----- Original Message ----- From: DDN Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 4:51 AM Subject: Urgent request for assistance .....
As'salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuhu Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islaam, My name is Hajar Buckley and I am an American revert, alhamdulillaah. I have been married to a Muslim for over thirty years. I currently reside in the Middle East. I came home to Florida (USA) at the beginning of July to visit my family after not seeing them for five years. My youngest sister and her family are going through some very difficult times both financially and emotionally. She and her two children have a form of Muscular Dystrophy and receive some social security disability benefits. The children are very challenged and within the past couple of years her son has had three emergency surgeries and her daughter had back surgery. About three months ago her husband had a hypertension stroke and hasn't been able to work. He is still under a doctor's care and has cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). They have applied for social security disability for him and are waiting to hear back from the Social Security Administration. They have been given food stamps, but are not able to make ends meet so a few members of our family, (also living on social security benefits) and I are trying to assist them in paying their monthly bills, but this does not cover all of their bills. My sister has sought all possible forms of assistance from government and state agencies, and private organizations and so far, they have only been given food stamps. My sister was raised as a Roman Catholic and went to the Catholic Church for assistance. Since, she no longer goes to church and is not a member of any particular church, the only assistance offered to them was some canned foods and bread. This past week the owner of the house they are renting is putting the house up for sale and has told them that they have to leave within thirty days. This puts a further financial burden on all of them as they do not have the money to put down the deposit on another rental home. My sister and her family are in such a desperate position so I contacted an Islaamic organization here almost two weeks ago about my sister's situation and the brother in charge said he would be sure he would call me with some information before the end of the day. He never did and I waited a few days and left a message and a few days later another message. This morning I called again and left a message saying that I hadn't heard from him and if he wasn't able to assist a non-Muslim family, he should let me know. Well, he certainly did. He called a few minutes ago and was fuming ... and a bit unkind. He wouldn't even permit me to speak. He gave me the information that he could not provide any help and he hung up on me. Yaa Lateef! Even if my brother-in-law does receive disability benefits, there will still be a great financial strain on them. I would like to request any amount of assistance you are able to give them. Your kindess will be appreciated, inshaa Allaah. If you are able help my sister and her family, please send any funds in the form of a cheque/money-order to the following address: Sally Ann Buckley 109-C, Bent Arrow Road. Jupiter, Florida 33458, USA. If you would prefer to send via Western Union, please address it to: Western Union For the account of: Sally Ann Buckley Jupiter, Florida 33458, USA. Please help my sister and her family. They are truly in a desperate situation. Jazaakum Allaahu Khayr, Your sister in Islaam, Hajar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Message from K a r i m a B i s m i l l a a h i r R a h m a a n i r R a h e e m Assalaamu`Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuhu Dear Brothers and Sisters, I pray you are all well by the grace of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala. I confirm that I've known sister Hajar since January 2002 and that she is my very dear sister-in-Islam. I vouch that sister Hajar Buckley's plea for financial assistance on behalf of her sister and family is genuine. Having read Sister Hajar's request for financial help on behalf of her sister and family, I would like to personally ask you to help them as best as you can, inshaa`Allaah. In Islam, it is permissible to give regular charity - not obligatory charity (i.e., zakaah) to poor kaafirs, and to exhange gifts and with them and treat them well to soften their hearts towards Islam, so long as they have not carried out any hostile actions against the Muslims, which would disallow that. Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala says (interpretation of the meaning): "Allaah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily, Allaah loves those who deal with equity" (Al-Mumtahanah 60:8) http://islamqa.com/en/ref/21384 ____________________ What is being given is voluntary charity, then the scholars have stated that it is permissible to give voluntary charity to kaafirs. It says in al-Umm: Al-Shaafa'i said: There is nothing wrong with giving voluntary charity to a mushrik, but he has no right to any of the obligatory charity (i.e., zakaah). Al-Umm, 2/65. It says in al-Mughni: All those to whom it is forbidden to give zakaah, such as the rich, close relatives of the giver, kaafirs, etc, it is permissible to give them voluntary charity and it is permissible for them to take it. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "And they give food, in spite of their love for it (or for the love of Allaah), to the Miskeen (the poor), the orphan, and the captive" [Al-Insaan 76:8] http://islamqa.com/en/ref/44738 Thank you for your kind and urgent consideration vis-à-vis their plight, inshaa`Allaah. And Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala is the Source of strength. Aameen. Fee Amaanillaah, Your sister, K a r i m a DDN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] fatimah khan IN A SELFNESS WORLD By Nour Habib "HOLD ON TO your sandwich, honey. Make sure no one takes it from you. Don't share your stuff with other people. They're just tricking you into giving them something better than they will give you" Difficult as it is to believe, we actually give advice like this to our 5- and 6- year-old children as we send them off to school. It obviously speaks to the concern parents harbor that their children get the best out of life and don't get taken advantage of. But something rings wrong in this advice in a very shrill way. If you look over the previous words of wisdom once more, you'll realize that not a single syllable even acknowledges the ethic of sharing. It is a scenario played out over and over in households across the Middle East, at odds as it is with their historic and religious emphasis on hospitality. Unfortunately, today's societies have brainwashed individuals into looking out only for themselves and their families. Now, if we follow these children to school, and enter any given classroom, we will see a continuation of the non-sharing principle. Teachers do not encourage students to share crayons with their neighbors. Nor do they chastise the kids for keeping others away from the building blocks. The classroom seems to be governed by an unspoken first-come, first-serve concept. One child psychologist on an Egyptian show discussing social problems highlighted selfishness as a main cause of the problems that society now faces. There is no community effort to make life better. No one sacrifices for the other. No one cares about the comfort of a neighbor. But the very idea of sharing underpins all human society, the psychologist noted. We cannot live without the people around us. We cannot live in the world alone. Interdependency is a defining human characteristic. When we think harder about the needs of the people around us, ultimately, we are making life easier for ourselves. Selflessness is no foreign concept to Muslims. Everywhere we look in our religion, we see examples of people caring for others, sharing their wealth, and having the interest of their fellow Muslims at heart. The Prophet (PBUH), famously said: "None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" (Muslim). Allah states in SurahAli-Imran: "You shall never attain to (the highest) virtue (of faith) until you spend (in charity) from that which you love" (3:92). These texts are proof that selfishness has no place in Islam. Not only do they exhort Muslims to share what they have, they call upon them to give from the very best of what they love. Allah does not simply command His servants to be charitable with what is extra in their lives. By His wisdom and mercy, He orders His servants to impart what is most dear to them. Numerous reports from the life of the Prophet (PBUH), exemplify how seriously he and his Companions took Allah's exhortation. They were completely selfless. One striking example took place after the hijrah, when the Prophet (PBUH), asked each of the Ansar (the Muslims from Madinah) to take one of the Muhajireen (the Muslim emigrating to Madinah from Makkah) as a brother. So many beautiful stories unfolded in this instance. Among them is the Ansari who divided all his possessions, offering half of them to his brother from the Muhajireen. There is also the story of the Companion who invited another to his house. Upon returning home, he asked his wife if they had enough food, for they were poor. She said they did not, and what they did have would only be enough for one. He told her that was fine and asked her to prepare the food for the night, after putting the children to bed. Thus when the guest came over, he would not see that his host was not eating with him. Allah revealed an ayah about this incident in Surah Al-Hashr: "As for those who were (already) settled in the abode (of Madinah), and who were firm in faith before (the Emigration), they love those who emigrated to them and find no (covetous) want in their breast for what (the Emigres) have been given. Rather, they give them preference over their own selves-even when they themselves are in pressing need. And whoever is safeguarded from the avarice of his own soul-then it is these who are the (truly) successful" (59:9). This Companion whose action this verse immortalizes had almost nothing to give. But what he had, he gave it all, leaving nothing for himself, his wife, or children. Even the poorest of the poor are able to share. These stories are amazing. Every time I hear them, my love for the Companions grows even more. Their actions go straight to the heart. Some people might say these are Companions, much better than the average person. They may reason that we cannot rival them, no matter what we do. There is no doubt that they were remarkable. But, alhamdulillah, there are still good people nowadays. Just a couple of months ago, the Egyptian Satellite Channel aired a segment collecting money for a man with brain disease. He needed about $230,000 for his surgery. Some donated nearly $100,000, others $50. One man, Mohammad Sherif, called in. He apologized for the small amount he was donating. It was 15 Egyptian pounds (about $3). Out of embarrassment, he explained his family only had 30 pounds at home, and that was why he couldn't give more. The host thanked Sherif, and he hung up. The next caller donated 500 pounds to the sick man, and another 100 pounds to Sherif. The next did the same (with different amounts). Fast forward a few episodes. Sherif, himself, was now the show's featured guest. He told his story. He was from a poor family, his mother ill with a weak heart. His uncle had recently died, and his 15-year-old cousin had been killed in a motorcycle accident just weeks before. Sherif and his father were watching when the program began taking donations for the man's surgery. Sherif's sick mother was asleep in the next room. He went to wake her up and asked her, "How much money do we have?" "We've got 28 pounds," she told him. "But we haven't paid the electric bill, yet," she said. She informed him, thinking he wanted the money for some other reason. He told her about the sick man who needed surgery, and asked if they could donate half of what they had. "Go ahead," she said, "Only the sick feel the sick's pain. And that is how the story began. While Sherif was on the show, the host asked him if he had a job. Sherif said he used to have one as an assistant director, but that at the moment he was unemployed. The host then informed him that the program had decided to hire him as their assistant director. Sherif was speechless. He thanked the host profusely, and said it was more than he deserved. "A million others would have done what I did," he said. That right there is an example of selflessness. It is not a story of a Companion. It is a real live 2008 story. The man shared what little he had, and Allah gave him back 10 times more than what he gave. He gave him money, and He gave him a job. Assisting others, and caring about them, is what will, inshaAllah, help this Ummah return to the state it was meant to be in. (Courtesy: Al Jumuah Magazine) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
