The Great Forgiver

In the Qur'an, Allah refers to oppressors, including those who oppress themselves, in three ways: as ظالم (oppressor), ظلوم (great oppressor) and ظلّام (greatest oppressor); however, Allah in turn reminds us of His attributes: غافر (forgiver), غفور (great forgiver) and غفّار (greatest forgiver). No matter the state in which we knock on Allah's door, irrespective of the depth of oppression we find ourselves drowning in, Allah reassures us that He will meet us with a forgiveness greater than the sins we concede, the sins we confess, the sins over which we repent, the sins over which we're remorseful.

 
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [39:53]

The Days of Our Life

Who would’ve thought that from the spark of a question of hate,

Could emanate such a fairytale love story, which endures to date?

Cross-legged, calmly dwelling as I write these words for you, from you,

Inspired by you, for you;

But it hurts,

My inability to express your worth, the earth I’d sell for you,

The pleasure of one breath, for the deeds of the path to you.

Falling hard, falling fast, with the world to gain,

Making up for lost time, I can even find pleasure in pain,

Making me feel as if I can fly,

Waking up each morning to find myself falling again.

Falling hard, falling blind, I was face to face with the faceless,

Please no more time wasted,

Impatient and restless, we soon began to press this.

Day two, train to you,

I close my eyes and I’m there,

Shivering on reflection of the guy she knew, the guy she’d see,

Why would she, how could she fall in love with me?

And the girl I knew, the girl I’d meet,

And the love and the hope and the wings she’d bring.

Clutching heart, field of fate,

I remember the day,

Hurry queen, make haste, save your king,

Impede the checkmate.

Dizzy spells, wishing wells

At each halt of the train,

Colliding trains of thought, I ought to breathe

Untangle these strings and the havoc I wrought

With butterflies beaming and breeding within,

The sip of water to drown them evaporating within.

Hush now heart; now beat to the second,

I’m beaming as I write this as I know what beckons,

From the inside staring out watching waiting beauty,

I could’ve stood there forever.

Hark back to that kiss in the soul of the realms,

Hand in hand, lips to lips,

It all came down to this,

Teary eyes, weary sighs,

Every step, every breath, it all came down to this.

Now let us skip to the sixth, day three, let me,

Foreword done, chapter one, paint a picture serene,

The coolness of my eyes,

A heavenly bride,

Garbed in green.

For me, my whole life, did she represent, content,

That first look sufficed for my heart to cement

The beauty of the word, blossoming love, heaven sent,

That we’re a cloak for one another, hers carrying heaven’s scent.

There passed a day in December that we’ll always remember,

Day four waking whole, you filled that void in my soul,

Placing me on a pedestal and overlooking

My faults, my darkness, your light daily eclipses,

Rest assured, day five, the rest of our lives,

For now represented by tomorrow’s ellipsis…

The Beginning of the End for Faraz Ali??

Twitter favourite Faraz Ali better known as @RazTweets has again been at the centre of controversy in what looks like a struggle to deal with his new rise to fame. He recently erupted in an interview which was broadcasted nationally, an interview which he had set up to set the story straight. Ali quickly changed his tune and became “uncontrollable and inconsolable” after being questioned by the interviewer regarding suggestions that after finding fame, Faraz no longer retweeted his followers, who have been loyal to him from the beginning. The allegations further went on to claim that Ali now simply acknowledged his followers with a mere ‘favourite’, akin to a gold star given to a child at school. The worrying incident ended with a frantic Faraz running out of the room, screaming, “Bonsai! Bonsai! What about Bonsai?!”, presumably a nod to his lifelong mentor, Nader, who was also unavailable for comment. A trace of resentment perhaps? “The phone lines are going crazy!” exclaimed one producer. This is surely going to leave him in hot water, especially following the rumours which surfaced last week regarding a recent drug addiction, although these allegations have so far remain unfounded. Watch this space.

A source close to Ali, simply known to us by his pseudonym, Mullahberg, did concede to our undercover reporter that the rising superstar was struggling with recent reviews made by ruthless critics in response to the now infamous ‘Muslim Bae’ tweets, which catapulted him to stardom following thousands of retweets. Several commentators called him “an idyot” [sic], no less in CAPSLOCK, others questioning whether he even has a wife, some radicals condemning him to the depths of hell and one fan unhesitant in declaring, “not homo but he is cute.”, allegedly resulting in a very confused Faraz. In an apparent act of damage limitation, Ali released a statement in the early hours today after calling a press conference, refuting all rumours. Reporters slammed the star for leaving without answering any questions, no less to “boos” and cocktailed chants of “We love you Muslim Bae!”, “Dead Hearts! Dead Hearts! Dead Hearts!”, “Go kill yourself!” and a solitary plea for attention, “It’s me, it’s me, no homo, it’s me.”

Faraz first came into the limelight as an internationally recognised director with his box office hit, ‘The Great Collision’ which was quickly followed by his vines being regular crowd favourites on the Muslim Vines page, and more recently, the much acclaimed ‘Dead Hearts’, which some say should have gone straight to DVD. Speaking at the premiere of ‘Head Darts’ last night, one of the best directors of our generation, Steven Spielberg, was asked about the parallels between his movie and ‘Dead Hearts’. He insisted that they were “sufficiently dissimilar” and even alluded to the two directors conceivably joining forces in the near future. “Maybe,” he was quoted as saying before turning around and ‘accidentally’ elbowing our reporter in the temple.

Most of his followers seem to be sticking by the devout, bearded Muslim through these testing times with some going as far as to say that he has changed for the better. But is this newly found fame the beginning of the end for this household favourite or simply a small hiccup, an inevitable hurdle in one’s rise to global stardom? Islam Channel officials have dismissed that any action would be taken against Mr Ali after his recent interview outbursts but that they would “value the honesty rather than blatant denial.” The ball still seems to be firmly in Ali’s court but with his increasingly defiant ‘collisions’ and reporters lining every rehab centre this side of the Atlantic, the question on everybody’s lips remains, what happens next to Faraz Ali?

[To leave a comment, you need to realise that the above is a satirical piece, a parody of recent events and (nearly) entirely fictional. If not, then please look in the mirror and slap yourself in acknowledgement that you are in fact an idiot; nevertheless, do feel free to comment for the sake of our entertainment and to provide the writer with yet more material to write about.]

Above: Mr Ali in his most recent

'Muslim Bae' tweet.  The drugs talking?