About Randa

Randa Hamwi Duwaji believes that peace can only be visualized after prejudice is reduced to rubble, that the bedrock for peace is personal accountability, and that effective communication is the mortar that binds together a lasting peace.

Randa’s earliest ‘activism’ in this field was at nine years of age, when she received an award at the American School on the Rhine for promoting American-German Friendship. Later, between her father’s posts in Damascus, she got a feeling of what war means in 1967 and began to give poetic voice to the injustices of occupation.
It deeply saddens her to see people forcing their children to grow up in a closed atmosphere of bias; adults might feel more comfortable with those who look or speak the same, but she knows from her own experience that children see no color and speak a universal tongue.
Her story books, written in English, were aimed at widening perspectives, and bringing joy, spiritual growth and environmental awareness to young children through the delightful Arab and Muslim characters interacting with them.
Her art also depicted a variety of subjects, including people’s pain, rooted in the wrongs committed against them.
Her poetry portrays one humanity as, together with speaking of yearning for love and seeking meaning, she chronicles major hostilities seen through the eyes of victims around the world:
“If not for God’s Grace,
mine could be those eyes,
yours could be that face
in the paper…”

Through her interest in the ‘Arabi Qur’an, and while researching its context and language, Randa became aware of the fact that the word ‘deen,’ which is commonly understood as ‘religion,’ actually means ‘accountability.’ That was a eureka moment for someone seeking to heal wounds, mend bridges, and prevent strife.
Today, Randa’s paints, brushes, and the ink of her poetry are all but dry.
Her work now centers around personal accountability and effective communication that can traverse cultural and political borders so that -even if we must swim against the tide- the day might come when our communities share each other’s sorrows and joys, growing and prospering together.

Randa’s literary style, free at times, or evolving from the classic at others, is influenced by a background in English Literature. Post-graduate studies in Psychology have added structure to her depth of thought, acquired from decades of Qur’anic reflection.

Randa’s first collection of poetry -begun at the age of nine– was published as ‘The Winds of Time,’ in 1991. Her second collection ‘Heartbeats in The Wind: Reflections of an Arab Woman’ was launched during the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s annual convention in Washington, 2002.
‘Never Again Shall We Forget’ was published and distributed at the ceremonial unveiling of the Deir Yassin Memorial at Seneca Lake, N.Y. in 2003. The memorial also bears a bronze plaque engraved with a Haiku Randa had written.
In 2004, Randa presented ‘My Heart Beats in Deutschland’ at the Frankfurt Book Fair which had the Arab World as guest of Honor.
One of her major poetic achievements -‘Qalb ‘Arabi Mughtarib: Min Dimashq ila Ishbiliya ila New York’ (An Expatriate Arab Heart: From Damascus to Seville to New York)- was presented in 2006 as a collection of Arabic Poetry, Reflections, and Qur’anic Research. Although Randa had written a few poems in other languages, she had never ventured to compose in Arabic until then. It is this collection that won her critical acclaim and earned her place as an ‘Arab’ poet, giving her the courage to continue writing in Arabic.
‘A Message from our Conscience’ is Randa’s latest poem written during the Corona pandemic lockdowns, featured together with works by other contemporary poets in the 2002 anthology, ‘A Kaleidoscope of Stories- Muslim Voices in Contemporary Poetry.’

Randa’s stories for children (9-14 yrs.) hold the distinction of being written in both English and Arabic. Providing literary enjoyment, cultural experience and environmental awareness, these stories have been enjoyed by many English and Arabic reading youngsters. Delightful days In Marjella, appeared in 1993; its Arabic version, The Stories of Fadi and Sana, came out in 1995. Song of a Falcon, came out as magazine episodes in 1997. Hamad, the Young Falconer was published in both languages by The Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA) in 2000.

Several schools in the U.S. and the Arab world have introduced Delightful days in Marjella to their students who have enjoyed both the stories and the ‘Fun Workbook,’ while characters from ‘Hamad, the Young Falconer’ have come to life in the U.A.E. as animations (at the Kids’ Corner, Emirates Falconers’ Club) and as role-play in school events (in collaboration between the Worldwide Fund for Nature and ERWDA).

An art lover, Randa has used different mediums in her work, enjoying every minute in which she had the luxury of holding a brush in her hand. She started out with oils -which was her father’s favorite medium- then tried watercolors and pastels. Pastel, to her, was the tactile medium she chose to depict the true-life photographs of human suffering which she’d seen displayed in newspapers and magazines. Randa then showcased each person’s anguish, framing it with a few poignant verses of poetry so the viewer could actually hear these people’s sighs and sobs. From the Cape Town children clutching onto barbed wire, to the distress of the Kurdish boy, the uncertainty of Afghan youths, the bereavement of the Dhakan woman, the parting embrace of the Sarajevo mother and daughter, the tearful farewell of a mother and toddler fleeing Gorazde, and the final breath of the young Palestinian stone-thrower, The Blink of a Shutter series touches viewers’ hearts!

The poems and images also appear in the poetry compilation Heartbeats in the Wind; Reflections of an Arab Woman.
Randa looks forward to the time when she can go back to painting, her research and writing having taken over her entire life!

Randa’s latest commitment is related to her study of the ‘Arabi Qur’an and the application of a linguistic and contextual principle prescribed by the Qur’an itself, which helps readers experience its timeless message as close as possible to how it was experienced almost 1400 years ago. Depending on both language and context and backed by authenticated tradition and works of renowned exegetes, this unique pro-faith exegesis is showcased in her latest book, Revival of the Iqra Principle.

Beginning in 2010 as a page-by-page daily Blog, a ‘One year Study of the entire Qur’an,’ Randa’s research is still ongoing more than a decade later as she continues to recover beautiful Qur’anic concepts through the original meanings of its ‘Arabi words. She is currently revising the Qur’an Blog ‘live,’ weekly, to allow readers the opportunity to grasp the information.

Today, in light of the rapid, not always welcome change going on, people of faith are readdressing age-old issues, their work necessarily impacting how their communities come to view new problems. Understanding the Qur’an not only enriches the mind as it uplifts one’s faith and trust to new heights, but it also helps address troubling novelties. This understanding is a ‘life-saver’ for young people who need the tools necessary to achieve their own potential and, in time, bring their communities closer to peace and progress. For all that it offers, the Qur’an Blog is what many consider to be Randa’s magnum opus.

‘Be like a flower that gives its fragrance even to the hand that crushed it.’ – Ali Ibn Abi Talib

‘The wound is the place where the Light enters you.’ – Rumi

‘Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding.’ – Albert Einstein