by Salah Hassan

Dear Allah,

I don’t have to speak to You
Like Mohammed al Maghout did
Nor like Fadhil al Azzawi
Now I have e-mail
And You can answer me
By a click on reply
Many questions bother me
And You must give an answer
In the meantime I have become forty five
And I think I am wise enough
To speak to You about Your duties
What are You doing all day?
Do You read the papers?
Do you listen to the radio?
Didn’t You hear anything in the Friday prayers
About Iraq?
The land where Your name is praised
Why do You do nothing?
Are You dead?
Is it only Your statue that we see?
I just want to know
Because in the meantime I have become forty five
And I don’t know yet what is your function in my life
Here you have all my contact information
Fax and telephone number
And e-mail address
I await an extensive explanation from You
I have no time to waste
With You.

With deep respect
Salah Hassan

Salah Hassan wrote an e-mail to Allah, but what he got back in return… was hatemail! His poem was published in a Moroccan newspaper, and was after that – without his knowledge – published on a website. He received about 75 pages with reactions, positive ones also, but also messages from people who wished him blind, deaf, and paralysed, to subsequently live long. He was openly threatened with death.

Salah: “These people are claiming the role of Allah. They say: we possess the wisdom. They are extremists and they are angry about my poem because it is directed to extremists. The extremists who make Iraq unsafe with their bomb attacks.”

From Kikah