{"id":625,"date":"2012-02-06T10:26:40","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T15:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myislamiclife.wordpress.com\/?p=625"},"modified":"2012-02-06T10:26:40","modified_gmt":"2012-02-06T15:26:40","slug":"dawud-was-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/myislamiclife\/2012\/02\/06\/dawud-was-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Dawud was here."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

JJ:\u00a0Dawud will be here this week for a concert.\u00a0 You need to take the kids.<\/p>\n

Me: WHO?<\/p>\n

JJ: Dawud\u00a0Warnesby.\u00a0 His PR person was just in here and said there will be a concert on Saturday.\u00a0 He has a book for kids he\u2019s promoting.<\/p>\n

Me: I\u2019ve never even heard of this guy.\u00a0 Lemme google him.<\/p>\n

JJ: LOL. He\u2019s good.\u00a0 The girls will love it. It will be a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

Me: The website<\/a> says next week, not this week.<\/p>\n

JJ: Unless the PR guy is on crack, it\u2019s this week.<\/p>\n

Me: I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I\u2019m not really a folk singer kinda fan.\u00a0 The only \u2018religious\u2019 singer the kids like is Maher Zain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

JJ: Sigh.\u00a0 Trust Me and go.<\/p>\n

Me: Will you come with us?\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

So I send a few messages to Khaled asking if he would like to go, and I don\u2019t really know any more information about it, but that JJ said the kids would like it.\u00a0 He was game.<\/p>\n

The next day we get the mass marketing blast through the email with links to tickets, time, place and a video sample.<\/p>\n

Dawud\u00a0Warnsby \u2018Dont Talk to me About Mohammed\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

(If the video isn\u2019t there, I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I keep trying to embed the video here and it isn\u2019t staying for some reason. Click on the link if you are curious.)<\/em><\/p>\n

This was the first\u00a0song I heard by Dawud.\u00a0 It was moving, and his voice is beautiful, and I thought okay, it might be good.\u00a0 We tentatively decided to go.<\/p>\n

Then, on Friday, I get another text.<\/p>\n

JJ: Dawud is here.\u00a0 He\u2019s giving the students a mini-concert.\u00a0 Kate cannot stop smiling!!!<\/p>\n

Me: That seals the deal.\u00a0 We are going.<\/p>\n

JJ: I can\u2019t see Pea.<\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0It\u2019s okay.\u00a0 If Kate loves it, it will be worth going.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure Pea is having a great time.\u00a0 Thanks for telling me!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a big fan of religious music.\u00a0 Growing up, we didn\u2019t listen to devotional music, we listened to top 40 on the radio, the stuff my parents liked and the music my uncle played for us while he was babysitting.\u00a0 The only music group that I listened to on a semi regular basis that had a religious message was Creed.\u00a0 I only listened to them because I heard them on the radio.\u00a0 I like their guitar \u2013 rock, heavy sound.\u00a0 The message was a bonus.\u00a0 So, because this is where I am coming from, I was very doubtful.\u00a0 Plus, it was folk music.<\/p>\n

Kate brought home the book and CD.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Picnic of Poems: In Allah's Green Garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We listened to the CD in the car all Friday night.\u00a0 Kate and Pea loudly sang along. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

Khaled, Kate, Pea, Mr. Fox and I all dressed up in nice clothes and drove off to the concert.<\/p>\n

I was pretty apprehensive.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think that Mr. Fox would like the concert.\u00a0 He made fun of the songs on the CD.\u00a0 Khaled and I were of the mind that if Kate and Pea were having fun, it would be well worth it.\u00a0 I told Mr. Fox that we sat through Elmo Live! for him, willingly.\u00a0 He will sit and pretend to enjoy the concert for his sisters and not rain on their joy.<\/p>\n

When we entered the concert area (the auditorium of the school) Dawud\u00a0was there.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t recognize him from the website.\u00a0 He looked like almost every\u00a0other Muslim guy at the Masjid.\u00a0 Dressed in shades of brown, short hair, well-groomed beard.\u00a0 Khaled asked me if that was him, I didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Once everyone was seated, the MC gave a wonderful introduction, and Dawud\u00a0began to talk.\u00a0 He reminded me of a youth group leader.\u00a0 Y\u2019no, the kind of person you would hang out with at church who plays music and leads songs and you end up being able to talk to about all the different stuff you worry about when you are a tween\/teen (that pertains to your relationship with God, that is.)<\/p>\n

Dawud told us a little about his life, and then he introduced his book of poems and how he ended up getting it published.\u00a0 He said the songs on the CD were recorded on his computer back in Pakistan, with a little help from his children, and his friend who lives in England hand painted the artwork for the book.\u00a0 Then somehow it got published, and now it is the first book of its kind to be available for purchase at ANY bookstore.<\/p>\n

He introduced each song\u00a0by telling us the story behind each song.\u00a0 The first part of the concert was geared towards the children.\u00a0 They joined him on stage with instruments, they sang along \u2013 knowing the words to the songs he sang on Friday and from the CD.\u00a0 They clapped and laughed and interacted.\u00a0 They were unafraid.\u00a0 They praised God and The Prophet without a hint of apprehension.<\/p>\n

After the short intermission, there were a few songs aimed at the older members of the audience.\u00a0 To tell you the truth, I don\u2019t remember those songs.\u00a0 The girls were tired by then, and were laying on our laps.\u00a0 Mr. Fox wasn\u2019t interested any longer, because without the fun interaction, what is left is the folk music and the message.\u00a0 I was hoping Dawud would play \u2018Don\u2019t Talk to me About Mohammed\u2019 because I really enjoyed that song, but he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite songs of the night was \u2018Rose.\u2019\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Dawud\u00a0told us about how a rose in the rain remained closed, tight and wrapped around itself for protection with its thorns showing.\u00a0 The rain being a metaphor for the words, images and voices that attack Muslims, and the closed rose being a little ugly, with its thorns showing a little harsh.\u00a0 In the song, Dawud sings about how beautiful it would be if we could all be like an open rose blossom with the bright, full petals showing unafraid.<\/p>\n

Unafraid and unashamed to be what God intended.<\/p>\n

Happy Monday.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JJ:\u00a0Dawud will be here this week for a concert.\u00a0 You need to take the kids. Me: WHO? JJ: Dawud\u00a0Warnesby.\u00a0 His PR person was just in here and said there will be a concert on Saturday.\u00a0 He has a book for kids he\u2019s promoting. Me: I\u2019ve never even heard of this guy.\u00a0 Lemme google him. JJ: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2860,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14,4,11,13],"tags":[24,31,44,53,60,140,175,182,194,196,218,219,237],"class_list":["post-625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-books","category-in-the-house","category-resources","category-videos","tag-acceptance","tag-american-muslim","tag-books-2","tag-children","tag-convert","tag-islam","tag-muslim","tag-non-muslim","tag-personal","tag-prayer","tag-resources","tag-revert","tag-spiritual"],"yoast_head":"\nDawud was here.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"JJ:\u00a0Dawud will be here this week for a concert.\u00a0 You need to take the kids. Me: WHO? 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