Issue 9
The UIC MSA Publication
Freedom.
February 2016
Al-Bayyan
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Hoda Fakhari Kiran Fatima Shapla Shaheen Fazila Vhora Nuha Abdelrahim
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Introduction The idea of freedom we all have is, without a doubt, tainted. We believe we are free because we have the right to choose how we live, what we do with our time, what we spend our money on, who we associate with, and so on and so forth. The reality is that we don’t have much of a say in any of those aspects of our lives. Are you free as a student? Not truly. You are bound still by the laws of the land, like every other citizen in this country. You are bound by the rules of your institution. You are limited by your finances. You are free to study whatever you wish but are still limited by your parents, peers, and society. Above all you are limited by your own fears and insecurities. True freedom is achieved when you let go of all these things. So what, am I asking you to leave all these things so that you can attain freedom? Not at all. Most people don’t want freedom in the sense that they want to abandon all rules and forgo all rights. They still want a sense of order and establishment. They want to be able to pursue something they love, they want a family, a house, and to be able to live comfortably. What I propose to you all is to think about the code you choose to live by. Do not let go of the things that matter in life, but free yourself of the fears, inhibitions, and insecurities that confine you. Find a path which frees your doubts and curbs your desires; a path on which you may have been placed on but unwittingly wandered off of.
Head Copy Editor Ibraheim Mohammad
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Poetry The Village A legend told time and time again Of a village in a more ancient land Where a boy lived, energetic and youthful Yearning to leave and see the world But trapped in his only home Mountains surrounded the village On three sides, too treacherous to cross For only death awaited those who tried The elders spoke of a way out That few only had discovered Adjacent to the village, lay a vast forest Traversing it would lead to a shore city Full of sea travelers, at your service Ready to take you across oceans To a better and easier life The forest was not kind An immense thicket, one could easily Get lost, lost forever to misdirection The boy was eager to try He was ready, ready to prove his worth The elders advised him Only with a clear mind Will you find the freedom you seek So he set out, with confidence unbound But the forest soon humbled him Panicked and wandering, the boy Was beginning to lose hope Hope that he would ever get out A day passed and his situation turned He reached a clearing in the woodland Enough for the light from above To break through the endless growth He decided to make camp To eat, sleep, pray, and reflect Another day passed, with no signs
The boy became frustrated Why hadn’t a path revealed itself? Was he destined to be lost until his peril? His food depleting, he began to question His choice of seeking freedom But he remembered the elders And their advisory words to him So he cleared his mind And spent time in the clearing With prayer and meditation Becoming one with the forest More time passed, during which The boy became in tune with The sounds of the jungle During each mute instance of prayer He noticed the sounds of birds Oh how annoying they were! Disturbing his solidarity He noticed something peculiar After enough days of reflection The sounds died in a certain direction Was this the sign he needed? Excited, he hastily followed the sounds! After a day of strenuous travel He had found his answer The birds had led him out! There they were, on the water Among the sea dwellers Enjoying fish like spoils of war The sounds of waves were calming The sea dwellers vessels were Magnificent to the eye The boy was now ready Ready to travel the world Free to live his life Free to be, truly be ABB
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Freedom is Freedom is not being afraid to tell everyone around you don’t owe them anything Freedom is understanding that to move forward you have to let go of dead weight Freedom is realizing the only person who cares for you the most is you Freedom is realizing not everyone deserves your attention Freedom is realizing that if they don’t care about you shouldn’t care about them Freedom is realizing if you don’t hit them up first they’ll never hit you up Freedom is realizing you should have listened to your parents Freedom is realizing its time to grow up even if people around you refuse to Freedom is realizing advice from people who don’t know what they’re talking about is harmful Freedom is realizing that very few people actually want you to succeed Freedom is learning to value time and not to spend your youth being a slave to your social circle Freedom is realizing to advance you have to stop wasting time balling, going out, chilling in the lounge, and partying if your
career prospects and GPA is lower than the ground Freedom is realizing that until you make it friends who aren’t of any benefit to you academically, career wise, or spiritually are a poison to your life Freedom is understanding being popular just makes you a target of criticism Freedom is realizing “bro don’t worry I won’t tell anyone you can trust me” is a load of crap But Freedom is learning from your mistakes Freedom is learning to regret nothing because it is slowly making you the man you want to be Freedom is working silently and letting success speak for you Freedom is writing whatever you want regardless of what people what may think Freedom is what you want it to be. Freedom is you Don’t enslave yourself to those around you
Adil Shoeb
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Poetry A Chosen Submission. If I am to be a slave, I pray to be a slave to only to You. Freedom will never be indefinite for we are small and dependent. And freedom isn’t in being free but in choosing our Master. My master will not be emotion, will not be desire, will not be gain, or fame I choose my master to be God. Freedom is slavery to the Infinite, slavery to an everlasting servitude Freedom is Letting the soul return to its original Maker, its original Comfort. Freedom is not delusion Freedom is not material Freedom is not mortal Freedom is herein the place where I cannot point the place in which things are as they are not as we see them or hear themWhere Power can only be felt and tasted A sweetness of iman so sweet, the physical forgets sweetness. Freedom is the thing of silenceThe thing that lacks “what-ness” because what-ness is defining and defining is confining. And God is One. Unified. Encompassing. Cannot be imprisoned in meaning only by His Self-Endowed meaning. When I say la illaha illa Allah I firstly unsubmitto the things that have been shoved
down my throat as “the” pursuit I unsubmit to the commands of the others in secret servitude. Authority comes only from God. So secondly, after I unsubmit myself to anything and everything but the true Anything and Everything, I submit myself to God. The Most Merciful of Masters, the Most powerful, Most Everlasting of Masters The Only Master. The Gentle The Wise The Light. And in slavery I found my chains unshackling slowly and falling off my hands and mind and heart Gates opened in serenity like all along I was guarded and scared and controlled His light fills me inside like Goodness is everything spoken and unspoken in whispers and traces and echoes of His name. In servitude I find my Master everywhere. I find Freedom. For Freedom is infinite and free-flowing with servitude. I Submit. I peacefully Submit. Ayah Chehade
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Letters to and from Abductor
Dear Abductor, how did this even happen? Just a few moments ago we were sitting together and laughing. That is until you locked me up and threw me in a trash bin. I don’t know what I’m doing here, I’m just sitting in the dark. I hate you Abductor, you’ve got yourself an ugly heart. How could you do this to me? Think of all the people that will be missing me. I’m losing my mind. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. You just threw me in here and left me to die? Oh, I can see the cover being lifted and can see a little light. Damn, it closed, what are you going to decide? I just want to get out of this place and go back home to my father and my mother too. Wait, they’re in here and my brothers too? Abductor, what’s your problem? I can tell you throwing people down here with me isn’t going to solve them. My family deserves to be free, and so do I. Can’t you just look at us with a clear heart and open eyes? I don’t know how to get through to you, I just hope you take my advice. Nobody deserves this darkness, nobody should ever be thrown down in here. All I see is my family drowned in their tears. I don’t know why you did this to us Abductor. I’m going to go hide under my covers. Please let us out.
Dear Prisoner, you ask how did this happen? You asked me to throw you in the trash. You asked, and I did the action. You are where you belong, and you asked me to throw your family along. Don’t you remember when you would ignore their texts and calls? You made them feel like garbage, so that’s where I threw them. Don’t blame me, don’t act like your family relationships weren’t already ruined. Don’t get it confused, you are the master and I am the student. Whoever is in the trash with you is of your own choosing. Maybe you forgot or maybe you’re just a little bit confused. So to help you clear it up why don’t we just trade our shoes. When you look down and maybe you’ll just choose to ignore. Or maybe you’ll realize that my feet are actually yours. And then maybe you’ll take responsibility for your own horrors. I want you to look in the mirror and I want you to see yourself. You are your own Abductor, let your family go and free yourself.
Sincerely, Abductor
Sincerely, Prisoner A.M. Shah
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Poetry (continued) Slam Poetry
My Iman
I wanna backpack islam From giza to gaza Don’t look back until I reach the kabah Many learn the deen from the scholars But what if you had the opportunity to sit at the feet of the sahabah Or better yet the Prophet alaihi salatu wa salam Standing upon his mimbar just before we break fast.
My Iman increases and my Iman decreases, Oh ALLAAH! It also freezes My Iman? The lovely wood ceaselessly teases, I am losing soothing gentle breezes. My Iman increases and my Iman decreases.
I wanna know the straight path like the back of my hand Embody the Quran like Muhammad (saw) the map of a man I wanna nomad my way across the desert like a peasant, Who’s memorized every ancient, blessed path known to the fertile crescent. I wanna know the best of mankind To walk this earth. I wanna know heaven like home. I wanna know heaven like home. I wanna know heaven like home. Javerea Ahmed
I need some more fresh cartridges, To reload the boxes of my knowledges. There are some terrible leakages, No one ever comes for timely fixes. My Iman increases and my Iman decreases. My heart often suffers from healing diseases, Coming in contact with dirty darknesses. Sometimes it hears the sweet noises, Which always successfully confuses. My Iman increases and my Iman decreases. La Belle Dame sans Merci will never be mistresses, No matter how she wears her dresses. She wants to meet me during her recess, Surely she wants to spit on the clean faces. If my foot ever advances, my hand never stretches. My Iman increases and my Iman decreases, Oh ALLAAH! It also freezes? The lovely wood ceaselessly teases, I am losing soothing gentle breezes. My Iman increases and my Iman decreases. Abu Jafor
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Reflections Freedom is Calling my Name
Sarah Basheer
Freedom is a state of mind and soul. And restraint is a mindset that the misguided often force themselves into, thinking it’s the true freedom they’ve been seeking. The freedom they are looking for is chaos and defaming, and willfully consenting to their own shackles. Freedom is a conundrum that has taken the flavor of politics, and social definitions. Whether it be in the form of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or the lack of political and social oppressors, or the freedom to choose, to love, to dress how you want or not dress at all. The idea of freedom in a social context exists in our American society when some type of barrier restricts what people want to do, even if what they want to do makes absolutely no sense. They want what’s on the other side, that taste of freedom. They need to feel fulfilled, empowered and spontaneous in whatever choices they make even if those choices
only bring them harm. Because they think, “I know what’s best for me, and I’ll do what I want regardless of the consequences.” But those consequences will come and no one will pay but them. On the other hand, political freedom is a way of life that we’ve categorized and built upon with the rise of countries and constitutions, existing to stop the domination of humans over other humans. That freedom gives us societal structure, order and in a perfect world, equality. Aside from the law, the demands of civilization, and social definitions, where does the most fundamental freedom exist? In submission. The greatest freedom comes in the form of recognizing that as humans we have a choice to believe in a higher power. As humans we are given preference over other creatures because of this freedom, the free will to obey or disobey. Ironically, in submission is when I feel most at peace and free. Though not
submission to society, who thinks I’m oppressed, not submitting to the world, who thinks I’m a tyrant. I’m freer than they think--by being created for a purpose and fulfilling that purpose. Why would we choose anything else? In the back of my mind I know I have the freedom to do whatever I want. Drink in this life and then waste away in the soil of this Earth. But this life isn’t the end, and there’s a greater end for those willing to seek it. My freedom comes from realizing that fate doesn’t lie in my hands. Allah knows what’s best for me and I’ll follow His master plan. Freedom is to be without the need to question and worry. The responsibility does not burden my shoulders. I’ll put in the work and, God willing, Allah will see it through. The world will continue to turn, my life will play on, and I know Allah is watching over me and I pray for His forgiveness and guidance.
Tahajjud: Freedom from the Shackles of this Dunya Anonymous
Abu Hurairah reports that the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “Our Lord Descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night, inquiring, “Who will call on Me so that I may respond to him? Who is asking something of Me so I may give it to him? Who is asking for My forgiveness so I may forgive him?” [Bukhari and Muslim] Freedom from our Worry Think about what you’re most in need of right now. Think about that worry that’s been gnawing at you on the inside. Think about that problem you’ve been facing, and how it seems impossible to handle. Now think about the fact that your Lord literally comes down to you every night, asking if you need anything. And understand that if you ask Him during that time, you will most certainly find what you are in need of. You will most certainly find doors opening for you that you never imagined. You will most certainly find
ease. All you have to do is try. Freedom from our Spiritual Lows Maybe your prayers have been feeling empty. You know you’re standing in front of Allah, yet you can’t bring yourself to concentrate. Five times a day you stand to pray, and only you know what you get out of it. Maybe it’s frustrating. What if I told you of a time in the night when you could worship Allah and feel that there is no one on this earth besides you and Him? No distractions, just you and the One who you depend on. Tahajjud has been prescribed to us for a reason. It is the connection between us and Allah. If you wish to know if you are a beloved of Allah, look at your Tahajjud, and if you wish to become a beloved of Allah, keep trying to wake up for this prayer until it becomes beloved to you. I swear to you, you will see your life change. Practical Tips We should start with whatever we are able
to easily do. If we are able to wake up only 10-15 minutes before Fajr, we can do a quick wudu and a short Tahajjud. If we’re able to wake up earlier, enjoy a longer Tahajjud. The point is, do what you can. Set a particular day of the week when you’re able to do this. Perhaps, like myself, many others don’t have the drive to wake up early on a weekday, so start with a Saturday or Sunday. We should set one of these as Tahajjud day, that no matter how tired we are, we will wake up for Tahajjud on this day. Prolong your sujood while praying Tahajjud. If we find ourselves unable to wake up, just keep trying. And we should ask Allah to help us. This is a gift He gives to those who He loves, and if you want Him to love you, all you have to do is ask.
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Confessions We asked a few MSA members if they had any exam traditions. This is what they had to say.
We also asked Muslim students what is the most random place they have prayed?
I always try to laugh and make others laugh a couple hours before an exam to release stress and anxiety.
Off the shoulder on a freeway
Kashif Hussain, sophomore
Every time me and Tasneem Habib are taking a class together and have an exam, before the exam, we tell each other before walking in that we are about to fail. Lower our expectations, so when we do decent we feel good. Owais Khan, Senior
When I give up [studying], I put everything away and start eating almonds. Right before [an exam]. Try to get that one last brain boost. Abdullah Bheri (blue Bheri), Junior
I listen to Brian Dawkins’ pre-game speech on YouTube. “Give Everything You Doggone Got”. That’ll pump you up for anything. Adil Qaisar, super senior
I make a schedule that literally maps out every minute of my studying. Like 1:02 break time, 1:06 study this, 1:22 study this. And I freak out if it is off by even a minute. Aleena Haider, sophomore
I don’t study for exams. That’s why I’m a super senior! Ahmad Saadeh, alumni
During exams I write my name on every single page of the exam even if it’s stapled because I’m paranoid.
Downtown outside Ghirardelli
In a Subway restaurant, the Museum of Natural History in New York City, many parking lots, beach at Lake Michigan. The world is our masjid.
Tehreem Khaliq, Freshman
Sumaiyya Ahmed, freshman
Literally middle of nowhere in Nevada & on rocks by red rock canyon. Also, Random side corner in the United Center during a Bulls game.
In the middle of Fashion Outlets of Chicago- literally just prayed underneath the escalator on my winter coat
Fatima Nadia, Senior
Sarah Ahmed, Junior
A movie theater Annesti Elmasri, Junior
I went to a school with a very low Muslim population so we didn’t have a room to pray in so when we asked for one, they told us to pray in the theater. We would go into the huge dark theater and pray on the stage where there was a small spotlight. It must have looked very dramatic. Rowida Zatar, Sophomore
I’ve prayed in front of the Washington Monument in D.C. People were really confused. Saarah Na’Allah, Sophomore
Fitting rooms. Anonymous
The truck drivers lounge at a rest drop along the highway in the middle of nowhere while on a road trip with my family. The truckers were perplexed. Tooba Ghafoor, sophomore
Hiba Khaden, alumni
Montgomery Ward lounge Nuha Abdelrahim, sophomore
In someone’s empty office at work. Mariya Amiwala, junior
In the closet of a Jewish school Saba Ahmed, sophomore
On a train seat facing the wall. Saima Sharf, senior
Not random..but got caught in an awkward way..I prayed freshmen year in a conference room at SCE on the third floor. Suman Choudhry, senior
My friends (Bilal, Zain, Talat) and I prayed outside in 10 degree weather because Asr time was running out and we were stuck in traffic. We got out of the car, made wudhu with snow, and prayed on snow. Zuby Vhora, alumni
Myopic Shaple Shaeen, sophomore
Sarra Wahdan, junior
If I can’t decide if it’s a, b, c, or d, I say bismillah Rahman ir rahim, and pick which ever I land on. Lilian Maali, sophomore
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Editor in Chief Farooq Chaudhry Staff Writers Abdul Basith Basheer Sarah Basheer Staff Artist Shapla Shaheen Copy Editors Ibrahiem Mohammad Asif Mazhar Lilian Maali Layout Nuha Abdelrahim Creative Direction Noor Abdelrahim
Interested in contributing to Al-Bayyan? If so, email submissions to albayyanuic@gmail.com