THE WAR OF IDENTITIES

Never ending will the tales of Filipino Muslims be;

How can religion be like that of tribe?
How can my soul be like my face?
Should I question my race or creator?
I am neither the prophet nor a waliy;
I am not knowledgeable as the ulama;
But, I know my race and they dont
They who give me the raging names
muslim robbers
Muslim kidnappers
Muslim Bomb-suicides
Muslim Killer
Name it, and they have them all
They, who do not know perceive the wrong me;
My face dictates that Im fully innocent,
But my soul rages as the heat of burning hell,
As I read, hear, and see the misconceptions
They breathlessly say and write.
What to you is a Muslim?
To me, a muslim is a believer of the Almighty,
A member of Ummah of Muhammad (SAW)
Who by face is anyone of any race,
Who by heart is a doer for a cause,
The cause for no one but Allah alone
Many a poet want to be heard
They fought with their mighty pens
To write what their hearts dictate
But here my soul willed to be heard
By them who lived with ignorant minds.
These identities are sealed into one
My heart dictates the oneness of my tribe and religion.
But my soul reverberates that I am a Meranao
A native with a soul of a believer.