Two days ago
\nKareem came in my dream
\nCalling Azan
\nI have not seen him for a while
\n7 months and 23 days to be exact
\nKareem is my only child<\/p>\n
Half of our city is taken away
\nWe are Uyghur Muslims
\nin the past, we could hear azan everywhere
\nNow our city is silent
\nAlmost all our masjids are gone<\/p>\n
Those standing have no imams
\nNo one enters them anyway<\/p>\n
Biometrics everywhere
\nThey scan everyone
\nEveryone who enters
\nEveryone who passes by<\/p>\n
Cameras everywhere
\nNone go near a masjid<\/p>\n
In case one is spotted
\nIn case one tears up
\nIn case one is recorded<\/p>\n
In case
\nIn case
\nFear rules
\nFear is real<\/p>\n
The old masjid near us
\nJust a few doors from us,
\nbuilt 600 years ago
\nNow, in ruins<\/p>\n
When the Chinese invaded first,
\n70 years ago,
\nMy mom tells me
\nthey demolished it first<\/p>\n
Its old minaret used to reach the sky
\nIt\u2019s all gone, just the base is left<\/p>\n
Ten years ago
\nRaheem and Kareem
\nFather and son
\nBuilt a little room in the ruins
\nOur new little masjid<\/p>\n
Raheem would call the Azan<\/p>\n
Once again
\nWe could hear
\nfrom our home
\nA melodic call
\nAllahu Akbar
\nGOD is Greater<\/p>\n
One evening after sunset
\nRaheem did not come back
\nJust like my father who disappeared<\/p>\n
Taken away by the Chinese
\nHe was an Imam<\/p>\n
My father called Azan
\nThey forced him to stop fasting in Ramadan
\nThey don\u2019t let anyone fast, but he resisted<\/p>\n
They took him away
\nWe never saw him again
\nIt was Ramadan before this Ramadan
\n15 months ago<\/p>\n
Raheem stepped up
\nMy husband, my love
\nHe called Azan<\/p>\n
They grabbed him
\nAs I watched in the bazaar
\nIn broad daylight<\/p>\n
Everyone saw
\nThey dragged him into a van
\nThe dreaded van
\nThe death van with the blowing siren
\nNine months, six days ago<\/p>\n
He is gone
\nGone forever
\nMy heart followed him
\nMy body is left behind<\/p>\n
My son Kareem stepped up
\nHe called Azan<\/p>\n
In the ruins of the old
\nThe Masjid Rahman<\/p>\n
I begged him not to do that
\nI lost my father, lost my husband
\nKareem never disobeyed
\nBut this time was different<\/p>\n
He showered
\nPut on his father\u2019s cap
\nLeft home to call Azan
\nHe never made it
\nNo one heard his Azan
\nHe did not come back<\/p>\n
It has been
\n7 months
\n23 days<\/p>\n
In the past
\nThey destroyed our masjids
\nThis time
\nThey took away our people<\/p>\n
Our little masjid
\nIn the ruins of the old
\nIs still there<\/p>\n
Alone
\nSilent
\nNo one now calls Azan
\nBut I hear it all the time
\nIn my heart
\nIn my soul<\/p>\n
I hear Azan
\nIn the howl of dogs
\nFrom empty streets<\/p>\n
They know my pain
\nThe pain of my sisters
\nThe pain of my neighbors<\/p>\n
Early morning, every day
\nAt Fajr time\u2014
\nReason unknown
\nDogs howl<\/p>\n
They cry together
\nAs though they miss Azan<\/p>\n
Maybe they want everyone
\nTo get up and pray<\/p>\n
We know GOD says
\nAnimals worship HIM too<\/p>\n
I hear Azan
\nAs women weep late in the night<\/p>\n
Alone
\nHere and there
\nOur men gone
\nAnd Chinese men
\nForced in our homes<\/p>\n
Instead of Raheem
\nInstead of Kareem
\nWithout hoja to stop them<\/p>\n
When stars are silent
\nI hear my sisters, my six sisters
\nThey cry<\/p>\n
Their men are taken to the Chinese camps
\nTheir children are taken to the Chinese orphanages<\/p>\n
Alone
\nI hear Azan
\nAs they cry<\/p>\n
Where is Raheem?
\nWhere is Kareem?
\nWhere is hoja?
\nWhere is everyone?<\/p>\n
Ya Allah
\nYa Raheem
\nYa Kareem
\nYa Maula
\nYa Rahman
\nYa Raheem<\/p>\n
Tomorrow
\nMy Lord
\nYa Rahman Ya Raheem
\nI will get up
\nI will go to our little masjid
\nEarly morning at dawn
\nWill stand there at the top
\nAt the broken minaret
\nAlone with You
\nAnd with full force
\nI will call Azan
\nI will
\nInsha Allah
\nAllahu Akbar<\/p>\n
May be they will take me
\nMay be I will meet my father
\nMy husband, Raheem
\nMy son, the only son, Kareem<\/p>\n
Either here in this world
\nI will meet them
\nin a concentration camp
\nOr there, over there
\nFar away
\nWith You
\nin Jannah
\nIn heavens<\/p>\n
There, we will all call
\nTogether
\nAllahu Akbar
\nAzan
\nForever.
\nTogether.<\/p>\n
——–
\nPlease pray for Uyghur people.
\n\u00a9 2018 Abdul Malik Mujahid<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Uyghur: I can still hear the Azan In the voice of Ayesha Uyghur By Abdul Malik Mujahid Two days ago Kareem came in my dream Calling Azan I have not seen him for a while 7 months and 23 days to be exact Kareem is my only child Half of our city is taken…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,31,45,42],"tags":[53,12,27,57],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-handouts","category-resources","category-stories","category-updates","tag-camps","tag-china","tag-concentration-camps","tag-genocide","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n