format_quote Originally Posted by
anonymous
Asslamu Aliakum.
I want some advice on how to help the Muslim community. I had an idea but I'm not sure if it is permissible within Islam.
I watched a documentary about the Jewish lobby in America, called AIPAC. It is able to pressure the US government to develop policies that favour Israel.
I thought why can't Muslims set up this lobby? A lobby that allows Muslims to pressure the government to shape policies that are ethical towards the East and allow Muslims to practice their faith peacefully within western nations without persecution from atheists/Christians/secularists.
But is this idea halal? If not, how can I use my time to help Muslims.
I have spare time and want to use it wisely...
Asalaamu Alaikum Wr Wb, May Allah reward you for your intentions. Israeili lobby groups in the US have heavy influence in the US goverment due to their monetary wealth and funding of the US government as well as the high positions they have in huge corporations and in positions of authority as well as the fact that Israel and the US are united in their agenda's in this world.
Therefore it is impossible for a Muslim lobby group to have such influence. There is plenty you and I as well as all Muslims can do to benefit Islam and Muslims.
Here are 10 ways we can help Muslims
1. Volunteer for various Muslim charities like Ummah wlefare trust, Islamic relief, Muslim hands etc. These Muslims charities are always needing volunteers so we should use our time and devote it to charitable works for the pleasure of Allah for the betterment of humanity.
2. Volunteer in local community centres where one can help the youth and those who have gone astray or those whohave gone through a lot in life and needing help with regards to drugs and drink etc. Every community has these issues and there is so much we can do for our youth as well as Muslims and non Muslims of all ages who are going through problems in their life.
3. Sisters can volunteer in the various womens groups in most localities where there are support groups for women who have experienced domestic voilence, force marriages, divorces, widoers etc as these women are always wanting moral support after the terrible experiences they have gone through in life and unfortunatley they have become a target for missionary groups who prey on vulnerable women especially Muslim women. So our sisters should make the effort to get there first to offer as much support as possible to these women.
4. Prison visits is an area that most of us neglect but what we should realise is that prisons have very high Muslim conversion rates and need more visits from Muslims to give dawah to non Muslims as well as dawah to Muslims in prison as there is a lot nowadays and they do need moral support as it is a very tough life in prison and it can really break a person taking them to the edge and even making them contemplate suicide.
Prison is the best place to give dawah because a person is stuck in a room of four walls all day long and they have nothing to do but think and contemplate so why not give them Islam to think and contemplate about and what an opportunity it is to give Islamic books and copies of the Qur'an to prisoners to look at for themselves.
So we need more Muslims doing prison visits to offer moral support to prisoners and at the same time inviting them towards the truth and towards Almighty Allah.
5. School visits is another area that has a lot of potential because every school does RE(Religious education) and why not ask schools if one can do a short presentation about Islam to school children because it is very important to get rid of "Islamaphobia" from the minds of people and what better place to start than the minds of the young to tell them the truth about Islam so that they can grow up not believing in the rubbish that the media has made up about Islam.
6. Publishing and distributing material that aims to teach people the truth about Islam so that they can make up their own minds rather than them being force fed lies and deciet by the media. This material can be distributed throughout community centres as well as other places which has access to the wider public. Stalls can also be set up in public areas like outside shopping centres, high streets etc and various materials can be distributed which aim to tell people the truth about Islam. This is very effective and a wonderful tool to give dawah.
7. Doin various fundraising events for charitable organisations and projects. Various actitivies and fund raising events can be set up where one gets sponsored by others like marathons, mountain climbs, dinner and Islamic talk events etc. I have seen myself how these sorts of events produce thousands of pounds for charities subhanallah! This money can go to so many worthy causes and can count as Sadaqa Jaariya which means that it will be an ongoing reward especially fundraising for Masjids and Ulema have said one of the best charitable acts of all is to buy a well in a poor country and also raise money for orphans or even sponsoring orphans.
8. Making a stand and protesting for justice and the rights of Muslims particularly those Muslims who are been oppressed daily like in Palestine, Kashmir, Chechenya, Iraq etc as well for individuals like Dr Afiya Sadique who was just recently imprisoned for over 80 years for no reason after being raped and tortured for 5 years by US forces. There is so much we can do for our brothers and sisters around the world. Even if we think it will not get anywhere Allah knows the concern we have in our hearts and the effort we are making out of concern for our brothers and sisters and Allah can do whatever he wants and our efforts may even add to at least some form of justice and relief for our brothers and sisters from around the world.
9. Going out there to a humanitarean disaster zones and proactively helping those in dire need of help and support. What better way to directly have a positive impact on the lives of those who are in need of our help and support.
10. Making dua is the easiest way to help our brothers and sisters but is one of the most powerful. It is a tool that we all have but we seldon use it to our advantage. We need to increase in our dua's for our brothers and sisters throughout the world as a dua is so powerful it can directly bring the help of Allah but we all need to have concern in our hearts for our ummah and make dua as much as we can particularly in the latter part of the night.
So let us act upon these points and do whatever we can to help our brothers and sisters throughout the world for we are all one body and if one part of the body feels pain then we should all feel that pain.
May Allah give us concern in our hearts for our ummah and help those in our ummah who need it most. Ameen
And Allah knows best in all matters