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  • Published on

    Fellowship Feature - His Beloved, My Master

    Fellowship Feature Poetry
    Picture

    Photo by Le Mucky on Unsplash

    ❝ I grew up going to Sunday school
    Little girl with big eyes and a bigger hunger for God
    Mouth so full of Arabic before I even knew what my tongue was capable of
    Allāhumma ṣalli ’ala sayyidinā Muhammad
    And that word — sayyidinā --
    That master
    Sat in my chest like a stone I was too scared to name

    Because where I’m from,
    Master was not a title of love
    Master was not a title we gave willingly
    Master was the whip that bent backs
    Master was the auction block, the blood on the bark of southern trees
    Master was the reason my last name ain’t the one God wrote for me

    So how do I, a Black woman,
    Descendant of the stolen and the unspoken,
    Pray with the word master on my tongue and mean it with love?
  • Published on

    Fellowship Feature - The Black Mother

    Fellowship Feature Poetry
    Picture

    "The Storyteller" - Thierry Lamare

    ❝ ​I am the Black girl that crossed the dark sea
    Carrying in my body the seed of the Free
    Now home on Native land
    I am the woman who worked on the field
    Bringing the cotton and the cane to yield 
    I am the one who laboured as a slave
    Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave
    Children sold away from me, husband auctioned off, mamas voided too
    No safety, no love, no respect was I due
    A prey to white violence, a slave to white lust
    No value, low-priced
    Back then I sucked salt and bit the dust
    Four hundred years deep in the South
    But God put a song and a prayer in my mouth 
    God put a dream like a steel drum in my soul
    Freedom gave fire to this body turned cold
    Now, through my children, I'm watching the seed grow,
    Post up like the Fruit,
    Now, through my children, I'm hitting the goal.
    Realize child the blessings denied to me
    I couldn't read then, I couldn't write 
    I had nothing back then, not even the night
    Some days the road was hot with sun
    But I had to keep on till my work was done
    I had to keep on! No stopping for me--
    I was the seed of the coming Free
    I nourished and nursed the dream, the struggle 
    That nothing can smother 
    Deep in my breast-- 
    The Black mother 
    I had only one hope then, but now through you,
    Black children of today, my wildest dreams must come true
    All you dark children in the world today out there,
    Remember my blood, my sweat, my tears 
    Remember my years, heavy with sorrow-
    And make of those years a torch for tomorrow.
    Make of my past a road to the light,
    A revolutionary path
    Out of the darkness, the ignorance, the night. ❞
    *
    Written by Zaakirah Rose
  • Published on

    Pearls of Islam - A Performance at the Concert of Hope

    Events Poetry Video
    Sakinah Lenoir & Rabiah Abdullah
    The Pearls of Islam are an acoustic dynamic duo born and bred in London. Their parents are converts of African Caribbean Heritage. Growing up in a convert family the Pearls were always exposed to many different types of Music from reggae to rhythm and blues to classical to traditional qasidas.

    It was their parents passion and love that encouraged them to use their voices for the love of the Prophet Muhammed (    صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) and their deen. As children they were always encouraged to sing on stage and perform their own poetry this eventually led to Pearls of Islam officially being established in 2005 under the management of Mecca 2 Medina. Since then, inspired and moved by their family and their Shaykh the Pearls have continue to express themselves through the use of their music and nasheeds.

    The Pearls perform a mixture of nasheeds, rap, poetry and spoken word accompanied with the Djembe, Daff, Darbouk and Guitar.

    They have been blessed to perform and take their music all over Europe from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and perform to all audiences.

    Their varied work captures the attention of all types of audiences, non Muslim and Muslim alike. The Nasheeds which the ladies perform are in both English and Arabic and written with enthusiasm and love. Each piece has been worked on individually and expresses the love for Allah (    سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى), His religion, His beloved Prophet Muhammad (صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ), life and of course their spiritual teacher, Shaykh Muhammad Nazim. Their music emphasizes spreading the love of Rasululah (صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) and the love of Haq (truth) in their hearts and others. (via Facebook)