THE AWAKENING SACRI-
FICE— W AKE UP TO THE SAC-
RIFICE OF THE MASTER OF ALL
MARTYRS………………….1
 DAYS OF HOPE ( PART 1)–
REGRET NOURISHES HOPE
…………………………. 2
 P ATHOLOGY OF DIVORCE–
L EARN ABOUT THE BIGGEST
PROBLEM FACING OUR COM-
MUNITY– P ART 1 ............ 4
 P RISONER OF G OLDEN
CHAINS ....................... 6
Learn how the sacrifice of the greatest of all martyrs can help us change our direction in
life and help us awaken to the realities of this world and its deceptive character.
The Awakening Sacrifice
Have you ever asked yourself why we recite
SalÁwat? That is, why do we request that bless-
ings be sent upon Muhammed and the family of
Muhammed (as). Normally when we ask for
blessings to be bestowed on friends and family,
we do it because we love those people. We love
these special people because
they have done favours upon
us that we do not deserve. As
for our families, our parents
have provided us with all
our necessities without us
even asking during our
childhood years. As for our
friends, their very existence
is a favour given to us which
contributes significantly to
our happiness. So surely the
Ahlul Bayt have done us
favours that we did not de-
serve. This article will aim to
shed some light on these
favours that we have received from the Ahlul
Bayt, particularly the event of Karbala.
The event of Karbala took place at a time when
YazÐd was the so-called Caliph of the Islamic
Ummah. YazÐd was a tyrant who came from a
family who had a history of animosity toward
the Prophet and his Ahlul Bayt. YazÐd like his
father Mu’awiya had greed for power and would
aim to achieve this goal at any cost. YazÐd knew
that the Prophet had left behind two invaluable
things so that Muslims would not go astray, the
Holy Qur’an and the Ahlul Bayt. It is these two
very things that YazÐd plotted to destroy. The
most powerful strategies that these ruthless ty-
rants use to legitimise their kingdom and sup-
press any uprising was the spread of propa-
ganda, suppressing the conscience of people and
ISSUE 1 VOLUME 5 2009
By Mustafa Barakat
controlling them through fulfilment of their
desires. The following are some of the methods
the tyrants would use:
 They created an atmosphere of fear by mak-
ing an example out of people (like Muslim
Ibn Aqeel) such that they
could discourage the people
from challenging and rebelling
against the establishment
 They funded a number of
religious authorities to distort
the meaning of the Qur’an to
suit their interests in main-
taining their power and au-
thority and also to the inclina-
tion towards the desires of the
people. The Qur’an states
"And they shall say: O our
Lord! surely we obeyed our
leaders and our great men,
so they led us astray from
the path" [33.67]
 They funded a number of people, including
some of the companions of the Prophet, to
fabricate traditions in glorifying themselves
and disparaging the Ahlul Bayt and creating
animosity towards them - like the cursing of
the Ahlul Bayt from the pulpits of mosques.
All this had contributed towards assisting the
community to justify their misdeeds. The
Qur’an states that Satan said: "I will cer-
tainly make (evil) fair-seeming to them on
earth, and I will certainly cause them all to
deviate" [15.39]
 The people were offered an alluring amount
of money to fulfil the interests of the tyrants
while the followers of the Ahlul Bayt were
highly discriminated against - for example it
was the Supreme Judge who gave the green
light in murdering
Continued on page 2 >>>>
Editorial
Salaam Alaykum!
Welcome once again to a new se-
ries of Al-Fajr Newsletter! This
time round we are back with more
in assisting our community on this
spiritual journey of life. We hope
that this newsletter will be utilized
as another medium in gaining
knowledge and in keeping our
Brothers and Sisters informed
about the obstacles (especially in
living in the West) facing us on
the journey of life and how to over-
come them.
Our team of writers consists of
humble volunteers who have a
concern for the community, and
are seeking an opportunity to con-
tribute towards preparing our
community for the arrival of the
Imam of our time (May Allah has-
ten his arrival). Our team also con-
sists of writers who are well quali-
fied in communicating across ac-
curate information and we hope
that this will further contribute to
the standing of this newsletter.
We have deliberately released this
issue on this special day since this
is a day we are expected to wake
up and return to our immortal be-
loved. We hope you enjoy this
months issue, and we strongly
encourage readers to provide us
with feedback, this would be
greatly appreciated.
Wassalaam
DISCLAIMER AND CAUTION
The articles published in this paper
are not the views of Al-Fajr or any
particular Islamic centre but of the
Author. Please handle with care as it
contains names of Allah and His
Prophet
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (9)- 2009
Imam Íusain (as)
 They promoted acts (sins) that satisfed the desires of the people
such as music, singing, wine, lust for this world etc.
It should be obvious that the people who were subject to these
strategies were completely indoctrinated. When the people saw
how others were dealt with, they were afraid. They were too at-
tached to this world, to the point that speaking up against the
kingdom was an act that was against their desires. People had en-
joyed the wealth gained from supporting the kingdom and in
acting upon the religious fabrications and distortions. These peo-
ple had really enjoyed the perverted version of Islam that allowed
them to fulfil their desires. These people obviously had a con-
science. However it was easily suppressed by fulfilment of their
desires and the propaganda that incited animosity towards the
Ahlul Bayt, and which helped them justify their deeds. After be-
ing subject to these evil activities by the tyrants these are the very
people who had betrayed Imam Íusain (as).
YazÐd, knew that there was one last
thing that remained a threat to his Ca-
liphate and that was the presence of
Imam Íusain (as). In acknowledging
this fact he set out to force Imam
Íusain (as) to pay allegiance or face
death. Imam Íusain (as) had three
choices:
 Pay allegiance
 Run away
 Sacrifice his life and that of his family
Had he undertaken the first two options Islam would have ended
up like the religion of Christianity, hijacked by corrupt leaders
like Constantine and Saint Paul. The words of the Qur’an could
have been distorted like the distortion in the Bible. The truthful
narrators and historians could have been killed and their work
could have been destroyed as happened in Judaism and Christian-
ity. The right path of Islam would have disappeared, never to be
recovered, a fate that the Christianity of today has met. Sunnis
would have been further away from the truth than what they cur-
rently are and Islam could have been completely destroyed. How-
ever Imam Íusain (as) knew what he had to do to prevent the
destruction of Islam. He knew that sacrificing his life and family
members was for the greater benefit of the entire Muslim commu-
nity. YazÐd really was unaware about what was going to befall him
as a result of murdering the grandson of the Prophet and his fam-
ily members.
After the event of Karbala took place, the martyrdom of Imam
Days of Hope
Regret is one of the strongest emotions that can be experienced by
man. It binds the mind with oppressive chains and poisons and
contaminates every thought and every emotion. It is a tape of the
past that plays itself over and over again, and will not respond to
any attempt to stop it. At its peak, regret leaves no escape for man
and leaves him nowhere to go. He will screw up his face, bite his
hands out of frustration, lash out at his surroundings, yet nothing
seems to work, and the tape of the past continues to play itself,
heedless to the pain of this man. At its peak, regret drains man's
spirit and overcomes his will power, it leaves him weak and wait-
2
Íusain(as) and his family members had unleashed a form of
propaganda. This propaganda was a self-sustaining weapon that
crumbled the empire of YazÐd. It may seem strange as to how the
news of such an event could have positively awakened the very
people that had betrayed Imam Íusain. After receiving news
about the event of Karbala, most of the people had realised the
reality of what they had contributed to. No longer could these
people further suppress their conscience. The strategies used by
YazÐd had weakened in its ability to influence the people and this
eventually led to numerous uprisings such that some years later
the Ummayad dynasty did eventually collapse.
Today this event of Karbala continues to propagate in the hope
that it will awaken those sleeping in the current and future gen-
erations. What we need to realise is that to some extent we are not
any different to those people in the past. Today we are subject to
the exact same strategies that YazÐd and his father had used. The
media is one the most powerful instruments
used today by politicians and the elite in con-
trolling people. Through the media they are
able to influence what we consider to be nor-
mal, and consequently control the decisions we
make. With the media they create an atmos-
phere of fear or love which assists them to gain
the support of the people in achieving their evil
motives. They use the media to suppress the conscience of people,
like the portrayal of a group of people to be the enemy, and there-
fore assist the people in justifying their support for war. Religion
is used to justify the injustices committed, essentially convincing
people that it is a green light from God. Sins and the love of this
world are being promoted by all forms of media, and also by the
very people (agents) who are slaves to such media.
As a result of being bombarded with all this propaganda we have
become inclined to our desires and have become attached to the
love of this world. We do not realise that every time we sin we are
in actual fact shooting an arrow towards the camp of Imam
Íusain (as). It is no surprise that the Imam of our time has not
appeared - otherwise the history of Karbala would have repeated
itself. In overcoming these inner problems in our selves, Imam
Íusain sacrificed his life and family members in Muharram so
that today we may wake up from our sound sleep. We should be
grateful for such favours, since had it not been for the sacrifice
Imam Íusain (as) offered, we would have gone far astray. In end-
ing this article please recite SalawÁt for the favours the Ahlul Bayt
have bestowed upon us.
Ali AlSamail
ing only for the blessing of time to make the wound less sharp,
and to present him with opportunities to redeem himself and his
situation.
Regret is a result of counter-factual thinking, which is the cogni-
tive process of imagining eventualities or conclusions other than
the ones that have occurred in reality. The mind travels to the past
and re-traces the steps that led to the present situation. At one or
more of these steps, it recognizes that it could have made a differ-
ent choice, and it goes on to postulate theories as to what eventu-
Continued on page 3 >>>>
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (9)- 2009
alities would have materialized if it had made those other choices.
If these other possible eventualities are deemed more favourable
than the present one, the bitter unpleasant feeling of regret
emerges.
Despite the cruelty of this emotion, and its depressing impact on
the human psyche, it can be channelled in such a way that it assists
man in requesting choices about his future. Regret leaves such a
strong imprint on man's mind that when he comes to make future
choices, he attempts to anticipate which of these choices will lead
to the least amount of regret and makes his choice based on that
criteria. The student who does not study for an examination fails,
and the unpleasant consequences of his failure stimulate the pangs
of regret. This regret will in fact become this student's main moti-
vation to study for his next examination.
He will not want to feel the same bitter
emotion again and so this time he will
study.
Despite the pain that regret causes, it is a
useful emotion that can be channelled so
that it has positive outcomes. In fact, it is a
blessing from the Perfectly Wise Creator in
order to assist man in planning out his fu-
ture. He warns His creation ‚ of a day of
intense regret, when the matter shall have been
decided” while “they live now in negligence and do not believe”. (19:39)
This intense regret is everlasting and eternal; a regret that cannot be
blunted-a burning fire that cannot be put out, a wasted life that
cannot be retrieved.
However if man feels regret while he is still in this world, he can,
like that student, atone for his mistakes by making efforts in the
time that remains for him. If he has pained and hurt people, he
can compensate them through various means, is he has sinned
against himself and against his Lord he can still repent. However,
after his death, on the day that he will be raised again to be ques-
tioned about how he used that time he was apportioned, ‚the mat- take account of the hours of the day they are given. These are the
ter will have already been decided‛. The eternity of everything will
already have been set in stone and man's final abode will have pre- These are the ones who in fact ruin their eternity for nothing,
pared. There will be no tampering with the past, nor any correction they have gained neither this world nor the next and they are the
of deeds- the time for action will have passed. His regret on that
day will be the final, ultimate and absolute regret.
3
That regret is born today, and nourished and nurtured in this
world. It is given its existence here, because we ‚live now in negli-
gence and do not believe‛ . The punishments we face in the after-
life are not conventional punishments. Rather they are a direct
effect of actions here. Just like the punishment in this world for a
mother who consumes alcohol while she is pregnant is that her
child will be born hideously deformed, so the punishments of
that Day will be a direct cause of our actions here. We will in fact
see our actions almost 'personified' on that day, it will be almost
as if we give birth to these creatures who will now haunt us on the
most frightening day of our lives. On that day, ‚every soul will be
confronted with all the good it has done, and all the evil it has
done, it will wish there were a great distance between it and its
evil (3:30). We cannot picture these 'creations' that are
expressions of our evil in this life but when we see
them on that Day we will know exactly which action
brought them to existence and the justice of their exis-
tence. They will be like embarrassing companions that
will follow us around and declare to the whole of crea-
tion, including the Prophets the Imams and the pious
people of our communities that we committed these
awful deeds. They will be companions that we will be
questioned about while we have no answers, and thus
we will be punished.
We brought this eternal punishment to life through
our desire for this world. We ruined our eternity for nothing but
a small portion of this world. Some of us ruined our eternity in
order to spend some time with a beautiful companion of the op-
posite sex, others of us ruined their eternity because of a certain
amount of money that we gained through foul means, others ru-
ined their eternity because they wanted fame, glory and power.
Yet there are those of us who are even worse off, those who when
‚there comes to them yet another reminder from their Lord, they
only hear it while engaged in fun and games, their hearts preoccu-
pied with trifles‛(21:1-3). These are those of us who cannot even
ones who have no purpose besides sleeping, eating and playing.
most pathetic creatures of this world.
TO BE CONTINUED.....

Being one of the most active communities in Sydney. The Imam Husain Islamic Centre Offers a wide
range of activities throughout the year and for all ages. This is an opportunity for you to awaken your
conscience and take a stand against ignorance and prejudice.

Activities at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre

•Congregational Daily Prayers
• Friday Prayers
• Weekly Supplications:
-Dua A’hd – Every Morning
-Dua Nudba – Every Friday Morning
-Dua Tawassul – Tuesday Evenings
-Dua Kumayl – Thursday Evenings
 Classes
-Adult Hawza-Sun. Mon. Wed.
-Islamic studies and Quran Classes for
children– detailed right panels
-Friday Evening Lecture by Sh. Mansour
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (9)- 2009
Divorce is one of the most painful and stressful emotional experience and it is the most detested of halaal acts in Islam and
yet this problem plagues our community. This series of articles shall try to determine the causes of divorce so that we may
learn to avoid them.
The Pathology of Divorce– PART 1
Series of Lectures presented by Sh. Mansour Leghaei– Written by Abidali Mohamedali
Preface
Divorce is one of the most disliked of halÁl actions in Islam and
unfortunately over the recent past the trend toward more divorce
is becoming apparent not only in the western society but in our
own too. In order to understand and protect ourselves from this
phenomenon, it is essential to study its pathology, which is a
study concerned with the causes and nature of this ‘disease’ in-
cluding diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.
The series of lectures on this topic shall focus on a scholarly
study on the nature of divorce, its symp-
toms, its causes, its types, its processes and
consequences and all matters relating to this
social phenomenon. The discussions de-
scribed herewith are specifically intended to
inform and educate the public on this issue.
The examples used in these discussions are
not intended to reflect any particular indi-
vidual or couple. The examples will only
serve to highlight an issue or to make it
easier to understand.
Although the following discussions will
attempt to cover all the relevant issues re-
lated to divorce, it is extremely difficult to
get a complete understanding of the issues
for two primary reasons. The first is that
most of the cases deal with numerous vari-
ables not all of which are known or can be
understood and secondly, the cases differ
from couple to couple due to the differ-
ences in will power and emotions involved.
It is therefore impossible to analyse this
issue comprehensively in a scientific man-
ner but all attempts will be made to ensure that as much informa-
tion that can deciphered be presented.
The target audiences for these discussions are those who are on
the verge of marriage, although those already married would bene-
4
fit greatly. It is only by targeting those on the verge of marriage,
who still have the opportunities available to make the correct
decision in the first place, can this disease be significantly re-
duced if not eliminated completely.
Introduction
Of all the social relationships in the world today, marriage is one
of the most prevalent and embraced by every society and culture.
Islam has greatly encouraged this form of social contract for nu-
merous reasons, the obvious being the proliferation of the human
race on earth. This natural phenomenon of
marriage, whose importance in a stable, intel-
ligent and complete society cannot be over-
stated, over the past few decades it has been
viewed as a burden on society due to the in-
creasing levels of divorce and its associated
physical, emotional and spiritual harms.
In western societies in particular, the levels of
divorce are alarmingly high (Figure 1.1) and
are correlated with the materialistic, egocen-
tric lifestyle of people in these countries. It is
inevitable that as the world moves towards
greater individualism, consumerism, and ma-
terialism, the levels of divorce will increase,
dragging more and more families into its net.
Unfortunately, this trend of increasing di-
vorce is a global phenomenon in these coun-
tries such that even within the Muslim, Shi’a
communities in these countries, the levels are
not any different! The graph below shows the
relationship between the numbers of cases of
divorce and marriage brought to the Imam
Husain Islamic Centre (fig 1.2) and the subsequent rate of divorce
observed (fig 1.3) (It must be noted that these statistics represent both
cases of couples who got married then divorced and those who got mar-
ried only or those who got divorced only.)
Although the global trend for the rate of divorce is decreasing,
this is not as a result of more successful marriages, it is as a direct
consequence of people not getting married anymore or registering
their marriage. Another point of note is that there is no specific
correlation between length of time married and divorce rate. For
example a couple who have been married (katab kitaab) as little as
2 weeks sought divorce claiming they cannot stand each other,
while on the other extreme a couple who filed for divorce 3 times
after having been married for 40 years, and the third time the
husband died of stroke due to old age leaving behind grandchil-
dren!
Divorce in Divine Religions
Divorce in Judaism
Divorce in Judaism, called get, is an act Continued on page 5 >>>>
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (9)- 2009
FACTS ABOUT DIVORCE IN AUSTRALIA
An alarming trend in the social norms Divorce rate
in Australia means in Australia is around
we MUST address this 40%. Meaning, about 40
issue NOW! Or our percent of marriages can be ex-
children will suf- pected to end in divorce.
fer.
The divorce rate in Australia for second mar-
riages is little higher than that of first marriages.
The median age at marriage has increased from
23.4 years for grooms and 21,1 years for brides in 1971 to
31 years for grooms and 29 for brides in 2008.
Cohabitation before marriage has increased from about
18 per cent in 1975 to almost 60 per cent today!
Statistics obtained from divorcerate.org
although allowed in Judaism, is not encouraged. Judaism recog-
nized the concept of "no-fault" divorce thousands of years ago.
Under Jewish law, a man can divorce a woman for any reason or
no reason. The Talmud specifically says that a man can divorce a
woman because she spoiled his dinner or simply because he finds
another woman more attractive, and the woman's consent to the
divorce is not required. In fact, Jewish law requires divorce in
some circumstances: when the wife commits a sexual transgres-
sion, a man must divorce her, even if he is inclined to forgive her.
The procedural details involved in
arranging a divorce are complex and
exacting. Except in certain cases of
misconduct by the wife, a man who
divorces his wife is required to pay her
substantial sums of money, as speci-
fied in the marriage contract. There
are many other rules in regards to
divorce which are outside the scope of
this discussion.
It should be noted that orthodox Ju-
daism and Islam deal very similarly
with the issue of divorce in terms of
its jurisprudence, further evidence
that the latter of divine religions were
sent by God to complete the former.
Divorce in Christianity
Christianity stands alone among the religions in prohibiting both
divorce and marriage to divorced men and women. Jesus (peace
be on him) is reported to have said, "It was also said, 'whoever di-
vorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorcement. But I tell you,
whoever divorces his wife, except on the grounds of adultery, causes her to
commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced
commits adultery." (Matt. 5:31-32) "And he said to them, 'Whoever
divorces his wife and marries commits adultery against her; and if a
woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adul-
tery." (Mark 10:11-12). Its for this reason that the church does not
recognise divorce. This is one of the reasons that is disillusioning
many Christians from their faith and from the church, consider-
ing the high rate of divorce in the western societies.
5
Divorce in Islam
Divorce has been mentioned numerous times in the books of
hadith and in the Quran. Divorce in Islam is considered to be the
most detested of the permissible actions in Islam. This fact is
made clear by Imam Sadiq (AS) who says ‚Nothing is more beloved
to the Almighty God than a house built in Islam by marriage, and
nothing is more detested to the Almighty God than a house ruined in
Islam by separation (divorce).‛ [al-Kaafi 5:328]. Imam Sadiq also has
said ‚There is nothing among what God has made Halal more detested
to Him than divorce. Surely the Almighty Allah dislikes the one who
divorces at times and tries different people.‛ [Wasa’el 22:8]
)283:22 ‫(وسائل الشیعة‬
The Holy Prophet has said ‚Whoever harms his wife until
she pays him a ransom to free herself, Allah will not accept
any punishment for him less than Fire, for the Wrath of
Allah will be incurred for (in support of) a woman as it will
be incurred for (in support of) an orphan. And whoever
harms a Muslim he/she is not from us and we are not from
him/her neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. And any
woman who seeks divorce from her husband remains in the
curse of Allah and His Angels and His Messengers and all
the people until the Angel of death descends to her telling her:
You woman! Be informed of the Hell. Then on the Day of
Resurrection it will be said to her: You woman! Enter the
Hell with those who are entering. Behold Surely Allah and
His Messenger are free from those women who divorced
themselves without accepted reason. Behold! Surely Allah
and His Messenger are free from whoever that harms his
wife so that she seeks her divorce.‛ [Wasa’elu-Shi’a 22:283]
In Islam there are three types of divorce which will be discussed
in detail in later chapters, the first is Talaq Rij’i, where the man
applies for divorce. The second is Talaq al Khul’, whereby the
woman applies for Divorce and the third is Talaq Mubaraat,
which is a joint application. The reason that The Prophet is spe-
cifically blaming women for divorce is that it is a fact that statisti-
cally, 91% of divorce cases are initiated by women, in the western
world [The 91% Factor -Edward Baiamonte]. These statistics are
reflected even in our very own community whereby more than
80% of cases of divorce are brought forward by women. The
Prophet in his statement clearly indicates those who could be or
are at fault when it comes to divorce blaming men and also
women equally. The next chapters shall discuss what these
‘accepted reasons’ for divorce.
 Prisoner of Golden Chains
Ali AlSamail

One day, I heard that somewhere, far away from here, people were
imprisoned, then raped, tortured and dragged around on leashes
like animals without any justification. The pictures I saw showed
me an evil I had never imagined before. I felt pain and anger, but
I knew I could change nothing, so I told the pain to go away, and
told the anger to shut up. I told the sense of injustice I felt to be
quiet, because that was somewhere else, far away from here- it was
what we leave behind before coming here.
The next day, I heard that a group of kids, somewhere far away
from here, were stopped at a checkpoint on their way to school.
Well-trained soldiers could only communicate with these kids by
pointing guns at them, so the kids had to sit on the sidewalk and
have their class right there. It
made me want to cry, but I told
the tears to go back.
On another day, I saw photos of
a family who lived far away from
here. They were sitting on a
beach, enjoying an outing, when
suddenly they were attacked, their
bodies were torn to pieces, their
heads were cut from their bod-
ies…all except one little girl, who
cried endlessly, because she was
holding in her arms her baby
brothers, whose lives had been
stolen even before they had prop-
erly begun. I jumped up, I turned
away from the screen, I closed my
eyes, I shook my head, I wanted some way out…but I sat down
again, because there was nothing I could do.
On yet another day, I saw that somewhere, far away, little children ity. My conscience must not die, for then…the world will die.
had no food to eat and no clean water to drink. They were sick-
dying- their bellies inflated as if to point out some sick irony in
their plight. They came from a place whose earth was rich, but
even their piece of earth had been raped, and only they had been
left on it to rot. But this time, there were no tears, no anger and
no pain. I didn’t want to drown in my own helplessness. I didn’t
want to choke on my own weakness, this time, I didn’t want to
leave any room in my heart for the suffering that someone else
was going through.
death…………………………………………………………………
Then the world shook again.
I was shocked back into life. Why did I not care that my equal in
humanity was being slaughtered, simply because it was out of my
sight? Why did I care more for how many dollars I saved that week
than for how many children died in some corner of the Earth?
How could I see people consumed and pillaged by fire, but myself
take a tentative step back, afraid that even a small spark of that fire
may land at my feet? Why did I so much love to be deceived, why
did I love so much to stay in my cocoon and fear whatever came
from outside of it? Why could I not sift through the lies to see the
truth? Why was I so weak, why was I a pris-
oner of golden chains?
If I stand alone I will change nothing.
If we all stand together, we can change any-
thing. We cannot stand, until I stand and
until you stand.
My tears can change the world, my pain
can move the blind hearts that strangle this
planet, my love and compassion can over-
come the greed and hatred that divide the
world into oppressor and oppressed.
My freedom must come from within, but
soar to the world without, and carry with it
those around me and those who will come
after me. My voice must be heard and my
burning desire for justice must not be put
out. The volume of tragedy must not bury me in a heap of despair,
the blatancy of the oppression must not make me doubt the truth,
the off-hand reporting of death counts must not dull my sensitiv-

This time, I changed the channel before the pictures had their
effect on me, this time, I ignored that newspaper article, this time,
I switched on my Playstation, this time, I give in to the pleasur-
able distractions designed to make me forget, so that those dying
kids would rot even out of my memory. This time I followed the
mirage that pulled me from reality and took me to a hollow day-
dream. This time, I closed my eyes to the world around me, un-
aware that soon cruelty would knock on my door and take me
from the daydream and into my worst nightmare. This time, I
killed my conscience, and became a zombie- walking and talking,
but rotting with the stench of