Wael Abdelgawad's Blog

If you’re interested in my writing, or in science ficiton in general, or in Muslim ficiton, please check out my latest novel, All That Is In The Heavens. The first chapter has been published on MuslimMatters, and I’ll be putting up a new chapter every Wednesday.

Synopsis: For twelve years, Captain Yasin Rahman has been fighting a violent alien race that is determined to wipe out humanity. Now his commanders have dispatched him to a distant, mysterious moon that could hold the key to winning the ...

Water in the Well

(for Salma)

There will always be water
in the well for you,
even when my lips are parched.
There will be an ark
when the troubles rise
and you don’t know where to stand.
There will be strong hands
to lift you, and smiles,
and a heart split wide,
with the sea
rising and falling inside.
There will be rain
from a clear sky.
There will be water
in the well for you, my love.

* * *

Wael Abdelgawad
September 27, 2013
Fresno, California

The post Poem: Water in the Well first appeared on Wael Abdelgawa...

Ramadan mubarak! Ramadan is hard, yes? The thirst, hunger and weariness. Some people experience negative emotions. But I was thinking today that if we can be our best selves in Ramadan, by which I mean our purest, kindest, most patient selves, then we can do it anytime.

If we can move forward in Ramadan, taking steps not only to cleanse ourselves spiritually, but to heal our relationships and improve our lives, and to do some small thing for humanity, to put a bit of light into the world – then...

Hi guys. Check out my latest short story, just published at MuslimMatters.org. Its titled No, My Son.

Payedar Olan is 67 years old, a recent immigrant from Iraqi Kurdistan, now living in an American city. When a gunman enters the mosque, Payedar leaps to his feet and stops a mass shooting. What no one knows is that his motivations are not exactly as they appear.

I did a lot of research into Kurdish history and culture for this story. Along the way I developed a real fondness for this old man,...

Im so excited to share the release of Zaid Karim Private Investigator[image error]. This novel has been three years in the making: from when I first began serializing it on MuslimMatters.org in early 2017, to its completion on MM nine months later, to the first wave of revisions based on comments by my editor Amy Estrada and the MM readers, to the final revision after further input from another editor, Rafael Lopez.

If youve already read it online, I encourage you to buy the new ebook or paperbook. Theres...

One for the Eternal
in the vastness above.
Two for the prophets,
their courage and love.
Three for faith,
four for deen,
five for truth,
six for a dream.
Seven for love,
eight for mirth,
nine for justice,
ten for rebirth.

Eleven for joy on the day we stand;
twelve for the book I hold in my hand.
Thirteen for hope,
fourteen for freedom from strife,
fifteen for time
to make a mark in this life.

A dozen for dark,
a score for light,
a hundred for courage
to choose the right.

One more for clouds in the sky;
one touc...

All the stars in the hollows of the trees are free no matter what we see or believe. They dream and speak the word that touches the seeker in the desert, the snow, the forest of teak, the valley of bones. We all know, but we break and wreak and weep. And still the stars glow and you know at any moment you are one choice away from shedding and igniting, and embracing the Divine. * * * Wael Abdelgawad Fresno, California September 6, 2019

By Wael Abdelgawad | WaelAbdelgawad.com

If I were a middle-aged angel
wearing holy hi-tops and shining with light
placing every foot right
my hands never shaking
never having to recline the seat in the car
and close my eyes, just sit there
breathing, my heart quaking,
trying to figure out what to do next,
how to fix the wreck that is my life –
then I wouldn’t need the light of the Most High.
I wouldn’t need
to fall to my knees and pray,
always for someone else first –
my father, daughter, Syria –
then for...

I’m a wrecking ball for love.
All the petty objections,
palms thrust forward,
sneers and comments beneath the breath,
and here I come like death
to the haters, the disbelievers,
the bureaucrats of love.

My shoulders are mountains,
my legs thick as trees.
Roll out the purple carpet
and free a thousand doves
because here I come –
a wrecking ball for love.

The green path
ends in a wall
built of brains of stone
and the bones of the enemies of truth.
But I don’t mind,
I don’t fear,

and here I come –
my eyes glitt...

Ramadan mubarak everyone! Blessed Ramadan. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that during this month the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained. What a tremendous opportunity! What a wonderful time to pray not only for personal forgiveness and redemption, but for freedom from oppression and evil for all people.

Our Ummah is groaning under the burden of terrible suffering. In China, two million Muslims have been placed in concentratio...