Rebuilding the Ark

Stand up for justice this Ramadan

This post can also be found here

The Prophet  Muhammad (pbuh) said: “When any one of you sees anything that is disapproved (of by Allah), let him change it with his hand.  If he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his tongue.  And if he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his heart, though that is the least of faith” (reported by Muslim)

Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection about the blessings that each of us have been given by Allah so that we are thankful to Him and think about how we can benefit other people.  The long days of fasting this summer will mean that we all feel especially grateful for the blessings of food and water that we normally take for granted and reflect on the hardship faced by the millions of people around the world who cannot quench their thirst or hunger at the end of the day.  The majority of us will also look at our financial resources and give generously throughout the month of Ramadan to share our wealth with those who are less fortunate.  But is that enough?   Have we fully used our hands, our tongues and our hearts to bring about change?

As young Muslims living in the UK we have a wealth of opportunities and resources at our disposal and with this comes the responsibility to do as much as we can to create the society based on justice and equality that the Prophet (pbuh) and the Qur’an envision.  In this struggle to eliminate poverty, discrimination and the exploitation of our natural environment, each of us must make use of the unique set of skills we have been given, the rights we have in this country to speak freely and lobby policy-makers and the networks and contacts we have to influence those around us.

This Ramadan please continue to give generously to the worthy causes that are appealing for your support.  However we are asking you to go beyond this and to think about what you can contribute to the fight against global poverty.  Here are 5 things that you can do to make a difference to the lives of people around the globe…

Read the rest of this entry »

Pleasure – By Talha Ghannam

My fellow YMAG member Talha Ghanam writes this blog on his reflections of Ramadan.

The highest pleasure in food is the vomit of bees – Honey

The highest pleasure in cloth excrement of worms – Silk

The highest pleasure in Smell is the mucus of a gazelles – Musk

The highest pleasure in drink is the most abundant thing in the world – Water

The highest pleasure in Pleasure is the meeting of the two urinary tracks – Sexual Intercourse

– Imam Ghazali

Having just finished my summer internship, its easy to believe that we get happier as we earn more and buy more.

Read the rest of this entry »

Join the Faiths Act Fellowship – Best year of my life

Highly recommended program wait are waiting for go ahead and apply

Borough responds to Pakistan floods – Article from Waltham Forest Guardian

In the Wake of the recent Pakistan floods I was interviewed the local Waltham Forest Guardian on my work with MADE in Europe.

The Article was written by Safira Ali and can be found here

Please Note – I do not have any association with any of the mentioned organisations in this article except for MADE in Europe.

——————————————–

RESIDENTS in Waltham Forest are joining forces to send relief funds to flood-hit Pakistan.

Charities and mosques in the borough launched fundraising campaigns after 1,600 people were killed and an estimated 12 million people affected by the worst monsoon rains in 80 years.

Local mosques held bucket collections after Friday prayers today and local charities have run TV appeals.

Nadeem Javaid, from Walthamstow, is volunteering for MADE in Europe, a non-governmental organisation which is sending a team of disaster response specialists to the flood-hit region.

The team will be working to provide clean water to flood-affected communities and hope to reach more than 70,000 people a day.

Mr Javaid said: “The UN has estimated that over three million people have been directly affected by the floods.

“The real impact and extent of the floods is only now starting to emerge and immediate action is needed in the form of safe drinking water, medicines to prevent the spread of disease and temporary shelter. Read the rest of this entry »

“7/7 changed my life” – Article from Waltham Forest Guardian

This is an article from the Waltham Forest Guardian – I was interviewed on my reflections 5 years after the July 7 bombings.

the Article was written by Ryan McCarthy and can be found here

——————————————————–

THE horror of the 7/7 London bombings prompted a young muslim to dedicate his life to promoting a positive image of Islam in Waltham Forest and beyond.

Nadeem Javaid was a 20-year-old student who woke up expecting to collect exam results on the tragic day five years ago this week.

But the devout Muslim received a text telling him the Tube network was down as he was about to leave his Walthamstow home.

Mr Javaid and his family, like millions of others, spent the day glued to the TV screens as it emerged that the coordinated attacks had killed 52 people and injured almost 800.

“On that day Islam was further hijacked by a minority who did not represent the true values of Islam,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

15 seconds, some math and how faiths can make all the difference

Faiths Act Fellows - Training in London 2009

A group of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and humanists walk into a room…

It seems like the first line of a joke but actually it was the start of the most amazing year of my life when 30 young people of faith gathered in a room together with a common cause to help the world’s poorest. Read the rest of this entry »

Young leaders against malaria

This Blog was taking off the Washington Post and can be found here

At the Interfaith Youth Core conference last October, Rabbi David Saperstein joked that we have over 2,000 different religions in America, and 1,500 of them are in California. We experienced that firsthand in the Bay Area this year, working as Faiths Act Fellows with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and Interfaith Youth Core. 30 Fellows across 12 cities spread over 3 continents were given eight months to create sustainable and active hubs of multifaith action towards the Millennium Development Goals and the eradication of deaths from malaria. Read the rest of this entry »

Sitting – by Amy McNair

This is a guest blog from Amy McNair one of the Faiths Act Fellows who I traveld to Tanzania with.

her blog can be found here

Sometimes fighting malaria seems like trying to change the direction of the wind. I feel like I have sat a lot this week. Rebecca and I have put together a traveling art exhibit featuring diverse original art pieces to commemorate World Malaria Day, and it has been touring around different universities and congregations in the Chicago area. It is a silent auction to raise money for Malaria No More, and a lot of our time has been spent driving to venues, setting up the display, participating in panels and talking to people about the art and malaria, and sitting by the art. This started to get frustrating to me yesterday, because I was thinking about how I wanted to be in the trenches, actually fighting for lives ruined by malaria, and this felt sort of anti-climactic and un-glamorous after all my training. Then we screened a film by Bobby Bailey called “When the Night Comes.” I have seen it multiple times already, but I found myself crying when it came to the scene where a boy named Ivan dies in front of the camera from cerebral malaria, and the doctors look on hopelessly–having tried all they could. My mind was instantly flooded with the faces of people I met in Tanzania. Godlisten-10 months old. Chubby cheeks and bright eyes. Was on his third trip to the hospital with malaria. Don-22 years old. Bragged he could do push-ups anywhere in the world, even though he has never left his village. Laughed when I asked if malaria could be ended. “It is just here. We will always suffer from this.” Happiness. Brilliant 40-something female doctor working on the malaria vaccine trials. Had a family member die from malaria.

Read the rest of this entry »

Malaria Wipe Out

This is a video I made please repost it so we can get maximum coverage

My Birthday

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Neighbors and Family.

(c) M. Hallahan/Sumitomo Chemical - Olyset Net

This Saturday (April 17th) I will be turning 25 and as I embark on the quarter century land mark I wanted to request from you to think about the millions of people who won’t ever make it this far.

On April 25th exactly 8 days after my birthday is World Malaria Day. It is the one day we can focus the world’s attention on this disease that is reasonable for 1 million deaths a year.

Malaria is one of the biggest injustices in the world today and no disease has claimed more lives than malaria has, from famous historic figures such as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan to the child who has just passed away in Sub Saharan Africa as you finish this sentence.

Malaria is a disease that kills a child every 30 seconds what makes this statistic so much worse is that malaria is a completely preventable disease. we have a saying that I use when talking about malaria that is ‘dying of malaria is like dying of a broken arm’. Imagine falling of your bike or down the stairs and you break your arm and because of that broken arm you die. The thought of it actually seems kind of silly how can we in this modern day dying from something like a broken arm? That’s what it is like dying from malaria, it doesn’t have to happen and it shouldn’t happen.

Read the rest of this entry »