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We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Today's Muslimah.
Jazakum Allahu Khairan
Salam alaikum wa rahmatuallah,
I would like to address a letter to my sisters in Islam living in the East and in the West. We have all experienced some type of discrimination in the past years particularly after the 9-11 bombings and again when the bombings took place in London. This has effected all of us in some way. In our Muslim countries we have been effected in several different ways depending on the country. In Egypt for example it is typical to be rounded up by the police and taken to jail on superficial suspicions. Our charities are under scrutiny and we are not able to provide the type of sadaqa we were once able to provide. We may even wonder if our money is being put to proper use.....the use we intended it to be put to when we sent it. All of this has caused a strain on our societies, particularly on the poor and on our men who do not have 'wasta' or good contacts or social standing in the country they are residing in. (Something unislamic but a reality).
In the West we are either facing discrimination from our own families if they are not Muslim, co-workers, we are finding it difficult to find work, particularly if you wear hijab and if your name sound 'Muslim'. Media portrayal has put ideas that are not true about Islam in the heads of most people in the world who are not Muslim, and it has even extended to some point where Muslims themselves are questioning their own religion and it's beliefs.
Did you know:
Our Prophet was a poor man salahu alaihi wa salam. He came from the best family in Mecca yet his path in life took him on a road of suffering rather than a road of wealth. He slept on a mattress of hay on the floor until the day he died. He lived in a very small one room house with his wife Aisha Allah be pleased with her, no bigger than my kitchen IF that!
Our Prophet used to go hungry many times and would tie a rock to his stomach to ease the pain! There are claims that he raided caravans for booty. If these raids were purely for the sake of gaining any monetary means, then why was he not rich? Rather these (very few) raids were political boycotts and were done for strategic reasons because of his enemies in Mecca, enemies who were at war with the Muslims in Medina and we capturing, torturing and killing them. That is why you will only find very few instances of raids done on the caravans. This fact alone shows that the Prophet Mohammad peace and blessings be upon him was not out for any monetary gain, enjoyment or pleasure in life.
It is up to every individual to read authentic literature on the life of our Prophet to gain the correct perspective on our religion. It is very simple to read something written to slander Islam and our Prophet and not look any further to see what are the facts.
I call on all individuals to come together to work on this dawa'a effort. Please email me authentic literature and/or links to support the claims that our religion and our Prophet was not the man the world is making it/him to be.
I will post it to this section after reviewing it. Send it to todaysmuslimah@gmail.com. Once we have gathered some information you are welcome to provide this link to people (who ask for it, or who argue the fact - we should never push information on anyone about our religion). In this way we can make an effort to compile authentic sources of information for people who are interested. You yourself, a Muslim may need to review it if you have been effected by the media/propaganda/websites that are anti Islamic.
I am not saying there is no such thing as terrorism, or extremist ideologies. What I am saying is that these go AGAINST our religion and this is what the world needs to understand. You (me and you as Muslims) also need to know this! We need to know that there is a difference between what people do and what is actualy right! And remember the struggle we are all facing today! If you do not stand up to make a change then you will continue to suffer. And this has effected all of us! These idiologies have effected the entire Ummah!
Jazakallah khieran in advance for your efforts.
Badreya
