In Honour of the Last Prophet

Accept gladly our presentation of the blog carnival in association with Islamic Artists Society. We would like to especially thank sister Izzy, the founder and moderator of IAS, who scrupulously compiled all the articles from various contributors and agreed to sister Rym's idea of having a blog exclusively for the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. What you see below is all volunteer work by authors of respective pieces in honour of the Last Prophet. They were submitted to the Islamic Artists Society as an artistic response to the racist and Orientalist caricatures that appeared all over Europe. We hope to inform Non-Muslim readers about the true nature of Muhammad who is considered the final prophet of God. Muslims, too, will find many beautiful thoughts to dive into. We want to thank all the artists who came out for this event. Je zakka Allahu khairan. Any good is from Allah, and any bad is due to our own shortcomings as human beings. Pardon our falterings and praise the Lord. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

Walk in His Traces by Tiel Aisha Ansari

I dreamed I was walking in the desert
there were footprints in the dust of the trail.
I stepped in them and found myself dancing.

One gate stood open in an iron fence
on it, the mark of a hand.
When I touched it sparks flew.

In the noise and confusion of the crowd
I heard a voice whisper:
"La illaha il Allah."
I turned and saw no-one, only footprints
and the city shone with brilliant light.

The world bears witness to the presence of a few--
walk in their traces.

@ Knocking from Inside

The First Voices

The Beloved

This work shows how when one begins to deepen their spirituality they are made aware of the great character and status of the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him. Hence an individual begins to work towards an understanding and appreciation of this great man that once walked this earth. Contained within the work are some symbolic references to this high esteem that he is held in:

The piece presents itself as a ‘cloud’ almost. This is a reference to how the clouds shaded the Prophet Alaisalam.

The centre name ‘Muhammad’ is covered in mesh known to artists as ‘angel hair’. Here, one of the references is to the fact that the name of the Prophet is written on the eyes of angels.

The name of the piece itself ‘The Beloved’ is a reference to how there were titles associated with the Messengers of God; for instance Prophet Ibrahim Alaisalam is known as ‘The Friend of God’. This title shows the unique status of the final Messenger as the Beloved of God Himself.

@ Tranquil Zone

Why I reject the anarchists who claim to speak for Islam?

Comment in the The Observer. Violence in the name of Islam has done more to damage the Prophet than any Danish cartoon, argues Fareena Alam.(featuring photo of the huge Muslim crowd at OneFaith, Many Voices event at Friends House on 7th Feb.)

Our Beloved Nabi (pbuh) by Hafiz Imtiaz Kathrada

Years, Decades, Centuries...time had passed

Young, All, Old...were lost in the past

Vice, Evil, Sin...had spread so fast

A Messenger, Prophet, Saviour...was born at last

Sent as a guidance to mankind

The world's complication did he unwind

Our salvation, his day and night concern

The hereafter being the point of no return

Days, Weeks, Months...years have gone

Piety, Goodness, Devotion...changes have dawn

Peace, Love, Unity...mercy has drawn

Help, Guidance, Direction...a Saviour was born

His heart bore constant remembrance

His actions leading to eternal deliverance

His speech knocked at every heart

His finger split the moon apart

Poverty, Difficulty, Hunger...Patiently did he bear

Just, Righteous, Fair...piety did he wear

Concerned, Worried, Crying...always did he care

Striving, Efforts, Sacrifice...darkness did he tear

Peace, Harmony, Security...marked his presence

Disorder, Chaos, Danger...marks his absence.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by Abdul

When truth was lost and hearts frozen

from You, Allah came a Prophet, chosen.

Blessed Prophet Muhammad, obedient to You

taught us the things we ought to do.

He taught us for certain that You are One

and that You have neither a daughter nor son.

He taught us to be good to our mother and father

and that Paradise lies under the feet of our mother.

I love you my Prophet and sing your praise

and follow your Sunna, Prophetic Ways.

One day I will come to visit your tomb

Insh'Allah, that day will be very soon.

@ Islamic Poems

Lessons Through Literature

Redouan At the Time of the Danish Cheese Shortage by Yusuf Misdaq

Half a moon away, the renowned British journalist Robert Fisk was still awake writing an article on the protests that were going on around the Muslim world. He was in a hotel in Damascus. He stopped writing for a moment, a thought was coming to him and he needed to pay attention to it. He looked up (without knowing that he was looking up) at the moon, which was perfectly round and seemed brighter than a sun. His thought went like this: 'those arrogant devils! They insult a people purposefully, deliberately targeting a part of their culture that they know is sensitive, and they detonate it! They detonate it! They basically call the leader of their religion, which has a billion peaceful followers, a terrorist, and then they send their cameras out to capture the reactions of the few mob-like people there are on tape, so that they and more than half of the gullible population of Europe will all feel superior to the 'savage people' which they've shown on their cameras. That's exactly what bullies do! Ha! That's just like a bully! They push peoples buttons on purpose, then wait for that person to explode! The only difference is that some of those more idealistic people back home actually do believe that they're doing a service to freedom of expression in the press.

@ Nefisa


An Abyssinian Story in Honour of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Katherine Randall

I, Asma’, wife of Ja’far Ibn Abu Talib, have found refuge in a land that is friendly to those of us who are Muslim, the ones who willingly surrender to the One God. Our Prophet, the Trustworthy, whose calling Khadija first recognized, has sent us here for our protection. My husband, harassed so unjustly by his family, has been appointed by Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, to lead this small contingent of the most severely persecuted of our brothers and sisters. These are the people who have no recourse to powerful clan affiliations that would be embarrassed by the torture of one of their own members. So the unbelievers, more interested in the concerns of trade and the economic position of Makkah, target the least influential amongst us in the attempt to usurp the Prophet’s calling and refute the revelations that come upon him.

My husband is the cousin of Muhammad, the Trustworthy, and the brother of Ali Ibn Abu Talib. This is the second hijrah to Abyssinia and we are grateful for the kindness and wisdom of our host, the Negus. He is a Christian ruler but he is in great sympathy with our account of what has been revealed through our Prophet and he respects the revealed message concerning Maryam and her son, Isa.

In this land I feel safe from the dangers of falling into the hands of the Makkan elite, the worshippers of idols for personal gain. They argue that they simply follow the traditions of their parents before them and that we should do the same. They cannot envision change, nor do they desire to improve their ways if it inhibits their greed and their status. I cry for them, they are too blind to see what is before their eyes. An honest, trustworthy man, who brims over with kindness and generosity, stands before them, and they laugh at him and deride his words. More than this, they question the revelation that comes so powerfully through his lips from the One God, Allah ta’ala.

How I long to still be in the presence of the Prophet and to hear the revelations as they come! Maybe I am ungrateful. It is good for those of us who are here in Abyssinia for we are protected and it is important that the emerging ummah grow and not be crushed by its enemies. Nearly every day, Ja’far and I speak of Muhammad and recall our dearest memories of him and at night, in our dreams, we hear his voice telling us to abide and be patient for the mercy of God is always with us. So I go about my daily chores happy to be amongst people who have befriended us and I offer my prayers that my own people may one day enjoy the light that has come into our lives.

@ JourneyWoman

Muhammad in Taif by Luqman Ali

While Muslims once again fall into the reactionary trap set for them and confirm the thesis of the offending cartoons by exploding in rage and violence, we would do well to reflect upon the Prophet's supplication in Taif.

This is the dua he recited with shoes full of blood, wounds all over his body and after having been insulted and abused by the people of Taif. What's more this all occurs after three years of suffering a boycott at the hands of the Quraysh as a result of which Muslims were reduced to eating grass and leaves off of trees.

The Prophet (s) as he walks out of Taif:

O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and my humiliation before the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favour is of more abundance to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or your displeasure descend upon me. I desire your pleasure and satisfaction until you are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.

If those who claim to love the Prophet(s) so much that they are willing to infringe upon prophetic conduct with their blind rage and fury would reflect upon this prayer, it would be a guiding light for them and a clear instruction as to how a Muslim should respond to our current situation.

It is also the only salve by which troubled hearts and souls will find peace. It will not be found on pickets and demonstrations - not that these may not be useful in making clear our reverence for the sacred and the divine.

In my jum'ah khutbah today, I spoke on this prayer and while there were some whose hearts and eyes were cooled by it, it was obvious to me that there were many who were so caught up in anger that they could not hear. For whom does the Prophet's saying: 'Islam is good character' mean anything anymore?

Are we to revert to pre-Islamic tribal norms of vengeance and retribution rather than see this as an opportunity to turn hearts by sharing the example of our beloved Prophet's centredness and compassion in the face of hate and enmity with those whose hearts are open.

Are we to fall into the major sin of dispair-fuelled violence rather than maintain hope as the Prophet (s) did when the angel of the mountains met him outside Ta'if following his supplication and offered to cause the mountains surrounding Taif to explode over the twon and obliterate it to which the Prophet (s) replied 'No, I hope that these people will one day come to worship only Allah and Him alone'? Unless we have the centredness and the Allah-consciousness of the Prophet (s) by which every event whether favourable or unfavourable (in material terms) offers us the opportunity of strengthening our relationship with Allah, we will continue to be the victim of every ruse and ploy. Rather than reacting with violence and rage we should intensify our work to share the beautiful and merciful message of the Deen!

Epecially now that the Prophet (s) is headline news. Let the Prophet's prayer of Taif be printed in European newspapers as the example of his supreme magnanimity and patience.

Violence, death threats and fury only betray a lack of trust in the power and light of the sacred which is illustrated in the Prophet's experience in the garden outside Taif when persons who overheard his prayer were moved by it to come to Islam.

Moreover, on the way back to Mecca after this experience, many jinn who happened to hear the Prophet's recitation of the Qur'an in his night prayer also came to Islam. And not long thereafter the Prophet (s) was conveyed on his night journey and ascent to heaven. Verily with difficulty comes ease. Yet with today's anouncement of 'eminent' Muslim scholars of a 'Day of Outrage', I fear we have become nothing but saboteurs.

Why not a Day of Remembrance of the Prophet, Why not a Day of Tremendous Prophetic Character? Why not a Day of the Prayer of? Taif? I recommend that we circulate the Prayer of Taif at this time as an antidote to all of the madness and poison of emotional maelstroms. May Allah guide us to that which is right and grant us the tremendous fortune of seeing our enemies as our close friends to whom we have the duty of conveying the love of Allah and his Prophet (s). Ameen. Allah knows best.

Luqman Ali is the imam of a masjid in Luton, UK.

A Gentle Nature So Hard to Find by Selma Cook

Come on dear little child
No need to cry to run and hide
Just come and sit right down with me
Cuddle up cozy on my knee

I want to tell a tale to you
Many know it - not just a few
It's a tale from long ago you see
But its message rings true for you and me

It is about the greatest man
Allah sent him - 'twas His plan
Sending His guidance and mercy to us
So we could live and die in trust
To the One who created all that's there
He knows everything and no one dares
To question Him - except for man!

And here we sit each day and choose
Right or wrong - makes us win or lose

Muhammad came with a word that's kind
A gentle nature so hard to find
Amidst mankind's greed and vicious lust
That stops at nothing til he's dust

Muhammad came to stop wars and cries
Put down evil cheating and wiles
Help the orphan child to grow
In comfort safety he'll come to know
That Allah alone has all the Power
He maintains and protects each day and hour

So Muhammad taught us not to fear
To love Allah most - to hold Him dear
For alone we're born and alone we'll die
And to Him we'll return by and by

Muhammad was loved by all that's good
But evil men against him stood
They cannot bear to hear the word
Of truth of peace that's from our Lord

Telling man to stop his greed
The poor and needy he must feed
Not to kill and not to hate
But spread His message 'fore it's too late

For sure the hour will come at last
Tears will be spent for all that's past
But hearts at rest will dwell in peace
A favor that will never cease

So come now my dear little one
Keep growing and learn to fear no one
For nothing moves without His word
Everything relies upon its Lord

So as you grow you find and learn
To love what's good - all evil spurn
And together we will strive our best
And pass this life's most difficult test

Selma Cook is Managing Editor of the Youth Section and Volunteer Youth Resource Network at IslamOnline.net. She has written a number of books including: Buried Treasure (An Islamic novel for teenagers), The Light of Submission (Islamic Poetry). She has also edited and revised many Islamic books.

@ Youth Network, IOL

The Seal of Perfection by Aaminah Hernandez

A blessing upon mankind
Prophet Muhammad
Conveying the Truth for all

Born of a noble lineage
In a land of ignorance

Bearing signs of purity
Known as trustworthy
Solitude, meditation

Orphaned but never alone
Respected leader in town

Kind to relatives and tribe
Gentle with children
Patient with all Allah's creatures

Illiterate, unlettered
But wisdom recognized early

Exceptional man before
Prophet Muhammad
Given true revelation

Teaching sincere charity
Preaching purification

A reminder to mankind
Of Allah's Oneness
And a promise before birth

Enjoining a pure worship
You, a righteous example

Bearing the Qur'an, a seal
Perfecting our deen
Exemplifying Islam

Creating community
Brotherhood away from hate

Showing us the honored path
Prophet Muhammad
Guiding us in submission

Prayer and repentance at night
Governance of nafs in day

Reciting beautiful ayat
Proclaiming Only One
Bringing us true religion

Remembrance and submission
Worship in every action

Warning away from dunya
Guiding, inshaAllah
To the one path to Allah

Attesting to His Greatness
Commanding all that is good

Delivering pure Islam
Prophet Muhammad
The final Seal of Prophets

@ Writeous Sister Speaks

And Muhammad is His Messenger

O Muhammad, my hand is inept to draw your life
Your graces, your jihad for His Word and your love!
Each dewdrop, each beauty in affair you champion
You gave to humanity, you returned to Allah
As wonderful and triumphant as a pen breathing in an ocean of ink
Your path straight in its depth, your belief unfaltering
By fountains and mirages of this fleeting Pasture
Making me believe of your trust in the Beloved
And how the children would sing for you
Their eyes bright and their smiles wide
How you received them in your arms, your cause
To clothe them, to feed them, to teach them
That they grow to be like you and to act like you
Thoughts of love, kindnesses and worship of Allah
Alone, and in this humanity your footprints lie
And how sadness would cling to your heart
When the whisperer seduced man to err
Your life is a mirror of divine mercy
And Allah be thanked; lo, Allah be thanked!
You bled in Tai'f for the sake of the Recitation
That cleaved to your tongue, your heart and your mark of the Seal
Pressed to the breast of the universe, spate of burning stars!

O Muhammad, my tears are few to write of your conquests
Ink is plenty though no education moves me
Solitary reflections of your victories, losses and spiritual ascensions
Birthed in the Year of the Elephant, living in the Year of Sadness
You split the stones and clay for therein the infant girl lay
Her soul wailing: "For what crime was I slain?" *
The Qur'an has come down from the Lord and Muhammad is His Messenger
And you displaced their gods and altars into the Waste
Only before Allah we must prostrate, no more shirk and hate!
The poets disputed the verses that you spoke
But none could imagine the flow; yield to Gabriel!
They didn't realise that you bore heaven's yoke
You were unlettered, and yet a sign unto jinn and mankind
Tracing the Word to Abraham and Moses and Jesus son of Mary
Prophets also of the Jews and Christians, People of the Book
Leaning on my spirit, I saw your inheritance in the storm
Ever magnificent, peaceable, gentle and human
To pardon the knives that cut your feet, but you leave the trail behind For humanity to follow, in Allah's service we must wallow
Slowly but surely all creatures shall perish and die
But for the good-hearted and pious, Paradise is nigh!
Entrust us with your example to prepare for our tomorrow

* Qur’an 81:8-9 (“And when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked for what sin she was slain”)

@ Poet, Friend & Whirling Dervish

Two Perspectives

The Respect of a Cousin by Edward Miller

For Muslims, the mere rendering of an image of Muhammad is sacrilege. The portrayal of Muhammad in a pejorative fashion is to them an inconceivably offensive desecration, on the level of what would be for us the defilement of a Torah scroll. Because it was done in newspapers across Europe, it was a slap in the face repeated thousands of times.Perhaps it’s a question of respect, not freedom. Freedom of expression theoretically protects the right of a non-Jew to desecrate a Torah scroll. Yet we would all view freedom of expression as a hollow defense to such a vile act.

A Native American View Point on the Cartoons

MNN. Feb. 9, 2006. Are the Muslim riots against the cruel depictions of their Prophet Muhammad really about freedom of speech? Whose freedom? The Euro-western corporate media define freedom ofspeech as the freedom to depict the world as they see it, without respect for other people’s points of view. They pretend to represent the dominant culture in the world. According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Minorities, all states are required to educate the majority population in the perspective of the minorities. But the international press doesn’t give two hoots about that. Why should they? They’re not states. They haven’t signed any conventions. But this doesn’t stop them from relying on these very conventions to support their “freedom of speech”.

As far as they are concerned, they can write, print or depict anything they want the way they want. This right is really based on “might makes right”, a very selective cherry picking approach to international human rights laws.

We, the voiceless people of the world, don’t have the same kind of freedom.

We all know that the media are an arm of the big business mega corporations of the world. We also know they want to maintain control on all of us.

The Muslims make up a large part of the world they want to control. They’re sitting on oil the Americans want, damn it! Anything that serves to dehumanize and belittle the Muslims helps to justify the corporate takeover of the highly coveted resources that the Muslims happen to be sitting on.

Major media is one sided. This is the same problem that we Indigenous People of Turtle Island have. We sit on valuable resources. We can’t get our side of our story into the press. So the press is not really free, is it? They invoke violence everyday against those whose resources they covet and to whom they give no voice. The Muslims are now making themselves heard in the only way that is open to them.

The US President George Bush called for people to stop rioting “to protect property” and to protect his diplomats. This is the last thing he should ask for. Property is being denied to them. Diplomats are there to colonize them.

One Danish writer stated in a children’s book he wrote on Muhammad, “It’s about internal politics in many of these countries, and it’s about frustrations which have accelerated for years." What’s he talking about? The pressures are being applied from the outside!

Let’s look at what happened when Indigenous elder, David Ahenakew, expressed his contrary opinion privately about the official view on the Jews and the Holocaust in Germany during World War II. Why were his views, which most native people probably don’t agree with, published in the Regina Leader Post and blasted all across the country and the world? Because it was said by an Indigenous person and the press never misses a chance to demonize us. This leadS to attacks on Indigenous people. Sometimes I would like to pelt my views at some of these corporate media for the way they continue to depict us. There doesn’t seem to be anyway to stop them. Indian Affairs has been paying a Montreal public relations firm $17,000 a month to bash the Mohawks. We can’t get in a word edge-wise no matter how much evidence we have.

In the United States and Canada Indigenous People are told, “Why don’t you bring a class action suit against not only the media, but all the education institutions in North America that continue to generate hatred and lies against you?” These would be in their courts, at their beck and call and they would sit in judgment. What kind of relief does that give us?

At a mainstream university where I have been teaching non-native students, they arrive in my classes without a shred of knowledge about Indigenous people and history. Others come with distorted information that borders on racism. These non-native students should sue their educational institutions for being duped and misled. They are being taught lies and fables about the real gory foundation of American and Canadian society. They should put a stop to being lead under false pretenses to swallow concocted tales as story behind their colonial presence on our land.

The powers that be refer to their embellishing of facts as “freedom of speech” and “artistic merit”. All these fabulists should be punished. Rights to freedom are for the privileged who can laugh and make fun of us because we Indigenous and other voiceless people can’t do anything about it. It is those privileged who stop us from exercising our rights. Why don’t the privileged ever lose their rights? They can’t, of course, then it wouldn’t be privileged anymore.

They tell us that democracy is the freedom to vote for the candidates that the privileged put in front of us. We are being fooled all the time.

Editors, politicians and corporate businessmen are free to make choices every day. We don’t have access to the corporate press, so they can pass us off anyway they want. This takes away our power to choose and to object. If we did, the ground has been laid so that nobody will listen to us anyway.

What is the bottom line for the media – sales and profit by pushingthe mega international agenda. Just like us, the Muslims are yelling about it. The publishing of those cartoons tell us a lot.

Kahentinetha Horn

MNN Mohawk Nation News

Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

Discover Prophet Muhammad

Let these words flow like a stream
Just listen well and be the judge
The facts will shine in the darkest mind
For he was truly one of a kind

He was the Prophet Muhammad
The seal of all Prophets
He came with the final message
Chosen and sent by the Divine

Honest and Trustworthy he was called
From the time he was young
Long before the revelation came
Depicting his morals, so sublime

Left an orphan in tender years
Living with grandfather, then uncle
He learned and worked with them
Responsible and mature

Muhammad, beloved by many
From a young age he questioned society
Their idols didn’t enter his heart
In contemplation he thought of the One

In Cave of Hira he used to sit
Way up in the mountain, just to think
Then came the Divine revelation
A sacred event, a turning point

“Read! In the Name of your Lord”
Angel Jibreel embraced Muhammad
So tightly, while he was scared
“Read! In the name of your Lord”, he said

An angel sent by Almighty God
O Muhammad you have been chosen
A mission so great for all mankind
Spread the Light, spread the Truth

Ibrahim, Isa, Musa, and others
Were chosen to convey the message
Now your turn O Muhammad
With the final Divine message

People will listen, people will ignore
Some will follow, some will attack
A challenging mission O Muhammad
But God is always with you

Muhammad received the revelations
Telling people about the Creator
One God created us all
Those idols are nothing but stone

Love each other, be merciful
Enjoin good, forbid evil
Worship the One Creator
A message of peace and justice

Twenty-three years as the Messenger
A perfect example in every step
Elevating morals and society
Conveying the Message of God

Also a husband, father, and more
Lessons learnt from all his roles
A life rich with Truth and Wisdom
Uniting people for righteousness

Islam a religion for all
No matter what race or tribe
The Final Message
A Mercy to all humanity

My words will end, yet more to know
Learn about Muhammad and Islam
Closer to the truth and enlightenment
Discover our love for Prophet Muhammad
(Peace Be Upon Him)

@ Rym On Stage

Warming Up

Please submit articles, poems and other writings pertaining to the life of the Last Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Click here: Blogging for the Prophet to read the official IAS statement on the affair. We are hosting a blog carnival in honour of the Prophet Muhammad (S). During these times, it is very important to spread the Word of Allah and conquer hearts and minds with the eternal message of the man who shouldered Allah's Revelation to mankind. And when the image of the Prophet Muhammad (S) is vilified by words and art, we must not draw the dagger but the pen. It delivers love and hope in a world torn by wars. We must fight intellectual terrorism by the hand in a grip of peace, because that's what impacts the mind. We have to nourish the minds of people whose hearts are open and not scar their bodies. With that thought, let us take up our pens and breathe words into a broken world.