Rise Up

[Verse 1: Ilyas Mao]
I’m walking back on my old life
Give thanks to the Most High
Cuz I could’ve been anything, dead or in jail or addicted to heroin
Cuz this world is a scary place
Where they teach us how to hate
The people that we don’t know
But they don’t know that we all come from one soul
Ok, I’m not what they show, a terrorist nor am I a criminal
You can blame a scapegoat but I pray for peace and not war

[Chorus: Ilyas Mao]
Rise up, I’m gonna make a difference, rise up, take back what’s mine
Rise up, give power to the people, some dreams never die
Can I get a witness? You know that it’s right
Cuz we gotta rise up, and teach the world to unite

[Verse 2: Muslim Belal]
Yo, you see this life’s enough to get you down
Take a look around, step out
Smile on your face, return home with a frown
This world’s full of imperfections, hatred and corruption
Everybody’s suffering from anxiety, now everybody’s got depression
That this life get the better of them, and it’s all meant to be lessons
All your high expectations sets you up for disappointment
Quick to look outside the box and complain about those problems
But we still ain’t took a minute to solve the problems that’s within them
We hate on each other more than the people hate on us
We need rehabilitation, we need more than this to rise up
Sending a broadcast to our women, telling them they need to be careful
While your brother’s in his house beating his wife up till she’s tearful
Then we stand in the mosque, close together, waiting for the prayer to start
Looking like a united team but our hearts are far apart
See before we complain about the world we need to fix the problems within
We can’t even see past the colour of each other’s skin
It’s mad I joined this religion for a change
I read about kindness, humility and saw paradise within range
Tell me what happened to that, how can we let the focus be swerved
We need to get back on track, show this religion to the world and rise up

[Chorus: Ilyas Mao]
Rise up, I’m gonna make a difference, rise up, take back what’s mine
Rise up, give power to the people, some dreams never die
Can I get a witness? You know that it’s right
Cuz we gotta rise up, and teach the world to unite

[Verse 3: Ilyas Mao]
This is for the haters and the dictators and the debaters cuz the
Love’s greater than the bomb, keep calm
Got the world in my palm, fans from Somalia to Vietnam
Cuz it’s blood that flows through my veins, it’s the same so I can’t look the other way
So put down the guns, cuz to save one life is to save everyone
Everyone, every son, every mum, feeling your pain cuz this ummah is one
They’re taking our lives but they’re wrong
Cuz to the Lord of the Worlds we belong
So we gotta wake up and sound the alarm
All my people, get up, before we are gone
Cuz we ain’t gotta fight, if we just unite, and tell the world to rise up

[Chorus: Ilyas Mao]
Rise up, I’m gonna make a difference, rise up, take back what’s mine
Rise up, give power to the people, some dreams never die
Can I get a witness? You know that it’s right
Cuz we gotta rise up, and teach the world to unite

[Bridge: Boonaa Mohammed]
The time is now
History is written by those who take a stance
We can no longer be quiet, We will no longer be silent
Those who seek to oppress us, will be faced with resistance
I will not be a victim, I will not be a statistic
The system is sick, and we are its cure
Doesn’t matter your religion, your race, your gender
We will rise up together, we will be remembered

[Chorus: Ilyas Mao]
Rise up, I’m gonna make a difference, rise up, take back what’s mine
Rise up, give power to the people, some dreams never die
Can I get a witness? You know that it’s right
Cuz we gotta rise up, and teach the world to unite