It has been reported that a prominent Christian leader, Pat Robertson, has said that Haiti has been “cursed” by a “pact with the devil.” Fortunately, this is not the mainstream Christian position and my friend, the Reverend Paul Raushenbush, has rejected Robertson’s “blaming the victims” theology. Religious leaders must take a stance against extremist voices in their community, and I am glad to see Rev. Raushenbush respond to Robertson’s ridiculous and offensive suggestions.
As Muslims, we believe that human suffering is not always explainable or understandable. We do know that innocent people suffer all the time, from sickness and natural disaster, and that in such cases, we are required to do two things: First, pray and remember, as the Qur’an says that “to God we belong and to Him we return.” Second, we must help those who are suffering. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, reported in a Sacred Hadith that if we want to be close to God, we should visit the sick and feed the needy. On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will say, “O son of Adam, I fell ill and you did not visit me.” The person will say, “O Lord, how could I visit you when You are the Lord of the worlds?” He will say, “Did you not know that So-and-so fell ill and you did not visit him? If you had visited him, you would have found Me with him [the hadith continues].”
We realize from this hadith that the path to closeness with God is, after worship, service to humanity. Perhaps the most needy collectivity of people in the world today are the Haitians after enduring this terrible earthquake. Helping the Haitians in this time of need is certainly a sign of religious sincerity.
Kewser is a Bosnian organization focused on educating women and children. Hor Kewser (hor means choir) has produced a CD and DVD and also tours within and outside Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH). You can read all about them on the English section of their website; they sponsor a lot of cultural and spiritual events, especially to honor Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him). They have published a magazine called Zehra for eight years, for women and families. Here is the video of their song “San” (A dream), followed by the Bosnian text and English translation.
San
U pećini Hira
Ugledah Muhammeda,
U snu mi se ukaza
Obris lika njegova,
A ja žedna krenula
Do vode sa Izvora
Kad me svjetlost okupa
Od meleka silnoga.
Hatidža sva zablista
U nastavku moga sna
Ona čvrsto zagrli
Voljenoga Ahmeda.
Izgubih se i ja sva
U ljepoti Kur’ana
Ikre bismi Rabbike
Uđe u moje srce.
Sallallah ala Muhammed
Sallallah alejke Ahmed
Tu sam, blago prošapta
Ljubav našeg Resula,
Istina je zasjala
Pomoću ti Mustafa,
Sve što imam dajem ja
Od imanja svojega
Moja duša bliska je
Tvojoj duši Ahmede.
Sa uzdahom pogledah
S bolom dun’ja ugledah
San k’o privid iščeze
Ali želja ostade.
Budi ukras mog ahlaka
Ja Mustafa, Ja Nazif
S tvojih vrata dozivam te
Šefaat podari mi.
Sallallah ala Muhammed
Sallallah alejke Ahmed
Dream
In the cave of Hira
I saw Muhammed
In the dream he appeared,
The silhouette of his countenance
And I, thirsty, gravitated
Toward water from the Source
When I was bathed in the light
Of the glorious angel
Khadija fully glowed
As my dream continued
She tightly hugged
Her beloved Muhammed
And I also was completely absorbed
In the beauty of the Kur’an
“Read in the Name of Your Lord”
Entered my heart.
Sallallah ala Muhammed
Sallallah alejke Ahmed
“I am here,” softly whispered
The beloved of our Messenger
The truth was illuminated
“For your assistance Mustafa
All that I have I give
Of my possessions
My soul is next to
Yours, O Ahmed”
With a sigh I opened my eyes
With grief I saw the world
The dream like a shadow disappeared
But the joy remained
Be the adornment of my character
Ja Mustafa, Ja Nazif
At your door I call you
Grant me assistance.
Bosna Muslim Media has several videos up from the concert “Gaza u mom srcu” (see a few posts down for overall review). When I saw the concert again on TV, I noticed they cut a lot of performances. I wonder why. Here are some that I liked:
On Sunday night, about 10,000 people braved the cold weather to attend “Gazu u mom srcu” (Gaza in my heart), a giant concert held to raise money for humanitarian relief in Gaza.It was such a large concert, in fact, that it was held in Zetra, the Olympic stadium.The event was scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm, but people began filling the stadium over an hour in advance, and by 6:30 the hall was nearly full.The audience consisted of viewers of all ages, ranging from children to the elderly.The stage was beautifully set up, with white hanging lights and arches to the side of the stage.In the center was a screen, on which a slide show consisting of images from Palestine would be displayed throughout the event.To either side of the screen were sets of high bleachers, which began to fill up just before 7:00.
Several choirs from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina and other parts of the Balkans were scheduled to participate in the event and they began to file onto the stage, taking their places on the bleachers to enthusiastic applause.The members of each choir were dressed alike, for example the women of Hor Kewser were dressed in shiny red and gold outfits.The instrumentalists took their places in front of the bleachers, and the soloists, narrators, and hafizi (those who had memorized the Qur’an, and would recite it during the event) sat in the middle, just under the screen.Shortly beforehand, I had seen the Reis ul-Ulema, Dr. Mustafa Cerić, and his wife arrive and take their seats in the front row.
The event started promptly with a recitation from the Qur’an.There are many hafizi (Arabic: Huffadh) in the Balkans who have been trained at the Gazi Husref-Bey madrasa.Some of them, such as Aziz Alili, Burhan Šaban, Senad Podojak, and Mensur Malkić, who all participated in the event, are also very popular singers of ilahije.After most of the recitations, a narrator read the Bosnian translation of the passages.
I was familiar with many of the singers there, but not all of them.Some of those less familiar to me were pop singers.A highlight of the event, in my opinion, was Hamza Raznatović’s (lead singer of pop band MacBeth) rendition of the well-known ilahije “Dosta mi je Allah moj” (My God is enough for me – see him singing this at a different event on Samaha’s blog).After hearing Burhan Šaban sing a song in Arabic at the beginning of the event, I hoped that he would later perform one of his own songs, and he did – “Dođi Najdraži” (Come, Most Beloved – see music video of this song here).I think he performed this song because it describes the Prophet’s return from the isra’ and mi’raj, part of which took place at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.Slides of the structure were shown on the screen during the performance.Another highlight was Aziz Alili’s performance of “Šehidi” (Martyrs – see video of him performing this song here), a song that was popular in Bosnia during and after the war here.I could see that many of the older people in the audience were deeply moved by the song. Interestingly, while the permissibility of musical instruments and female singers are hotly debated in many parts of the Muslim world, they appear to be non-issues here. The event ended with a brief speech and a du’a by Reis ul-Ulema Dr. Mustafa Cerić, and people began piling out of the stadium.
I went to an EXCELLENT concert last night! More about it tomorrow, insha’Allah I’ll post an article. I also have a few other things on my mind, from the concert, and I’ll probably compose a few posts about that; I’d like to get some opinions on some issues. Hmm, also have to ask some potentially delicate questions and not sure how to approach them. I think I’ll wait awhile. Also the snow is melting! I need to get a better map, I got lost on the way home last night and had to get a taxi! I may have found an apartment too! Please pray that it works out…
