Assalamu alaikum wrt wbt Servants of Allah
On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) who narrated that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “None of you (truly) has faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” (Bukhari)
Over the last few weeks many of you may have read and watched about the drought in the Horn of Africa. This drought has reached epidemic proportions and the reality is that our brothers and sisters in Africa are dying out of hunger and thirst at an unprecedented level and the numbers affected is rising every day.
I want you to imagine a sister walking bare footed with her baby and younger children on a journey that will take her 15 days to complete in the desert heat of 50 degrees celsius. Throughout this journey she has little food and water, some days they have nothing. While on this journey she loses a child in the* *desert and then another dies out of starvation, having no time or strength to bury the dead so they keep moving on.****
In the scorching heat, they not only see the corpses of livestock but bodies of fathers, mothers and children* *that set out on this journey just like them* *lying lifeless in the desert heat. With no food or water in sight they sleep on the burning sand and under the open sky with nothing to shelter them from the elements. The mother with strong conviction keeps moving on.****
They finally arrive at the refugee Camp in **Kenya*** *having walked from ** **Somalia**** for 15 days. The mother gazes out into the open and finally sees the camp gate vaguely behind a cloud of dust. Her heart fills up with hope but that is short lived* *as she comes closer to camp, the reality is that there are thousands waiting outside the camp. The refugee camp* *cannot accommodate anymore.****
Water and food is scarce at the refugee camp. Even though she is exhausted she drags her children holding the baby towards the nearest water supply. Before she quenches her thirst she gives to her children and they drink with relief.* *She takes the next handful of water for her baby but it’s too late the baby is dead. She sits in despair knowing the reality that her remaining children may die in the next few days.****
Brother and sisters can we ever imagine this, can we ever truly feel the pain of what are brothers and sister are facing? Everyday 60 babies die in one camp and 3000 malnourished arrive at the camps which are too crowed to accommodate anymore. The lives of half a million children at risk and 12 million people are fighting for survival. The statistics are unprecedented,* *this is worst draught in Africa for 60 years.
I hate to say this but if this had occurred in **Bangladesh** or **** Pakistan**** how would we respond? Why do our brothers and sisters dying in **Africa** deserve less of our time, wealth and compassion than our brothers and sisters in our home countries? ****
We cannot sit back and do nothing. We cannot sit back and watch. And we cannot sit back and think that someone else will do something.
We are a* *nation of doers, we are a nation that has been sent to the whole of humanity, we are a people of belief and action, and we do not pick and choose who we help based on which country they are* *from.****
A core aspect of our faith is to truly love for our brothers and sisters what we love for ourselves and this needs to be apparent in our action. I want you to take control of yourself and open your eyes, awaken that heart of yours, awaken the spirit of this deen in yourself and do something. Don’t be afraid of doing something good, have courage and the help of Allah will come.
*This is an opportunity to serve our Lord…*
Start off by supplicating to Allah and ask Him for help, open your heart and let the tears from your eyes flow as nothing happens without the will of Allah. Purify your intention and make sincere conviction that through your action to help others, you seek to come closer to your Lord the Merciful.
*What can we do?*****
· *Pick up the phone and call your friends and family** **to** **create awareness about what’s going on.*
· *Encourage everyone to give and help in any way that they can.*
· *Start a collection.*
· *Organise a fundraising event.*
· *Contact the charities working on the ground to find out how you can help.*
· *Visit the following website to find how you can help: *
http://www.uwt.org/site/default.asp
http://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/
If you feel you want to do something locally then email me. At the very least forward this email onto others.
I want you to imagine when a rain drop falls into a in a puddle it creates a ripple. Now imagine what happens if 10 or 100 rain drops fall into the puddle….yes it causes a wave of ripples. Imagine what would happen if you did something and encouraged others, you could make a huge difference. ****
*Don’t sit back after you’ve read this email** *
*Do something!*****
This is an opportunity for you to *invest* your time and wealth for the Hereafter. Allah describes in the following verses what awaits the good doers: *‘Indeed the righteous shall be amid shades and springs and fruits such as they desire. ‘Eat and drink to your heart’s content because of what you used to do. Thus We certainly reward the good doers.’(Surah Al-Mursalat: 41-44)*
May Allah give you the ability to help our brother and sisters in **Africa** .****
Wa assalam
