Notes

I AM...

By Imam Zaid Shakir · March 27, 2009

"I AM..." is a poem by Hamza Abdul Malik who is one of our young scholars. Hamza, has memorized the Qur'an in both Warsh and Hafs and has studied Arabic and Shari'ah in Syria, Yemen, and is currently studying in Egypt. He wrote this poem after his wife's eighty-year old grandmother took Shahada!

I AM...

I am who I am because..
Allah made me who I am

I am that dirty vagabond who sleeps in the alley,
but if it wasn't for my prayers...
God would have punished the entire city,
but since He loves me so,
He shows them mercy and pity.
So don't step on me when you see me sleeping
and don't hold your nose up when you see me weeping,
For if you saw what my tears mean on the Day of Judgment
you wouldn't be so fast in passing your baseless judgment.

I am that...
Muslim stripper that everyone hates,
who was "doomed to hell" or at least "at its gates"
but one night after the club closed I was in the streets...
and I saw a starving dog looking for something to eat,
so I used up the last of my dollars and nickels,
and I bought a hamburger and I took off the pickles,
and I gave it to the dog... and even though he still looked the same
little did I know that it was my fate that had changed
Allah saw this deed I did that no one thought of
so He gave me paradise just for me showing it so much love

I am that...
Muslim who prays five salats a day,
who stays in wudu to keep devils away,
who goes to the masjid and smiles to everyone, who..
goes to itikaf with his daughters and sons but...
eats the flesh of his sister's and brothers and...
fights his father and curses his mother... and
doesn't show mercy to his wife and his kids, so he...
punches his wife right under the eyelids... and he
beats his children as hard as he can cuz...
that's only way he can feel like a man...
and Allah only gives him respite, so...
he could repent from his sins and set his record right... but
if he isn't forgiven by his kids and his wife then...
he's got a world of pain coming to him in the next life...

I am that...
Old woman eighty years of age whose...
got so much wisdom they call her a sage and..
she lays on the bed and before she dies she...
calls her granddaughter to come by her side... and
she tells her she's ready to die with Islam... so
she tells her granddaughter, "go get the Quran.." and...
she reads the verse "Tell those who disbelieved: if they stop, all their past will be forgiven."
and she stopped right there cuz her hands were shiverin'... and
she realized that she could not die a "kaffa" so she...
raised up her index and took her shahada... and
her hand fell and she took a gasp... and
that was the end because it was her last.. and
her life was sealed by that last saying so...
she went straight to Jenna without even praying...

I'm that..
orphan who never got a chance in his youth to..
share his talents and spit his truth... until
he left the hood and went to the woods to...
find seclusion and the essence of good... he
was inspired by God and was taught how to read... but
not in the way that we'd like to believe.
He.. reads the hearts, the souls and the mind
He... reads the heavens and reads its signs
He... reads the lines and he reads the lips
of.. the ancient prophets and the ancient scripts
and he... teaches the people through actions and deeds.. and he
carefully plants his wisdom in the hearts like seeds
he teaches the lesson that we can all learn...

"To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return"

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Comments (49)

  • Another Abdul Malik

    March 31, 2009

    Mash'Allah Humza, Thank you for the reminder. May Allay give us the foresight to look beyond our own nose and protect us against ourselves! Keep them coming,

  • Taha Abdul-Basser

    March 31, 2009

    Ma sha'Allah. Moving! May Allah accept!

  • Ibrahim

    April 1, 2009

    Amazing. Jazaakallahukhairan

  • Umm Yusuf

    April 9, 2009

    wow... i read it outloud and it flows so nicely. it gave me the chills non-stop. mashaAllah... i just wish i could see this piece performed... it sounds like performance art, anyway. its poems like these that inspire me to writemy own. you know, it almost reminded me of the brother ...i forgot his name.. who wrote "im not angry, i am anger. im not dangerous, i am danger." etc etc....subhanaAllah i forgot the brothers name. anyway...may Allah reward both of you and keep the poetry coming.

  • Noor

    April 12, 2009

    First I thank you for this beautiful poem, I like it so much, it is very impressive. Making mistakes is not the sin itself, but not thinking and trying to correct our mistakes and not feeling regret for what we did is the sin itself. Asking forgiving form people is not enough to correct our mistakes, as we have to ask Allah with honest hearts to forgive us. Unfortunately people sometimes do not forgive but Allah do if we are honest. Last, I would like to emphasize that no one, no one love us as Allah do, even our parents. All might let us down but Allah never let his honest slaves down, Never.

  • NOUR

    April 15, 2009

    JAZAKALLAH KHAYRAN, WHAT A WONDERFUL PIECE. TRULY I AM A MUSLIM, WITH ALL PRIDE AS A MUSLIM, ALWAYS REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE AND HOW GREAT YOUR ANCESTORS WERE. MAY ALLAH BLESS ALL TRUE MUSLIMS.

  • Sara

    July 18, 2009

    Masha'Allah! Amazing writing. This poem is beautiful. I enjoyed reading it so much I didn't want it to end. Marvelous poetry, tremendous meaning, strong SPIRIT!

  • Daliah

    August 2, 2009

    Subhanallah!! wa Allahu Akbar!! Mashallah, ya akhi! You truly have a keen intuition about the essence of Islam. I found this in a search for "muslim stripper", because I, myself, am a dancer. I LoVe what I do and I have continuous guidance from Allah, always revealing to me solid and transforming truths that carry me into my practice of Islam. I feel as though I am dancing as David danced, before the Lord. ....each human I encounter is, to me, a blessing from Allah. Many females come to visit Club 939, where I work, and they love my natural, nurturing, mothering essence....they come back repeatedly. I used to teach Islamic studies in the Masjid, now I share the PeaCe that pervades aLL life....with aLL. Allah is all-encompassing, omnipotent, ever-pervading!!! There is NOTHING that is not him...................alhamdulillah!! we are free........and I am probably the biggest nerd you know, who eats pure, organic foods, practices yoga, reads sceientific research on spiritual strength and cell-level treatment......does not watch television, speaks of goodness and light, and honors the life of every human soul...... ....but I AM that "Muslim Stripper"........and I beg my Potent, Powerful Lord, Allah, to grant you higher than the highest of Jennah.....and to shower you with perpetual, expansive peace. May every breath you take be filled with light, truth, and guidance from Allah. Assalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.....inna

  • HQ

    September 26, 2009

    To Umm Yusuf - that brother's name is Amir Sulaiman

  • Ferial

    October 21, 2009

    Stumbled upon your site. Quite the delight. What Lovely, Beautiful words this young brother wrote...Subhanallah. Beauty can still be found where you least expect it, in a world that becomes uglier to the senses with each passing moment. Makes one pause and sigh and enjoy surprises like this even more. Read your reply to being a muslim "rock star". It made me smile. Such passion and precision in your words. I heard you give a khutbah this year on domestic violence and I saw you after the Jumaa prayer. Tall, lanky, ordinary man you were, wearing a thin coat (in the midst of hardcore winter weather) and looking pale and tired from travelling the lecture circuit.Your voice was rough and raw from fighting a cold. Have patience brother. Although it is important and one's duty to defend one's self, always remember that we only have to justify ourselves, our actions and accompanying intentions to Allah, Rabb al 3alameen. Alhamdulillah...

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