It is the day of Ashura. After performing morning amaal with the Muharram in Manhattan community at NYU, I board a bus to New Jersey - to Bait-Wali-ul-Asr: the Islamic center of my childhood and the community closest to my heart, with whom over two decades of my Ashuras have been spent. As I journey,… Continue reading Exhibit: The Steps of Imam Hussain
Category: Prose, The Guides
soul work
it took Noah 200 years to build the ark. 200 years. 73,000 days. over 1,000,000 hours. of focus, dedication, persistence. from planting the tree to taking the axe to the bark to cutting and fitting and detailing -- all the while being mocked and jeered by the masses. but still, pushing on: seeing the grandeur… Continue reading soul work
you, who are always saving me
you, who are always saving me. from the maelstroms i create. from the drowning i choose. from the salt-laced taste of sinking i have made so familiar to my tongue. from the seaweed tangled snares i have made so comfortable to my skin. you, who are always reviving me. a pitier of the dead, but… Continue reading you, who are always saving me
the way i love you
Ya Hussain. A thousand years have passed, but your love still remains. The beauty being that, to each who loves you, you are something different. Each lover claims you proudly as their own. Each speaks your name with a different tenderness. Each cherishes your touch with a different gaze. Each whispers, ya Aba Abdillah, in… Continue reading the way i love you