The Stench of Power

Mohamed Miah – The Narratives

There’s a smell that never leaves you once you’ve seen what power does to the innocent.
It’s not blood or fire — it’s the stench of corruption, arrogance, and lies wrapped in diplomacy.
The kind of rot that comes from men in suits signing death warrants with polished pens while sipping their afternoon coffee.

They call it policy.
We call it murder.
And I can’t stomach it anymore.


The World as a Trading Floor of Death

They invade nations and call it liberation.
They bomb cities and call it precision.
They kill children and call it collateral.

Every word they use is an insult to humanity — a linguistic disguise for bloodlust.
They don’t see faces, only fields to test their weapons and economies to “rebuild” once they’ve reduced them to dust.

For them, war is a balance sheet.
For us, it’s graves and broken memories.


The Survivor’s Curse

What happens when a whole family is wiped out and one child survives?
That child carries ghosts instead of dreams.
Every prayer, every meal, every moment of quiet is haunted by the faces that never came home.
And the world dares to call them radical when they lose faith in humanity?

You destroy their world, erase their past, and then blame them for their rage.
You leave them with trauma that no therapy can fix — because you can’t cure loss that was never accidental.

Even soldiers come back broken — shaking, drinking, screaming into the night — while the architects of war sleep soundly in their mansions.


The Ivory Towers of Indifference

Politicians don’t bleed; they calculate.
They talk about “national interests” while their souls rot in hypocrisy.
They smile for cameras, roll out speeches about democracy, and return to boardrooms where the next war is already drafted.
They have no smell of the dead in their nostrils.
No sound of mothers clawing at rubble in their ears.

That’s why I say — the world doesn’t hate politics; it hates politicians.
Because they’ve become salesmen of suffering, not leaders of people.


Faith in the Age of Rot

When one Muslim hurts, we all hurt.
That’s not poetry — that’s creed.
It’s what keeps the Ummah human when the rest of the world has gone numb.
Because for us, every drop of blood is sacred. Every tear matters.

The Prophet ﷺ said:
“The believers are like one body; if one limb suffers, the whole body responds with sleeplessness and fever.”
(Sahih Muslim, 2586)

And when oppression floods the earth, we remember what Allah warned:

“Do not think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do.
He only delays them for a Day when eyes will stare in horror.”

(Surah Ibrahim, 14:42)

So we bow, we pray, and we speak truth — even when our voices tremble.

Du‘ā for the oppressed:
اللهم انصر المستضعفين في كل مكان، وكن لهم عونًا ونصيرًا، وارحم شهداءهم، واشفِ جرحاهم، وبدّل خوفهم أمنًا وإيمانًا.
“O Allah, help the oppressed wherever they are. Be their aid and protector. Have mercy on their martyrs, heal their wounded, and replace their fear with safety and faith.”


I Write So I Don’t Rot

Sometimes I think my disgust could drown me — it sits in the gut like poison.
But I write, because silence would make me complicit.
I write for the broken, the forgotten, the nameless graves that never made the news.
Because truth is a form of worship too.

Let the powerful build their empires on bones;
let the believers build their legacy on conscience.

The world may forget the victims —
but Allah never does.


Faith & Reflection

The Narratives is my space for truth, pain, and hope.
A place where words are not decoration — they are resistance.
May every post be a form of dhikr, a reminder that truth still lives among the ruins.

14 responses to “The Stench of Power”

  1. A great good to write about this. The powerful are indeed disgusting.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you very much for reading and reaching out. It’s really appreciated. Please share with friends and family if you can. Thank you so much ❤️

      Like

  2.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Righteous indignation and religious rhetoric achieves little or nothing. You write, “And I can’t stomach it anymore.” Are you doing anything about “the stench of corruption, arrogance, and lies wrapped in diplomacy”? Are you planning to? I mean other than write?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for reading and commenting. Really appreciate it. At the moment I’m writing because as the old saying goes “the pen is mightier than the sword”. However I do try to actively participate in political discourse in my community and where I live. Including standing up and putting my name forward for elections etc. righteousness actually in my eyes achieves a lot. It’s in all major religions as something to strive towards to benefit the community and yourself. Living in peace and harmony is beautiful. Alhamdulillah.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. What do you suggest the writer do in this case?

      A writer may inspire.

      This is the first post I’ve read on this blog but from the title I might guess it is for writing and the topic of this post is writing about power. I don’t think it is an activist blog but I might be wrong.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you Shaun for reading and commenting. Appreciate it my friend.

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  3. It is not quite as black and white… Some of us are not Muslim, or anything else for that matter, but we hurt every time a person is killed, our heart bleeds every time a child is starved to death or maimed by a bomb (and some Muslims from countries where petrol flows like water do not seem very concerned about the genocide in a nearby land…).

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hello my friend. Thank you so much for reading and reaching out. Really appreciate it. I agree it’s not a black and white matter. But we should make it black and white. Right and wrong should be clear in my opinion. We make too many excuses to make things grey. We start saying but and whataboutery. We need to avoid this context when it comes to human lives. Money and collateral in my view should not even be worth one life. I write as a Muslim and through my faith because it helps me understand and not only keep me steadfast but also patient. I can’t speak for any Muslim countries or leaders, I can only speak for myself. I’m one person just like you, with an opinion and a heart. I wish I could do more, just like yourself. But we can support each other. Join peaceful collective action with people we agree with. Have conversations, keep the sense of truth and justice alive. As long as your intention and conscience is clear, you’re doing ok my friend. Buddhist believe in humanity yet we have Myanmar and Rohingya issue. This problem is the world over my friend. Let’s keep the conversation going. Thank you for writing to me, really appreciated.

      Liked by 2 people

  4. I thank you for this post and am sorry some have come out of the woodwork to criticize and question your feelings and words. You don’t have to explain or justify any of it to me. No justice means no peace, for any of us.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Tracy. Thank you so much for reading and reaching out. Means a lot. I don’t mind explaining my views if I need to. I’m fine with it because I’m being honest and I feel what I’ve written has substance, so it’s easy to back up the message I’m trying to get across. Really appreciate your support. Thank you once again.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I appreciate your grace and patience and belief in your words, Mohamed. Wishing you a beautiful day.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Thank you, you too 🙂

        Like

  5. read all your three posts. I agree with you. the complex world isn’t that complex…..right and wrong is pretty clear to me. You don’t bomb children, hospitals, schools, isolate communities and turn your back. what is happening today is disgusting. My country under Trump is disgusting. that people have to scroung for food and housing is disgusting. However, our ideas of being poor fall wide of the mark compared to the rest of the world. we have food pantries, etc. what is happening to the children in Gaza is horrible. and not only the children.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thank you so much Jane for reading and commenting. I really appreciate your words. Please share with family and friends and spread the message. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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