MEA Community News letter 01 by the Stormy Foundation

Salams All,

I hope this message finds you in good health and iman.…

This past year (and decade) has gone by so quickly and a lot has happened starting with the whole September 11 attacks back in 2001 that kind of shaped the rest of the decade for the Muslim world.

Its been tough being a Muslim this last 10 years especially in the west as the spotlight has been casted even more on Muslims than possibly ever before. However Thank God that there is more of us around that can share the burden that maybe this is unfairly placed on us. This sense of community spirit is personally for me one of the big attractions of Islam.

I have often spoke about how I feel about the sufferings of Muslim in the world, especially those in Palestine. However I have also spoken of the need to change ourselves first and improve our own communities before we can be more effective to the Ummah over the world and in the famous words of late Michael Jackson, ‘take a look at yourself and then make a change’.

With those things being said, I have decided to set up some goals for myself to try to better myself and will need all your help to realize these goals.

I broke down my goals into three categories -
Religious (practicing) Goals
Religious (social) Goals
Sport/Social Goals

Now I won’t go into all the goals themselves however I will go into the ones that I feel you can help me on and inshallah ill be able to help you achieve possible goals that you may set yourself…

My Religious (social) Goals which are -
1) Visiting the Sick
2) Spending time with Orphans
3) Setting up a Marriage Bureau
4) Continue to assist in Islamic Talks
5) Arrange a Desert or Dhow trip once a month

With that being said I will expand on each of those above –

1) Visiting the Sick - I have spent time with Fanar who are supposed to operate a patient visit program however it is not really very active though they are going to start trying to re-start this program so will keep you updated regarding that.

However, I have spent a bit of time at Hamed Hospital and at the Mottawa office in Hamad Hospital and they have told me how they go solo into the rooms of patients and say Salams and speak to the patients. I also spoke to Public Relations who also said it was a good thing and to just go and speak to the people in the hospital.

I have tried it a few times and in some areas of the hospital its hard to gain access or I wouldn’t recommend such as Pediatrics (2nd and half of the 3rd floor) and Woman Wards (the whole of the 5th floor) unless of course you are a woman which means these two areas are really the only areas I would recommend you going to. This leaves the 4th and 6th floor for Men, the 4th floor is mainly orthopedics, which I recommend as the best patients, as they are still coherent usually and the staff are also usually quite alright. 6th floor has cardio and long term patients (mostly comatose patients) therefore I suggest the 4th floor.

The visiting hours are mainly between 4.30pm -9pm and would recommend visiting between those hours. On the ground floor in the reception there is a Mottawa office that has Islamic Material that you can issue to the patients in various languages.

A famous hadeeth on this topic –

Al-Tirmidhi (969) narrated that ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “There is no Muslim who visits a (sick) Muslim early in the morning but seventy thousand angels send blessings upon him until evening comes, and if he visits him in the evening, seventy thousand angels send blessings upon him until morning comes, and he will have a garden in Paradise.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

Looking at the virtues and the etiquettes of visiting the sick please see - http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/71968

Visiting those with Special Needs - Also another element of visiting the sick is the handicapped. In Doha there is a centre called the Al Shafallah centre. I want to get volunteers to go down in a group and spend time with the people in the centre. I have spoken to the centre and just need a list of those that wish to participate. The centre is open from 7am to 2pm on Sunday to Thursdays. However they also operate programs on the weekends and this is what I hope to get involved in.

Looking at the virtues and the etiquettes of spending time with those of special needs please see –
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&pagename=IslamO...

2) Spending time/money with Orphans – In Doha there are two main
organizations that work with orphans. They are Qatar Charity and Dhreima.

Within Qatar Charity they have two organizations the Qatar Office and the International Office.

Firstly the international office has a program where one can sponsor an Orphan or Families in difficulties. You can pay them to their office directly (which is located behind the Mall Shopping Centre, near D-Ring Road) every month, or can pay for a yearly amount or set up a direct debit. The costs for Sponsoring Orphans are –

150 QAR – Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, Niger, Iraq, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Mali, Mauritania, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Chad, Togo

200 QAR – Kosovo, Bosnia, Indonesia, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Albania

300 QAR – Families - Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, Niger, Iraq, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Mali, Mauritania, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Chad, Togo, Kosovo, Bosnia, Indonesia, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Albania

For the Qatar Office they are the ones who deal with Orphans based in Qatar but are not Qatari. If you would like to help with them then please let me know as I need to forward details of potential volunteers.

For Dhreima, it is an orphanage that deals with Qatari Orphans and is a little harder to work with however I am in the process of getting contacts within the organization inshallah and will need details of those that want to work with them as well please.

A famous hadeeth on this topic –
Allah Most High says in the Qur’an, "So as for the orphans, do not oppress them, and as for beggars, do not berate them," (93:9-10) and the Almighty says, "Have you seen him who denies the deen? He is the one who harshly rebuffs the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor." (107:1-3)

Looking at the virtues and the etiquettes of spending time with Orphans please see -http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&pagename=Zone-E...

3) Setting up a Marriage Bureau - As you know there is many people in Doha
that find it hard to meet people and for those that are looking to get married then this is a problem. Therefore myself and a few others are going to try to help set up a marriage bureau that will assist those looking to get married primarily based in Doha through a network of Muslims. Those who are single or married and know people who wish to participate then please let myself know so when it does get set up I will contact you.

Looking at the virtues and the etiquettes of Marriage - http://www.sunnipath.com/Library/Hadith/H0002P0070.aspx

4) Continue to assist in Islamic Talks and events-
There is an islamic talk for Brothers and Sisters every thursday at Fanar after Isha. And will inform you of other talks or events as and when they occur. If you know any then please let me know.

5) Arrange a Desert or Dhow trip once a month/2months – To assist in
helping the community build a closer relationship a Dhow or Dessert trip will be arranged on a monthly or every 2 months pending interest in such a event. This has been going on for roughly a year and it has helped build strong bonds within the community so far and inshallah will continue to do so. We have many of the materials needed for such events and therefore requires few new purchases and people to assist with the trips.

In addition to these things, there is football and squash events that occur weekly that people are also welcome to come along to.

Ok I think that’s enough for now…

Inshallah this will be beneficial to you as it will be to me.

Please let me know which parts you would like to participate in.

Ws

Stormy