Faith Fridays - Danger by Amir Sulaiman [VIDEO]

Every Friday we hope to bring you a khutbah or short lecture in English that we feel may be of benefit to you. Think of it as a weekly khutbah from a different perspective. All you need to do is spend 30 minutes (or less) a week to learn something new.

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In anticipation of next week's event, Lounging with Peter Gould, that's going to be about artistic expression and Islam we're doing something unorthodox today.

Meet Amir Sulaiman, a Def Jam poet and a servant of Allah. Amir began writing poetry at the age of 12 and his poems always exude raw emotion. In "Danger" he talks about some of the injustices that the Muslim community faces and how we should respond.

You can find him at AmirSulaiman.com or his YouTube page.

I am not angry; I am anger.

I am not dangerous; I am danger.

I am abominable stress, eliotic, relentless.

I'm a breath of vengeance.

I'm a death sentence.

I'm forsaking repentance,

to the beast in his hench men.

Armed forces and policemen

that survived off of oils and prisons until there cup runneth over with lost souls.

That wear over-sized caps like blind-folds

Shiny necklaces like lassoes

Draggin’ them into black-holes

And I may have to holla out to Fidel Castro

To get my other brothers outta Guantanimo

And the innocence on death row?

It’s probably in the same proportion to criminals in black robes

That smack gavels

That crack domes

That smack gavels

That smash homes

Justice is somewhere between reading sad poems and 40 oz of gasoline crashing through windows

It is between plans and action

It is between writing letters to congressmen and clocking the captain

It is between raising legal defense funds and putting a gun to the bailiff and taking the judge captive

It is between prayer and fasting

Between burning and blasting

Freedom is between the mind and the soul

Between the lock and the load

Between the zeal of the young and the patience of the old

Freedom is between a finger and the trigger

It is between the page and the pen

It is between the grenade and the pin

Between righteous and keeping one in the chamber

So what can they do with a cat with a heart like Turner

A mind like Douglass

A mouth like Malcolm

And a voice like Chris?!

That is why I am not dangerous; I am danger

I am not angry, I am anger

I am abominable, stress, Eliotic relentless

I’m a death sentence

For the beast and his henchmen

Politicians and big businessmen

I’m a teenage Palestinian

Opening fire at an Israeli checkpoint, point blank, check-mate, now what?!

I’m a rape victim with a gun cocked to his cock, cock BANG! Bangkok! Now what?!

I am sitting Bull with Colonel Custard’s scalp in my hands

I am Sincay with a slave trader’s blood on my hands

I am Jonathan Jackson and a gun to my man

I am David with a slingshot and a rock

And if David lived today, he’d have a Molotov cocktail and a Glock

So down with Goliath, I say down with Goliath

But we must learn, know, write, read

We must kick, bite, yell, scream

We must pray, fast, live, dream, fight, kill and die free!

Posted in: Faith Fridays, YouTube