A Muslim Woman Shares Her Soul: September 11, 2009

Anne was living in Jersey City on Sept. 11, 2001. A few years later she moved to the WTC site itself, to be part of the rebulding of the spot. Note from Anne: life’s serendipity moments create constant opportunity for learning. These “life incidents” are enhanced by technology; in a “ding”, the day changes again, if one remains fluid.

In a week where Anne of Carversville houses one of the most extended, vitriolic, raw and human message exchanges on the Internet  (and it will lie buried), I just received this poem from Mrs. Shamsun Quddus, a Muslim mother of three, living in the UK.

My emotions are torn inside out this week, and a gift like this one from Mrs. Quddus gives me strength and hope to keep writing.

Earlier this week, I was intercepted on Facebook by Muslim women in Egypt, who spoke of our following there. My writing is being translated in Egypt; and I’m truly humbled by that fact, because I never shy away from speaking my mind.

I doubt that we will make it into Egyptian or Saudi web TV, but perhaps Jordan or Bahrain?

Nothing would make me happier, giving my life some much-needed relevance, than for Mrs. Quddus’s 9/11 poem to be translated in different languages, all over the globe, which is our intention.

We’re in this boat together — every color, every religion, all ages and both genders. I do believe that orthodoxy and fundamentalism will kill us all, if we don’t grab hands.

Symbolically then, I find it very relevant that the first person who writes in my ‘private journal’ — never shared with anyone else since June 2007 — is a Muslim woman living in England on Sept. 11, 2009. 

I could put Mrs. Quddus’s poem elsewhere on the website, but I choose here, where her complex and very real thoughts about being a Muslim woman post-Sept. 11 are heard and honored by the largest audience and also comingle with my own writing and beliefs.

Please leave our journal ‘respectable’ in ane comments. Try to see the gesture as the only way forward in our turbulent, global life.

If you force me to turn on moderation, than you have created a very sad gesture on an already-sad day in the world for most people. Anne of Carversville truly is a peaceful place on the Internet. I beg you to leave it that way.

Enough said. Anne and Mrs. Shamsun Quddus

9/11 by Mrs. Shamsun Quddus

The biggest interactive movie ever
Boom, blast, fire and smoke in the air
Two twin towers in flame
Black smoke billowed
Terror in the skies

For a while “SHOCK” took a new meaning
Frozen feet, stiff limbs
Q: who, why and how?
Where was the security force?
The intelligence service?
Questions still unanswered
Terror! Terror! Terror
Osama Bin Laden did it!
Islamic terrorists! Muslims”
All guilty
George W Bush was on spot
We admired his promptness
Addressing the nation in tears
“We’ll get them” he was so hot
He was the saviour and the saint

The twin towers fell
So did the Muslims
Around the world
It tumbled down like a ton of bricks
Qs: who am I? Where do I stand?
Damned if I m covered, damned if I m not
So where do I go?
Suddenly I look at myself head to toe
It doesn’t make a difference what I look like
I’m a Muslim, they hate me
Any dark skin with a Muslim name
Headscarf or no headscarf
They will hunt us down
Scrutinise and torture us
Professional or not
Our mouths are muzzled
Freedom of speech?
Sshh!!!
Every word you speak, every move you make
You are watched by an eagle
Like the Jews in Nazi Germany
It’s the Muslim holocaust
Left isolated, we choose our faith
If we die, we might as well die in dignity


And we did
The prisoners of Guantanamo Bay
Shackled, blinded and tortured
Shed sweat and blood in thousands
The children of Iraq lay dead
What crime did they commit?
Bush wanted to find Osama and Al Kaeda
Why did he go to Iraq?
Where is Osama?
Where are the weapons of mass destruction?

The movie I watched is surreal
But the reminiscent of 9/11 scarred the whole of humanity
Whether Muslims or non-Muslims
And only Bush knows why, who and how
It all happened.


By Mrs. Shamsun Quddus 11/09/09
36 years. London. UK
A mother of 3 legally qualified taking a break.
luv your website and your thinking

Tribute in LIght 2008, via Flickr’s Amazin’ Jane