close, be steadfast in your prayers, and most importantly, do not lose your excitement. By any means necessary. Iman Khan
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Clenched Fist Not out of animosity But out of security To save ourselves From obscurity That’s why we do it Some more loud Than others But collectively Respectively And effectively Don’t think just cuz She doesn’t have a sign That she is without a spine Don’t think just cuz He doesn’t march out That he doesn’t want to shout Embrace them To save “them” Rather than condemn them You do your work And they will do theirs This affair is one to share Different methods But united in prayer For a clenched fist hurts more Than a slap across that face of yours Abdul Basith Basheer
Scratching the Surface I’ll try to explain. it’s like reuniting with your soulmate, although you’ve never met, but the conversations you’ve had are enough to light up the heavens and the earth. You’ve longed for each other, and finally God has given you the gift of seeing each other. Your old friend. They’ve been waiting for you. With every small, blessed step you take, it rushes towards you. Its warm glow radiates off your own face. When you look up to find the moon, you’re almost sure its light comes not from the sun’s rays, but the House of God itself. You look up at the House, and your mind is racing with ways to describe its beauty. Nothing in any language was prepared for it. It can only be expressed through the praise of God. The closer you are, the more your eyes widen, the stronger the pull you feel, as the core of your soul urges you on, and tells you, “I’m home.”
Sara Alattar
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The Art Process
Old Artwork
Works in Progress
Doodles
Works by Saba Ali 8
Rooted
Safa Shameem
I want to be like a tree Firm and stable Giving shade Having roots so deep in the ground That nothing could shake me to my core And I would simply provide For those around me I wouldn’t ask for anything in return Except that you plant another tree When I’m gone
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A Letter to Assata Shakur
Dear Assata, I first became familiar with you through a hip-hop song by one of my favorite artists. The track is called, “A Song for Assata” by Common. I learned some of your history through those lyrics and the police brutality you faced. How could they throw you in the basement of a prison filled with men? I was disgusted by the American justice system. They tried to rob your dignity and break you. They wanted to make your soul weak, but you had a light that could not be relinquished. I would not have blamed you if you felt broken during this journey. You were not broken, though. Your love and resistance fueled those fighting the same fight and uplifted the Black Panther Party. I questioned if I had enough in me to endure a small fraction of what you did. Could I manage to keep my beliefs in the face of torture, isolation, and such an uncertain future? I began to question the strength of my personal ideals and the depth of my love for people. You inspired me to take a step back and do a critical examination of the beliefs that I held prior to this. I needed to understand that it’s one thing to realize something, and another to actually do something about it. You were ahead of your time, Assata. May God bless your soul, and I hope that you can come back to America someday. Love and resistance always, Safa Shameem
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A New Dawn is Approaching Sarah Basheer
When I think about the power of the people, I remember all the things that were impossible to do in the past. Women didn’t have the right to vote, they couldn’t own property, and in pre-Islamic Arabia they were literally buried alive. Black men and women couldn’t even use the same bathrooms as white people. How many times do we think about segregation when we ride on the bus, or the historical statement Rosa Parks made? As humans, some of our ancestors were literally enslaved by the elite and powerful, and today we’ve been enslaved by politics and corralled by consumerism; popular culture tells us how to behave, what is normal and what is right. Society and the limited few can try to repress other individuals, but when you strive for equality by any means necessary the fight will never be over until equality has triumphed. Change happens by the power of the people. It might come from one person who turns the tides, or one event that sets things in motion but change is the law of life. Recall the textbooks we’ve read in history class: The reality of the civil rights era, the danger and consequences for speaking out for something so universal now but was unthinkable back then. Black people were viciously attacked for liberties that are core American rights. We applaud them today and maybe history will applaud us one day. The day equality and liberty are not just figurative ideals but encompass all of America, the day we trade in guns for books, the day we welcome those in need as our neighbors and friends. Those days are coming. And history has its pen ready to take note. But it’s not possible by just me or you, history needs all of us to set aside our differences, come together and fight by any means necessary. Join the resistance.
Threads Nui Waris
The heart of the believer is often as weak as a thread. A thread so thin, sometimes there’s only one thing from keeping this thread from being cut. Maybe it’s that you pray Zuhr every day; perhaps you read a surah on your way to class; it might even be that you say bismillah before you eat. Whatever is keeping your thread alive, don’t stop, because you’re going to need that thread to weave the finer things in life: peace, tranquility, commitment, hope, love, happiness, community. Always remember, though, that to be able to weave, you need more than one thread; so, turn to your friends, your family, call upon other believers, because now is the time we need to weave all our threads together. Now is the time we need each other more than ever before. So weave; weave the threads together, because once they’re woven together, you’ll always have someone to turn to; someone to bring you back. We’ll have each other to lean on and no one will ever again have to hang by just a thread.
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A Journey of the Heart Aamna Ghafoor
I could tell you about Madinah. The city where our Beloved (may peace be upon him) rests, marking this place as a permanent symbol of sanctuary and home for every Muslim. The city that has the ability to render one’s soul serene to the point of euphoria. The city that stole my heart and promised to hold onto it until I could return again. Or I could tell you about Makkah, home of the Ka’bah, the place that shook my soul and awakened an awareness of God in me. An awareness so extremely intense and overpowering I found myself unable to absorb the extent of His vastness, His majesty, and His love until several days into my stay there. I could tell you about these places, but unless you’ve been there and experienced it yourself, those stories are simply that: stories. The most important lessons from this journey of a lifetime weren’t realized until after I actually returned. Like many others who embark on umrah or hajj, I hoped and prayed that the trip would be transformative. That I’d go there, ask forgiveness from all the sins I had ever committed, and then come home and never do anything bad again. Easy fix, right? While the trip was definitely transformative, it was not in the ways I expected. You see, Makkah and Madinah are the epicenter of human existence. They are places where you realize exactly why you exist, and that is to worship Al-
lah. You can leave your entire life behind and spend your every moment in prayer and supplication, begging for His mercy. It’s a luxury in a sense, not having to worry about anything besides your own personal ibadah. I came home and immediately felt the absence of this luxury. For the first month or so of being back, this absence caused me a lot of pain. How was I going to be able to maintain the high that I had reached during my time in the Holy Cities? How could I ever stay as close to Allah as I had been in His home? And if I wasn’t able to do so, did this mean my entire journey had been a failure? It took a lot of deep reflection, prayer, and time to understand that my mindset was all wrong. Umrah was not meant to be a magical cure-all solution to all my spiritual ills. Allah does not invite you to His home and to the city of His Messenger, peace be upon him, in order to give you a temporary high on the sweetness of faith, only to take it all away once it’s over. Allah meant for me to embark on this pilgrimage to Him because He just wanted me back. He has always been near, closer to me than my jugular vein. Just as He has always been the Lord of His home, He has always been the Lord of my home. The One who has been with me wherever life has taken me. This was a simple enough realization, but it changed everything for me. It taught me that God has always been there, but I had been failing to do my part to maintain the relationship, and I learned that this relationship
is something that requires constant work and constant struggle. Every single day you have to wake up and want to be closer to Him. Umrah was a beginning step for me. It was His beautiful way of stopping me in my tracks, redirecting me towards Him, and saying “Here, walk this way.” He made this path bumpy and uphill on purpose, because He knows that the more I struggle to stay close to Him, the more I will love Him. I’m still human, and there are undoubtedly days when I falter, when I’m not doing as much as I should be to maintain that connection, but I think of His mercy upon me in sending me on the journey I was able to take, and I tell myself that this time will be different, God-willing. That I am now willing to put in the work to build upon the relationship I have just re-established. Above all, I remind myself that the days you feel yourself drifting are the days you need to beg God the hardest for His help. The help of Allah is always near. How silly are we humans, and how beautiful is He? We beat ourselves up for not being good enough, when the One who holds our fate is standing by with arms open wide, waiting to take us back. My dear friends, my dear brothers and sisters, if you learn nothing else from this very personal journey of mine just know this: you can never ever ever let giving up be an option when it comes to obtaining the love of God. I swear to you He has never forsaken you, and He will not give up on you for as long as you live.
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Umrah
Tooba Ghafoor
I don’t really have reflections from Umrah yet. I have moments etched into my mind - when I close my eyes I am back there, when I open them it’s a disappointment, but it reminds me that I am striving for something greater. The first time I entered Masjid al-Haram, which surrounds the Kaabah, was a moment of absolute, paralyzing, awe. It is easier to describe to you how every surface is the same pristine, white marble, reflecting your every thought back at you, or how unexpectedly massive the Haram was, rather than try to explain the feeling of being there. It is adrenaline, stunned deer in headlights, eyes wide as saucers, shocking, I can’t believe I’m really here. The Kaabah is the most beautiful thing I have ever set my eyes upon. To gaze at the Kaabah feels like Beauty is a book and the pages are being etched into your heart. To look into the faces of those who are seeing the Kaabah for the first time is to see souls in contentment and wonder, and to see hearts that have returned to their home. It is an overwhelming place, and when you leave you will still see it every time you close your eyes. To call out “Oh, Most Merciful of those who show mercy”, while at the epicenter
of Mercy coming down to this earth, is for your heart to absolutely shake in your chest, because for the first time, you feel the Majesty of the One to whom you’ve been calling out all this time. It’s like so far, your relationship with Allah has consisted of you desperately trying to keep your eye on the light as you try to worship through this hazy fog, and maybe sometimes it’s almost turned to darkness, but a ray of dazzling sunshine has just burst through your chest, and you understand. Taxi drivers stand outside Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, calling out for passengers who wish to take longer distance trips. I will never forget the sound of one calling out: “Madinah-Madinah-Madinah, Madinah-Madinah-Madinah”, every syllable ringing with the sweetness of the City of the Prophet, a fortunate soul whose sustenance is in its remembrance. The streets of Madinah are such that you will want to leave your entire life behind simply to come here and wander in peace in this place of happiness. To spend a moment there is to feel the greatness of the footsteps that have walked on its streets, manifesting itself in the feeling of peace and happiness that permeates every moment.
To pray on Riyadh ul-Jannah, is to marvel at the incredible, mind-blowing Mercy of your Lord, your heart exclaiming “How am I here right now, how is possible that such a sinner could reach a piece of Heaven on Earth?”. It is to know, with absolute certainty, that the promise of Allah is true, and that He is certainly the Most Forgiving. To leave is heartbreak. Your old life feels gray. The motivation to go on is to make good of this incredible gift, and the bright spot on your horizon is the hope to go back one day. This trip was a miracle. The Umrah journey does not begin at the airport, it begins with the slave of Allah having a hope and making dua for sustenance to come from the sky for this journey. If you see no financial means in sight for this, know that the currency to reach there is the Will of Allah, and nothing else. So I guess I have one reflection: Have hope in the Greatest Hope. Have a crazy, insane amount of hope, and when it seems impossible, hope even more. And pray. And I swear you’ll see miracles unfold before your eyes.
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Rekindling Love Nida Fayyaz
You’ve all probably heard people say that performing Umrah or Hajj was the best experience of their life, and it definitely was for me. It was a beautiful experience and there are many reasons why I loved it. But I think the most beneficial part was how I was able to intensify the love between me and my Creator. Makkah and Madinah proved to me how strong that love can be. The inside and outside of Masjid-alNabawi are dream-like. You see the minars, the beautiful architecture, the famous green dome, the different colored people, and, may I add, the adorable kittens. There’s a sense of peace when you’re there. It felt easy to pray all sunnah salahs, pray nafl after nafl, turn page of Quran after page, and send salawat upon the Prophet (SAW) again and again while sitting in the beautiful masjid. There was no sense of tiredness or boredom. It all came so easy. At one point I was waiting in line to pray in the Riyad ul Jannah and
it took about 3 hours. I didn’t get bored or annoyed like I would in any other line. I kept durood on my tongue and it was a great way to spend my time. And when I finally got my chance to pray there, I felt a rush of genuine, vibrant love. It really felt like I was praying in a piece of Jannah. I could feel the love between me and my Creator and me and my Prophet. As I was making dua I was certain my prayers would be answered, because after all, I was praying in a piece of Jannah. When we walked into Masjid-al-Haram on a Friday night, ready to go in our Ihram, with Labaik allahuma Labaik on our tongues, I felt ready to pray to my Lord at His house. But I could not be prepared for the intense link I would feel with my Creator. Just by looking at the Kabah and while doing Tawaf, I felt a connection to Allah that I never felt before. Sitting here, writing this, and also before Umrah, I knew I wholeheartedly believed in the Oneness of Allah. La ilaha illa Allah. I knew He is my
Lord. But being there, it felt like an affirmation of my beliefs. It made worshipping Allah feel a million times more real that it already does. It felt like I’m here, looking at the Kabah, so Allah must be looking at me. He must be listening to my thoughts, and feeling what’s in my heart. He cares about me. He invited me here. He is so close to me. And I could feel it. The distance between my heart on Earth and His place in the heavens felt like less than millimeter. I felt a beautiful connection that could never compare to one between two humans. It was amazing. So if I had to sum up what looking at the Kaabah feels like in one word, it’s this one: Love. I love Allah, and He loves me. A simple concept, but an unbelievably satisfying epiphany. That realization provides a sense of euphoria that I think can get us through many difficult times. So by any means necessary, please remember that your Lord loves you, no matter where you are on Earth.
watching the moon shift above the Kaabah, traveling from one end of the Makkan sky to another. Forehead pressed against my rug, I spoke to the One who was always listening, pleading that the proximity I felt to my Protector would stay with me when I left those grounds. In that place of bliss, my only preoccupation was being intimate with my Lord. But being back in this life of endless preoccupations, that intimacy has been harder and harder to find. That’s the thing, though: God is wherever you look for Him. Amidst this life of chaos, you search for Him. You strive for that proximity you know you once felt, and you remain consistent in little attempts to get closer. And every time you completely slip away, not knowing whether you can return--you do. Because in the end, that is all you are meant to do: to remember that the One who loves you most is waiting for your return.
Hours have passed now and I still lie awake. The vibrations of the freight trains have seized and the night is now silent. I think about where I am, stuck in a place far from where I wish to be, not quite sure if I’ll ever leave. But I pray in quiet darkness that the Giver of light gives me another chance to return to Him. “Someday we are bound to come back to the beginning. Even the most distant pathways always lead us inward, completely inward, into intimacy, solitude between our self and our self—in the place where there is no longer anyone but God and our self.”
Coming Back Shapla Shaheen
My grandmother snores in the room next to mine, my father shuffles around the house to pack for his last minute trip, my mother sleeps soundly in another room, and I lie awake, listening to the freight trains pass behind my yard as they always do around 2 am. In another moment in time, on another moonlit night, I had laid awake in bed just as I do now. Except then, there wasn’t a single feeling of worry that kept me up. No anguish, no regrets, no fear. Whatever life I had no longer existed in that moment. I was at the center of the world, in the place of bliss, in an escape land--gifted to me by my Provider. Sleep did not come because the desire to visit the house of my Lord overcame all tiredness. A few minutes walk from my hotel room led me into the vicinity of His home. Standing under the dark plum sky, I gazed, mesmerized by the sweet sight of the gold embroidered black curtain. I marked the hours of the night by
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By Any Memes Necessary
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Editors in Chief Farooq Chaudhry Nuha Abdelrahim Managing Editor Ibrahiem Mohammad Staff Writers Abdul Basith Basheer Sarah Basheer Lilian Maali Nahian Saed Samirah Alam Taha Sharif Safa Shameem Nayfah Thnaibat Ummesalmah Abdulbaseer Staff Artists Shapla Shaheen Saba Ali Doodles Sumaiyya Ahmed Layout Hyatt Hasanieh Maleeha Ahmed Creative Direction Noor Abdelrahim
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