She's principled. So is he.
Islam is their way of life
so they understand one another.
Committed to it, dedicated to it
is the only way, she and he are free.

She and he are not afraid
to stick their necks out.
Kaepernick, wouldn't you agree?
Though hers is covered
by her own choice
and his is not covered
Both refuse to get broken
Their moral resolve with a noteworthy shout.

Her hijab
takes her places
to public places
without the need to be center stage.  
His solo self
flies through the air with a basketball in hand
on basketball courts
in his homeland
and in other places
on God's world's page.

Anytime, we wearing hijab
walk outside of our home door,
we stand
Yes, we stand
Yes, we stand proudly
not for our country
not for nationalism
not for a puffed chest
not for a pat on the back
Yes, we stand
with inner beauty
doing a grand job
of minimizing our outer beauty
We stand
We stand even when others choose not to
Even when others feel they cannot
think it's too hard
they'd rather fit in
We stand

We stand for You Most Magnificent Allah
We stand for You Most Lovely Allah
We stand for You Most Beautiful Allah
We stand for You Most Brillant Allah
We stand because of You
And we stand forever for You

We stand because of Your Love
We stand because of Your Light
We stand because of Your Fellowship
We stand because of Your Assistance
We stand because of the strength You've given to us
We stand because of Your Smiling Face Upon Us
We stand because of Your All Blue Skies
Yes, we stand

Thank you, dearest Allah
Thank you so much for ordering us to stand
Thank you enormously for showing us how to stand
"Thank you for everything" said Sr. Marzieh Hashimi, you, who in hijab stand everyday
Ya Allah, Dearest Allah, you're the reason we're able to stand
You're the reason we can confidently stand
You're more important than
You're more significant than
any distasteful look
any disbeliever's ill judgement
any person wanting not to see a hijab as not to be reminded visually of his God, wanting to dodge an in-your-face symbol of God
any human wanting to avoid digesting the message of fulfill your responsibility to God, and need to regularly express gratitude to Him
any individual who knows it isn't the piece of cloth that modestly covers he has issue with, it's God he has issue with, it's God he is distant from, it's God he's uncomfortable with, it's God he fears, it's as my unforgettable Muslim, young brother forced out of his homeland, mine, and yours, that of Syria (Every person has two homelands. His own, and Syria. -Andre Parrot) who carrying my bags to assist me said, Often, it's not the dark we're afraid of, it's the light

Thank you, Imam Asi for making sure we understand
The One Who manufactured our stand

For all ladies who believe in The One
And with whom make The One, Number One
There will be no sitting in public here
There will be no rest for us here
Because rest belongs to the Heavens
Rest is waiting for us to join it, to stop with it
if we've been given not a red light
but a green light
Oh, we want that green light
You and I
Isn't that right, Br. Mahmoud?
You want that green light
More so, because you've tasted that green light
You've tasted that green light
Who said it's a red light that starts a blaze
No, it a green one
Your STAND over 25 years ago
Got you tasting green
Got you tasting peace
Got you tasting harmony
Yes, we want that green light
Yes, ladies in hijab and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
We want that eternal sit
That sit up close and personal with Allah to see HIS platinum gold, shining face
That sit intimately with Allah's beloved Messenger and his beloved
That sit happily with our deserving kin and deserving friends we met on earth and in the heavens
That sit on canopy beds
That sit on the greenest of pastures
That sit on gold and platinum benches
in front of gardens we can't unsee
You said so, Br. Mahmoud
You said so with your ACT OF SIT
and your ACT OF STAND IN PRAYER
during the playing of the national anthem in 1996
And you said so with your words in 2022
So, as is required
We graciously STAND temporarily
for however long temporary is for us
We STAND
AUFSTEHEN, STEHEN I repeat
And we STAND with the man
whose STAND has helped change how we see ourselves
whose STAND asked us to ask ourselves
If we were Br. Mahmoud,
would we have done the same as he did
And whose prayer while standing on the court
Caused an uproar
Forced people to have to look within
and for a quick few seconds ask
Why am I singing but not feeling
Why am I honoring but not respecting
I am a contradiction
This country is a contradiction
This stolen land is a grandiose fake
Why have I abandoned my STAND

But in fear,
But in their desire to be associated with a false deity,
But in their need to feel superior
because of their inner feeling of low self-worth and insignificance,
they stopped reflecting
They stopped thinking
They stopped asking
And instead of facing the music
Instead of facing their inner voice
Instead of facing their God
They again turned to idols
They again turned to false deities
They again turned to their ills  
They turned their very backs on
the super star they had been cheering for
and routing for all along
It was easier for them to cause ruckus
Easier for them to cause pain and grief
More satisfying to scream and yell obscenities
offer death threats
Like the way the unbelievers, the hypocrites
treated our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
More satisfying to speak the unbelievable
You're fired.
Like the Monster, Donald Trump,
if he were the commissioner
would have said
Instead, David Stern said it
to a fellow human
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
a practicing Muslim
a still NBA basketball star
not former as is often written and spoke
like Imam Muhammad al-Asi
still The Imam of The Islamic Center of Washington, DC
you, a married man then
a father with children
You're fired
for your STAND
for GOD
for morals
for principles
against tyranny and oppression
against injustice and hypocrisy
against thievery and slavery
You're fired
for your refusal to STAND
for a country's anthem
for a nation's flag
for disobeying slave (Thank you, Imam Asi for not wanting to even say or speak this word as pertaining to a human referring to another human using this word) masters
and obeying The Only Master
You must pay,
they cheered
You must pay,
the NBA said
the then, David Stern said

GOD
The ONE better than
the basketball fans
the NBA
the then, David Stern
tells us that we never pay,
when we STAND
As a Muslim
on the court
when we STAND
As a Muslimah wearing hijab
in public
when we STAND
We don't pay
We gain

Gain is what we obtain
A reward is what we earn
And
For as long as we keep standing
in a jersey
or in a hijab
they'll keep hating
And
For as long as we
in a jersey
or in a hijab
keep standing
we'll keep shining God's light
and
we'll keep scoring

By: Najwa Kareem

Sitting down
My face turned towards yours

You looking at me
Me looking at you

Why do you cry?

Looking at you,
in your eyes,
I have reason to cry

By: Najwa Kareem

Everywhere I look,
I see oppression

Everywhere I walk,
I see inequality

Everywhere I turn,
I see misery

Everywhere I do what I need to do,
I see discrimination

Everywhere I talk and am talked to,
I see evil

There is no pretending
There is no escaping
There is no ignoring

Our lives too heavy
Our lives too burdensome
Our lives too unnatural
Our lives too abnormal
Our lives too harsh

There is a God said solution
There is a God given resolution

LIBERATE MECCA

FREE MECCA

Let it be OUR top priority
So that we will ALL be free
So that we will ALL have peace
So that we will ALL live

By: Najwa Kareem

Raise our God consciousness
Raise our “Allah is greater than.” “Allah is more important than.” “Allah is more significant.”
Raise our minds
Raise our confidence
Raise our love for the oppressed
Raise our voices
Raise our hands
Raise our prayers
Raise our grassroots efforts…talking to ordinary people
Raise our signs
Raise our slogans
Raise our bravery
Raise our solidarity
Raise our red, black, white, and green
Raise our love and our cries for our human brothers and sisters
Raise our commitment to the martyrs
Raise our commitment to the grieving families
Raise the greed out of them
Raise the racist out of them
Raise the arrogance out of them
Raise the Netanyahu caricature devil looking ears out of them
Raise the butchers out of them
Raise the terrorists out of them
Raise the grotesque torturers out of them
Raise the chumps out of them
Raise the monsters out of them
Raise the two-facedness out of them
Raise the facade out of them
Raise the raids out of them
Raise the bomb strikes out of them
Raise the nuclear weapons out of them
Raise the baby, children, women, and men murderers out of them
Raise the assassinators of grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, wives, husbands, and more out of them
RAISE THE VICTIMIZED, TYRANNIZED, HEGEMONIZED, BROWBEATEN, DOWNTRODDEN, MASSACRED, WE WILL NOT GIVE UP, PALESTINIANS’ FREEDOM OUT OF THEM

by: Najwa Kareem

Standing and looking up from underneath these Allah made magnificent trees while waiting for the next bus to come
with all of their complexities, dimensions, features
each branch artistically and uniquely designed
many almost hook like in shape
variations of pink colored carnation flowers hanging delicately from them in light, medium, and dark shades
with pin drop size black dot on each flower's stem                                                             ­                      
complemented by green and copper tone leaves
I see All Blue Skies and think they should see All Blue Skies, too

Looking up, I think it isn't fair that I see what I see
All Blue Skies and people of Palestine, people of Gaza don't see the same and don't have the same

Do they even have a moment of pause
a chance to look up at what's above  
an opportunity to marvel at something
to rest a bit

And if they have lived or survived to be able to look above their heads                                                        
isn­­­’t it often
that they see gray or black and not All Blue
Is it not rubble from deadly bombs that they see falling down on them
for many, many not to live life as they were meant to live it

Looking up at the All Blue Skies from underneath these marvelous trees
I shake my head right to left, left to right and with expressions on my face I wish I myself could see, think this isn’t fair

When we look up at the All Blue Skies above our heads and wonder why our blue skies don’t feel as blue
It’s because Palestine’s All Blue Skies aren’t there
It’s because people of Palestine and people of Gaza don’t have them that we don’t relate to them and their long standing, ongoing struggle
Because they don’t have what we have, we don’t see them as one of us
But like Nelson Mandela said, We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

We have a lot of work to do
with us unified and with proper guidance by moral leadership
We have a lot to do
So that All Blue Skies are had by all and felt by all

We should all work in significant, high priority ways – be the Abds,
be the servants, be the slaves that Allah created us to be for Him
so that All Blue Skies for Palestine’s Human Lives are seen clearly, seen vividly, from everywhere on the globe
And afterwards, when we look up wherever we are at the All Blue Skies sitting above our heads,
we’ll feel not blue  

By: Najwa Kareem

September 23 is for Harmony
Yippee
23 plus 5 equals 28
The birthday of Allah's Prophet (PBUH), a most memorable date
2 plus 3 equals 5
days later, God hollers, Eid Milad Saeed, we're live
Your birthday starting last night
with a full moon shining bright
I waved happy birthday with a schoolgirl's sincerity
and you said back, A rainbow lunar halo, for some a symbol of harmony
To the most honest man, the most trustworthy human
Messenger Muhammad's full of Iman and taqwa, alive with stocks boomin
A fighter against injustice, oppression, colonialism, imperialism, racism, sexism, any ill we name
As Musa said, Somebody has to explain that paper money is the key threat in this game
The Final Chosen One went low to get he and others high
Talking God's words, speaking truth respectfully to help call girls get shy
On 23, God said, Enter the world a bright smile Harmony
On 28, Here comes good people to celebrate, a beautiful bumble bee
A most lovely man, we shout for, Yay, she saying, Cheese
His humble reply, Thank you. No, please
Insisting we give thanks and show gratitude to the one who birthed The Prophet, Amina
and to the ONE who created him and his daughter al-Zahra, Fatima
God's dutiful servant urging us, More eggs in the basket for the akhirah and less in the basket for the dunya
She too would say, your Siti Haneefah
We're here today, September 28th already and tomorrow will soon be gone, no more a life
An exuberant cheer, We love you dearest Prophet and your most beloved and favored wife
For Ahmad, Hamid, Mahmud, the focus, the VIP today
From a grateful student and from a thoughtful Auntie, this poem is for The #1 Muhammad and Harmony K

By: Najwa Kareem

Who'd be good to help make a reason to rise breakfast
because I'm thinking of waffles being cooked
She who stood in our home's kitchen on an early am Sunday
frying MorningStar sausages in a pan
My Mom told her
You cook like how your Mom cooks so perfectly
Any food lover would be a fan

Fatima Z said at the end of an evening program at I.E.C.
I'm going to help a friend now who's deaf
It's an hours drive to get there
As you can see
she's much bigger than a chef

She who on the 1st day of Eid
tricked us saying she wanted to stop at the mall to buy herself clothing
instead came out with Eid gifts for her friends
illustrating Ramadan's lesson of no greed

Fatima Z upon entering the Akhgar crib
cleaned and organized their entire kitchen
No thanks in return did she want
Who does that as a guest
Far from looking like one
she moved around comfortably
working hard with no desire of ditchin

She holding the hand of an elderly lady
speaking Farsi to her as best she could  
as she guided her walk carefully to the end of the path
all her focus on a charity

Fatima Z after giving a short speech
on Fati's wedding day
was described by my Father as wise
Her good spirit and happiness filled the air
like can be felt in the month of May

She organized Fati's second bridal shower
Planned with me on the phone late at night Fati's Bday party
Commuted from one distant city to another
to help Fati through labor and delivery

Extremely hospitable
Fatima Z on an incredibly tragic day
offered us something to drink
in our own house
said T
Not only her way
but what it is her beautiful eyes and smile blink

All these thoughts or memories of her came to mind this morning
She I remember
and blown away that immediately afterwards
I reflect that today's the 9th of September

Fatima Z, a lady is she
It's your birthday
from Najwa
She'll likely humbly chuckle
hee, hee

By: Najwa