U of A Sisters’ Circle

In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

A Secret History

Mohammad Akram Nadwi, a 43-year-old Sunni alim, or religious scholar, has rediscovered a long-lost tradition of Muslim women teaching the Koran, transmitting hadith (deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and even making Islamic law as jurists. […]

Barring Muslim women from education and religious authority, Akram argues, is akin to the pre-Islamic custom of burying girls alive. “I tell people, ‘God has given girls qualities and potential,’ ” he says. “If they aren’t allowed to develop them, if they aren’t provided with opportunities to study and learn, it’s basically a live burial.”

 

At today’s sisters’ circle meeting, Monazzah gave a really informative presentation on Muslim poetry.

At the end, we passed along a sheet on which we each added a few lines to form a continuous poem.

Look below for our poem: the voices of many sisters coming together in our “Poetic Fusion”. Great job you guys!

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“POETIC FUSION”

By the MSA sisters!

 

Sitting, thinking, contemplating- always in a daze

As if in search of an answer- making my way through this maze.

 

I’ve been moving through confusion, treading through this haze

Struggling with my nafs – apathy and laze

 

Apathy forever consuming

A hollow void ascend

A dark spiral following

So easy to descend

 

Life goes like flowing water

My destiny awaits in the midst

But is it destiny or fate?

That questions me time and again

 

Creeping and crawling, the darkness has crystallized

Within me, now all faith has been compromised

 

The faith through this haze, although in a daze

I have been moving through this confusion

Creeping and crawling out of this delusion

Fight away for the strength of my nafs

 

To conquer this all, I say a prayer with each of my breaths

Oh Allah guide me to the path of those most blessed

 

The path that would lead me to paradise so beautiful

A place so great, a place so fruitful

 

Allah showed us the way with this beautiful deen

And everyday it occurs to me to say Alhamdulillah and Ameen.

For our Muslim community to sustain itself in the West, we must reconnect with our Islamic tradition of Sacred Knowledge.

If you want to join a sisters’ study circle taking the Sunnipath Introduction to Islamic Belief course, please email ghani.sana@gmail.com ASAP

By the end of the course you will understand both Islamic beliefs as well as their relevance to your life. The emphasis will be on bringing the meanings and implications of these beliefs into your life – so that your daily life is ‘touched by faith’ and so that you can begin to look at life around you in light of your beliefs.