Dawud Wharnsby

Dawud Wharnsby (born David Howard Wharnsby on June 27, 1972) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, performer, educator and television personality.

Sourced

• “I was never so much ‘interested in Islam’, so much as I was interested in trying to find out about God; I wanted to discover my purpose in life and a way to better the world I share with others.”
  • When asked about being a Muslim, Emel Magazine, United Kingdom, July/August 2004

• “I believe the proverbial ‘search’ doesn’t end until we die”.
  • When asked about his spiritual journey, Emel Magazine, United Kingdom, July/August 2004

• “I began to see that some Muslim women look down on others for not covering, or that many Muslim men judge sisters who wear hijab differently from those who don’t. A sister shows up at the mosque one day without hijab and she is treated rudely; she shows up the next day with hijab and she is treated like a queen. Such a scenario is a blatant treatment of the woman as an object, no different than the judgements we see made in secular society of women’s appearances. In the end, it is not about the piece of cloth. It is about the relationship with God, and I know I don’t want anybody judging me so I don’t think it is right for us to judge each other.”
  • When asked about his song "The Veil". Emel Magazine, United Kingdom, July/August 2004

• “There is a tendency in the Muslim community to play the victim and the target of media and political conspiracies. Whilst I don’t dispute the media is unfair in its portrayal of Muslims, and that our governments have hidden agendas to protect their financial interests in lands where populations are primarily Muslim, I think we should take up the example of the Prophet and be more ‘in control’ of our reactions and our opportunities to make dawa through personally instigating positive change in our local communities. We must reach out to our neighbours not with an agenda of conversion, but in simple acts of sincere love. We must stop blaming everybody else for our struggles and hardships and start to take action in our own lives through sincere efforts to improve who we are as individuals.”
  • When asked about his song, "About Muhammad", Emel Magazine, United Kingdom, July/August 2004

• “I feel for, and identify with, individuals on their spiritual journeys - whether those journeys are hard or smooth. That is why I write about the young man who parties all night and finds it hard to get along with his parents; I sing about the Muslim girl murdered by her father and step mother; I write about the death of a close relative and the struggle of dealing with that parting; I write about conflict within marriage; difficulties being a good parent; religious hypocrisy; consumerism; sexual abuse; religious narrow-mindedness; these are all struggles that are very real within our community. Even if I have not felt these struggles first hand, seeing others around me experience such tests does effect me… the social repercussions of these struggles effect us all one way or another.”
  • When asked about his inspirations, Emel Magazine, United Kingdom, July/August 2004

• “Start small, put down the book you’re reading and sit with your grandmother to learn her language and find out about her life’s struggles and her history, before she passes on and your history is lost; put down the TV remote control and stop letting pop culture define who you are and go for a walk through your hometown’s historical landmarks. Find your identity by actually looking for the things in life that appeal to you or stir emotion in you. If you just let your government, your local imam, even your local pop singer or nasheed singer, define what you should be, you will never be more than that. Look in the mirror and ask yourself, ‘Who do I WANT to be?’ Start there.”
  • Emel Magazine, United Kingdom, July/August 2004

• "I believe the spiritual journey that each of us takes on is a personal one, and I feel religion is a delicate road to be on. I don’t like to belong to one religious community as I don’t want people to feel excluded from asking for my help or learning with me. It’s all about bringing people together to celebrate their various interpretations of scripture. I am a Muslim and I worship in mosques when I am in Pakistan.  I also worship in Unitarian churches when I’m in the US. Such spiritual freedom is very important to me."
  • When asked about his his religion, Scouts Magazine, United Kingdom, July/August 2010

• "When it comes to "Islam" —  I look at the word as the verbal noun it is: an action word. I see Islam as something someone does, not something someone "belongs to". I believe that "religion", as the world commonly knows it today, is a divisive factor in community. When I was about 15 years old, I renounced a belief in the importance of "religion", seeking rather to find answers to life's questions. My spiritual quest has always been to bring me closer to my purpose in life, a better relationship with the force that brought me into existence, and how to relate to fellow human beings. When I was 17, I started reading scriptures from around the world and the more I read the more commonality I saw between them all. When I discovered the Qur'an at the age of 20, it seemed to be the most organic in its message. I got out of "religion" and got into life. To this day, I renounce a trust in the institutions of "religion".
  • When asked how he got into Islam, Illume Magazine, 2005

• "My intention is to use music as a tool for social change...Extremism comes in many forms. Some people are extremely capitalistic, extremely reactionary, extremely lazy, dogmatic, pessimistic, hopeful, fearful...I believe, extremism is not always bad — depending upon what sort of "extremism" one allows themselves to indulge in. As a human race, I believe we should be extremely good neighbors, socially conscious, passionate about justice, fairness and truth."
  • When asked about music as a tool to defeat extremism, Illume Magazine, 2005

Song Lyrics

On Institutionalized Education

• “Eating education is like eating Christmas pudding: Too much can make your stomach sore, too much can spoil your whole Christmas. Learning from a man who learned all he learned from another, can lead you to a safe place, but destroy your sense of wonder. Trapped inside a book, locked inside a lecture, when do you find the time to love and spend your days in forests? And when ideals are fleeting ~ tell me then who do you turn to? They prove to you that God is dead, but to them you’re just a number.”
  • Education and The Working Man, album: Blue Walls and The Big Sky (1995)

• “All the girls and boys seen preening through school halls, fighting to fit in, games they just can’t win, higher education dumbing down a nation, around the square unsure of where we fit in.”
  • Rachel, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

On Holistic Learning Leading to Positive Social Action

• “But if we hide ourselves away, afraid to grow and learn, we might wake up in the flames of the ignorance that burns and we’ll never be much more than only casualties of war in a struggle we can’t win if we have no faith to begin. We’ve got to tip the lid and let some sunlight in.”
  • The People of The Boxes, album The Prophet's Hands (2003)

On Politics

• “Pictures of politicians preen across our TV screens, pretensions plaques and posters fill our minds and magazines. Promises a burning match, igniting dreams of straw…”
  • The War/La Ilaha Il Allah, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

On Institutionalized Religion

• “The world is not a box, there’s no lid, no doors, no cardboard flaps or locks, and everything in nature from the clouds to the rocks is a piece of the puzzle of the purpose of mankind, it's a piece of the peace that we’ll find.”
  • The People of The Boxes, album The Prophet's Hands (2003)

• “We’ve digitized the revelations - does our rehearsed recitation go any deeper than our throats? Our calls to prayer they seem to rise up to the skies, conferences and lectures, seminars for you and I. The words that blow away with the nasheed that make us cry, yet why are the drums so silent?”
  • Why Are The Drums So Silent, album Sunshine, Dust and The Messenger (2002)

On Capitalism

• “Build me a tomb for when I die, build it 50,000 feet into the sky... Build me a boat I want to discover America, build me a boat to take me to the edge of the seven seas, build me a boat and you can sail along with me, we’ll spread our money, power, religion and disease. ...Who are they to say that we own nothing and our lives have gone astray?”
  • Wood and Nails, album: Blue Walls and The Big Sky (1995)

• “Standing in the market square, so alive but void of life, We work and we sweat and we struggle through each day. As our efforts scar our hands, this world stains us with demands. It’s hard to see life’s humour in the business games we play. As we gnaw our nails with stress, our fists and hearts pound so carelessly. With every effort forward, how much more can we digress?”
  • The Prophet's Hands, album The Prophet's Hands (2003)

On Commercialism

• “You’ve built me a cabin but I want more, and more and more, now build me an office tower with an automatic door. Build me a fence that I can wrap around my state. If anyone tries to break through, I pity his fate.”
  • Wood and Nails, album: Blue Walls and The Big Sky (1995)

• “All of us, ride on the same bus, shop at the same malls and stores. All of us, debate and discuss, decide and divide what is mine and what’s yours.”
  • All of Us, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• "Watch the grown ups all twirling with the clock throughout the day. Watch them spinning through the hours while the time hands tick away. They talk and grip the world, as they would catch a falling knife. Reality deceives them ’neath amusing games of life."
  • Rhythm of Surrender, album A Different Drum (2004)

On God

• "Dear God I've heard your name from teachers family and friends, you made the universe and so will live on when it ends. Everyone I know admits they’ve never seen your face, they’re not sure where you live and have no map to the place.”
  • Dear God, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• “You and I, wonder at the sky, call God a different name. As we try, learn and long to fly - you and I are so differently the same.”
  • All of Us, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

On Simple Living

• “There’s always work that must be done...Life’s so simple when we simply work to make it fun.”
  • Simple Life, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• “We love to live a simple life...we simply love the life we live though some would say its hard.”
  • Simple Life, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

On Pop Culture and Trends

• “Teachers and pop icons, empty drums beat loudest noise. We swap their quotes and CDs like children trading toys. Follow along, bite the barbed hook deep in our jaw...”
  • The War/La Ilaha Il Allah, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

On Nationalism

• “Fences and forts with walls and flags, caw caw - they’re so funny."
  • Dear Mr. Crow, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• “What of this God whom we command, to bless our colourded flag and land, so busy drawing lines in sand that we don’t think and understand.”
  • What Has Become, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

On War

• “The foolish big boys who fight with their toys are so sadly silly.”
  • Dear Mr. Crow, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• “We have dealt with all these idealists in the past, I’m sure we’ll find a way to deal with them today... Rid our world of all these fanatics one by one, won’t let not prophet lover ruin my fun. We’ll string ‘em up and shoot ‘em down.”
  • Wood and Nails, album: Blue Walls and The Big Sky (1995)

• “What of wars we have survived, genocides and hollow costs/holocausts? Have our hopes for humankind like scriptures and mass graves been lost?”
  • What Has Become, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

• “If a fist can hold a sword, and a fist can clench a pen, but the points of both are missed, by dull, tarnished pride of men. We must open up our hands, raise our palms up high to see, the mazes of our unique selves, end with similarity.”
  • What Has Become, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

• “Your bombs and pens like swords, held high, up to my throat. You have made the cost of blood, as cheap as ink and all I think.”
  • What Has Become, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

• "If we only knew, the sacred value, And if the might of our pen, is stronger than the swords of men, let us unsheathe our minds, write with our hearts again."
  • What Has Become, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

On The Internet

• "I sent an email to my loved one, just the other day, it’s sad communication has evolved this way. We use so many words but have so little to relay, as angels scribble down every letter that we say. All the viral attachments sent and passionate insults we vent, it’s easy to be arrogant behind user passwords we invent. But on the day the scrolls are laid, with every word and deed displayed, when we read our accounts, I know, for one, I’ll be afraid."
  • Afraid To Read, Album: The Prophet's Hands (2003)

On Charity, Sacrifice and Social Concern

• “It has nothing to do with age, it's not our languages, religion, gender, coulour of our skin; It’s a soul within a well, that echoes deep beneath the ego’s shell. True life can’t ever start, until we offer up our heart.”
  • Rachel, album: Out Seeing The Fields (20007)

On Social Action

• “Someday we’ll realize, perhaps much to our surprise, the keys to free a smile have been with us all the while: look for good, and spread that good around.”
  • Piles of Smiles, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• “If we can just be brave enough to be each others mirror, we may finally recognize the face of conscious that we fear.”
  • Why Are The Drums So Silent, album Sunshine, Dust and The Messenger (2002)

• "We’ve got to take a chance, fly by the seat of our proverbial pants. There’s so much we can do, out in this world, me and you. There’s so much we can improve, if you dig my drift, if you catch my groove."
  • Hi Neigbour, Salam Neighbour, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

On Urbanization and Rural Living

• “If we can take the time to mute the noise we’ve build around ourselves the rhythm of the heartbeats and the purpose may be clear.”
  • Why Are The Drums So Silent, album Sunshine, Dust and The Messenger (2002)

• “There was a house made out of sticks, there was a city, made out of bricks, I was amazed at what I saw, all I could say was Subhanallah!”
  • Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah and Insha Allah, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

On The Ego

• "But on the day the scrolls are laid, with every word and deed displayed, we we read our account, I know, for one, I’ll be afraid.”
  • Afraid To Read, Album: The Prophet's Hands (2003)

• “I glance reflections of my face everyplace I go, in my mirror and in shop windows, like the lead in my own show. Do I dare look closely? See each wrinkle, scar and flaw?”
  • The War/La Ilaha Il Allah, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

• “Put all our pride away, always find a gentle word to say, you know we shouldn’t be full of ourselves when we should be full of humility."
  • Full of Humility, album: Road To Madinah (1998)

On Humanity and Community

• “But when it rains, it rains on all our houses, we all get cold when it snows. When a storm rolls in, huddled up against our windows, we all feel the fear when a strong wind blows, While on this earth, we’re all of equal worth.”
  • All of Us, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• “A busy buzzing bee is a lot like me, it works and it lives in community.”
  • A Busy Buzzing Bee, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

On Ecology

• “Only when I smell the earth upon my face, will I ever be free, to fly from this place.”
  • Out Seeing The Fields, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

• “I saw a dream, Earth safe and green. No hunger no war, water so clean. I’ll work for the world that I saw, set my mind and say insha Allah.”
  • Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah and Insha Allah, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

• "Can you hear the rhythm of all/Allah's creation? The rhythm of the clapping of the thunder and the rain? Can you see the rhythm of all creation? The lightening and the leaves and the seasons as they change?"
  • Rhythm of Surrender, album A Different Drum (2004)

• "The Light, The Thunder, The Dunes of Sand, The Sun, The Moon, Man and the land. If we work a little, we might see, if we think and reflect on each rock and tree, there’s no measure to all it’s worth ~ sustainable earth."
  • Sustainable Earth, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

On Freedom of Thought

• “I only feel close to you when I‘m under open sky, I only feel guided when I’m free to question why.”
  • Out Seeing The Fields, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

• “No more starry eyes from behind these dusty spectacles. I’ll wipe them and follow my own shadow for a change.”
  • Upon My Shelf, album: Blue Walls And The Big Sky (1995)

• “You could call me antisocial, I’ve called myself that sometimes too, but I just prefer to be alone, and that’s nothing against you.”
  • Antisocialsong, album: Blue Walls And The Big Sky (1995)

On The Qur’an

• “Allah gave the Qur’an to a very special man, who passed it on to us, for the rest of all our days.”
  • Muhammad?, anthology: A Picnic of Poems in Allah's Green Garden (2011)

On Hope

• “The past we’ve got we must forget. Future hasn’t happened yet. Carry this moment in a song. Insha Allah, it won’t be long.”
  • Let It Go, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

• "Hope as rich and green as the trees of an oasis."
  • Colours of Islam, album: Colours of Islam (1998)

On Time

• “Time seems cold, each day we grey away. Believe the lines that we’ve been told, 'Lose our way lose yesterday’, they say, but who are they? Who are they anyway? They didn’t hear us play at eight years old.”
  • Eight Years Old, album: Out Seeing The Fields (2007)

On Children

• “Every picture you give me I save, and every colour you use is so true to you. Every minute we spend I engrave, and every memory rethought is so new. There is trust that we must recognize. There is so much that we must learn to see and be, if we could only open our minds. Just grow with God and please be patient with me, and I will give you my life.”
  • Everyday, album: The Poets And The Prophet (2006)

On Parenting

• "There are a lot of grown ups who, should be sent up to their rooms, and told they must stay there, until they learn they can play fair."
  • Hi Neigbour, Salam Neighbour, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

On Love

• "We all want a simple song. We all want to get along. We all want to just belong. We all want to know right from wrong. We all want to love and be loved strong."
  • Love Strong, album: The Poets And The Prophet (2006)

On Communication

• "Words can never really help you say, what you want them to anyway. And words can never really help you see, what you really want to be."
  • Midnight, album: The Poets And The Prophet (2006)

On Truth

• “Truth has been confused. Simplicity refused.”
  • Love Strong, album: The Poets And The Prophet (2006)

• “Truth is buried, deep inside of men, sweep away each day.”
  • The Last Tea Song, album: Blue Walls And The Big Sky (1995)

• "Truth as clear and blue as the sky we walk under."
  • Colours of Islam, album: Colours of Islam (1998)

On The Music Business

• “‘Where’s the next show?’, ‘Why don’t you make a Video?’, ‘Put on these beads and clothes and The Bling, Bling!’ Well, if that’s all it’s about than I think that I want out,

of a career that won’t just let me sing. ...‘cause music faith and knowledge should be free.”

• • I Just Wanna Sing, anthology: For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

On Connection to God

• “If he could read a line, just understand one sign. Close his mouth and hear the peace of hope and fear, if he could read a line. If he could keep in time.”
  • The Poets, album: The Poets And The Prophet (2006)

On Islam

• "Truth as clear and blue as the sky we walk under. Love as bright and loud as the lightening and thunder. Peace as pure and white as the moon, so full of wonder. So many different colours of islam!"
  • Colours of Islam, album: Colours of Islam (1998)

On Human Equality

• "Allah made us all a different shade and colour. Nations and tribes recognize one another! ’Cause every single person is your sister and brother."
  • Colours of Islam, album: Colours of Islam (1998)

External links

• Official website