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This book is a potpourri of mostly political and religious poems. After an introduction to Islam, the Prophet of Islam and his companions, the book deals with some controversial topics in both religion and politics: the disappointment of Saad ibn Ubaidah, the importance of Abu Talib, the role of mullahs in a Muslim society, the American foreign policy in the Middle East etc. The author feels that if we apply justice, mercy, truth and faith in dealing with the political and social problems, we can bring peace and happiness to a whole lot of people around the globe.

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Poetry

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Publié par	AuthorHouse
Date de parution	20 octobre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781665570794
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Extrait

The Weightier Matters
A Potpourri of Political and Religious Poems
Second Edition
Zaki Ahmad Sabih

AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 833-262-8899

© 2022 Zaki Ahmad Sabih. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/12/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7080-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-7079-4 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION
IN GOD WE TRUST AND SEEK HELP FROM HIM!
PROPHET MUHAMMAD, PEACE BE UPON HIM
ABU BAKR
ALI
THE PIOUS CALIPHS
IMAM HUSSAIN
AN UNDERSTANDING HEART
BEAUTY OF THE QURAN
IT TEARS MY HEART WHEN BOSNIA BLEEDS!
THE BOSNIAN TRAGEDY
CARNAGE IN GORAZDE
THE FALL OF SREBRENICA
LIFE OF A TRUE MUSLIM
THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF SAAD IBN UBADAH
ABU TALIB
ABU al-ABBAS as-SAFFAH, THE ABBASID
A GOOD MUSLIM MOTHER
A GOOD MUSLIM DAUGHTER
A GOOD MUSLIM SON
A GOOD MUSLIM WIFE
WHO IS A MUNAFIQ?
THE MULLAHS
THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING MULLAHS
A NEW IMAM
MASSACRE IN AN ALGERIAN VILLAGE
TERRORISM IS WRONG
THE IRAQIS
REAL DEMOCRACY
AFTER THE FALL OF DACCA
THE STRANDED PAKISTANIS
SALAHUDDIN
O JERUSALEM IF I FORGET THEE!
SULTAN MUHAMMAD TUGHLAQUE
MY HOMETOWN
WHO ARE MY PEOPLE?
THE OLD INDIAN CINEMA
SIR SYED AHMED KHAN
THE URDU LANGUAGE
THE AGONY OF MISS FATIMA JINNAH
COME BACK TO YOUR NATIVE COUNTRY
THINK DIFFERENTLY
A GOOD LEADER
SHAME UPON A MUSLIM WITH SOUL SO DEAD
MORAL GROUNDS
THE AFRICAN UNION
THE BRITISH RULE IN INDIA
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
THE AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
THE MISTRY MAN
SOME DAYS
SALAMUN ALAIKUM
THE AGONY OF A PALESTINIAN FAMILY
THE PERSIAN GULF
IT IS MY WISH, MY EARNEST DESIRE!
MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.
NOOR JEHAN
THE BASIC DECENCY OF AMERICA
IBRAHIM 1
IBRAHIM 2
IBRAHIM 3
IBRAHIM 4
GLOSSARY OF FOREIGN WORDS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay
tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted
the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith … (Mathew 23:23)

Lo! Allah enjoineth justice and kindness, and giving to kinsfolk, and forbiddeth lewdness and abomination and wickedness. He exhorteth you in order that ye may take heed. (Quran 16:90)
Translation by Pickthall

Some poetry contains wisdom.
Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 73, Number 166.
PREFACE
I never thought I would write poetry. It was the summer of 1993. The Bosnian conflict was at its peak. The uprooting and slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims and their ethnic cleansing roused the consciousness of fair-minded and justice-loving people all across the world. Christians, Jews, Hindus, and people of other faiths joined Muslims to condemn the horrors in Bosnia. The almost-daily news of atrocities and injustice inflicted upon the Bosnian Muslims as reported in the newspapers and on television made me very tense and raised my moral consciousness. But I was unable to help them in any way. In the meantime, some Muslim and non-Muslim organizations of America planned a massive public rally in front of the White House in Washington to support the Bosnians and urge the United States government to save Bosnians’ lives. I joined the rally as member of Muslim Center of Middlesex County, New Jersey. The rally was a huge success. Thousands of people joined from all walks of life in America. There, I was raising slogans in support of the Bosnian Muslims. Coming home after the rally — about a three-and-a-half-hour trip to my hometown — I was thinking about how to convert those slogans into a poem. I succeeded in composing my first poem. Then there were a few more poems on Bosnia. After that, there was no dearth of topics. I continued to write.
I come from a religious background. Both of my parents were very religious and practicing Muslims. My mother used to recite the Qur’an in Urdu. It was a unique opportunity for me to hear the Holy Book in the language I could understand. Early in the morning, when she would begin her recitations, I would hurriedly get up from my bed, sit reverently and try to grasp the meaning of those words.
In my childhood days, those words created in me a strong sense of moral values and kindness toward fellow human beings. On the other hand, my father encouraged me to question and reason with the interpretations of different verses. He taught me that not everything was so rosy about the traditional religious scholars. I think that Sir Syed’s educational revolution together with the Wahabbi puritanical religious movement must have molded his thoughts. The Muslims of British India in those days were going through a time of awakening.
In Pakistan, one day, my father gave up thousands of rupees of monthly income because he could not render his professional help to liars and criminals. It was reported with astonishment in a small news column in the Urdu daily Jang , published from Karachi, how a trial lawyer from Thatta, Sindh struggled with his conscience and gave up his legal practice and became a small-salaried schoolteacher instead. I have named my book The Weightier Matters which are Justice, Mercy and Faith as mentioned in the Holy Bible. Wherever possible, I mention Justice, Mercy, Truth and Faith in my book. I believe it is the core teaching of all religions. Although emphasis in my book is on Islam, it is not lost on me that almost all religions of the world preach basically the same good things. It is important to highlight this, as it helps in the closer understanding and cooperation between different religions of the world. I strongly believe that many world issues and many of the political, ethnic, and racial problems can be solved if we followed these golden principles.
As far as literary value of my poems is concerned, only the critics of literature will tell us its real worth. I have tried as best as I could to present my thoughts in a suitable format. Since most of my subject matter is Islamic or deals with the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, I have used many foreign words (mostly Urdu and Arabic or Persian) quite freely in my poems, both for the purpose of clarity and for helping me with rhymes. A glossary of foreign words is given at the end of this book. A few of my poems are free of rhymes. Whatever the style, I consider the content and message conveyed in these poems more important. The content speaks for itself. Some of my poems are quite thought provoking. I hope the readers will like this potpourri.
Zaki Ahmad Sabih
Edison, New Jersey
May 29, 2005
Email: sabihee@aol.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I want to thank my brother and well-wisher, Mr. Syed Sami Ahmed, advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and also an author of several books, and his daughter and my loving niece, Dr. Seema Rizvi and her husband, Syed Iqbal Rizvi for their wholehearted support and encouragement. On various occasions when my brother was visiting his daughter and son-in-law in Poughkeepsie, New York, he admired my poems personally, and advised me to get them published as soon as possible. I also want to thank Syed Zakir Sahib, our family friend and neighbor, for his encouragement and support during my stay in Flushing, New York.
I want to thank Dr. Abdul Hamid, Editor of Iqra, New Haven, Connecticut, who printed many of my poems, a few of which are also on the magazine’s Web site. I also want to thank Dr. Kathy Wagner and Professor Bob Roth, both my teachers from the Department of English at the Middlesex County College, Edison, New Jersey. They read a few of my poems and gave me some encouragement, and valuable suggestions and comments, which for shortness of time and resources, I was unable to follow through, and had to publish my poems as-is.
I am indebted to my friends and colleagues: Michael Tendort (now retired and enjoying life in Florida), Antonio (Tony) Reciniello (retired), Emile Verderber (retired), Bernard Odoms (retired), Rich Trapani, Odly Duton, and Nick Ullo, for their kindness, encouragement, and appreciation of many of my poems.
I am thankful to Messrs. Kalam Nasri and Ikram Hyder, both of them my uncles from my wife’s side, and also my friends and well-wishers; Mr. Jamil Usman, an Urdu poet and author of an excellent storybook, Jalawatan Kahanian ; and Mr. Khalid Dalvi, another Urdu poet and friend. I am especially indebted to Jamil for his time and energy in going through the initial manuscript and giving me valuable advice and comments. Additionally, I want to express my gratitude to all my friends, relatives, and well-wishers, whose names I could not mention here individually, and who fr