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Where Your Ramadan Food Boxes Reached in 2019
A Truly Blessed Ramadan Words fail to fully describe how abundant the blessings were during this past 2019 Ramadan. We spent lengthy days and even longer nights where we sought and shared mercy. There’s something we should never forget about this bountiful month: from the moment it begins, millions of people unfortunately still face the same challenging trials they face year-round. Hunger doesn’t stop during Ramadan; poverty doesn’t press pause either. Hunger doesn’t stop during Ramadan; poverty doesn’t press pause either. IRUSA was fortunate to receive donations from so many donors like you who remembered this reality, and acted on it as part of your month-long spiritual reflection. You remembered…
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IRUSA Team Challenges Gear Up to Support Water Crises
Out of many challenges, comes one goal: WATER. IRUSA is moving into its second year of team challenges and our host teams are excited to take part in what participants from last year called “exciting” and “fulfilling.” In March 2019, the Islamic Relief USA team trekked across the Sahara in Morocco. In the coming months our teams will travel to Bosnia, Turkey, and Peru. But the why is the most important ingredient of all. Team challenges present a fun an innovative way to support crucial projects that IRUSA is partnering to provide. Here’s a look at what those are: Drought Takes Hold in Somalia Global warming is a crisis IRUSA…
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No Home Doesn’t Mean No Dinner
Islamic Relief USA shares a Ramadan tradition with our neighbors in Washington, D.C. A Powerful Tradition For the last four years, a group of volunteers have been showing up to Franklin Square Park in Washington, D.C., to break their fast with the local population who happen to be homeless. What do we mean by ‘with’ the local population? The Islamic Relief USA community has taken a number of opportunities to provide meals for the homeless, but rarely do we take the time to sit down, have a meal, and just kick back and spend time with them. Starting with the Heart In Ramadan 2019, Islamic Relief USA decided to put…
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Congress Joins Islamic Relief USA for Post-Ramadan Eid Celebration
Members of Congress, along with more than 100 guests, helped celebrate Islamic Relief USA’s (IRUSA) 9th Annual Capitol Hill Ramadan Eid Reception, which took place on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at the Rayburn building in Washington, D.C. IRUSA was blessed to receive extensive Congressional support for the event. In addition to visits and remarks by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-13, Michigan), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-8, Illinois), Rep. Dan Kildee (D-5, Michigan), and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-4, Georgia), more than 30 lawmakers wrote letters of commendation for IRUSA. Booklets containing the letters were distributed to the guests. The event was coordinated by the Public Affairs Department, headed by Christina Tobias-Nahi and Jihad Saleh…
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Ramadan Reflections: Day 29 Nafs Hack with Fatimah Aulaqi
Nafs Hack: Maintaining Your Happiness Assalamu alaikum. My name is Fatimah Aulaqi, and this is your Ramadan Nafs Hack. Many of the viewers know that this is my eighth year living with multiple sclerosis. It’s an autoimmune disease that attacks your central nervous system. What keeps me going every day is Allah (SWT) and my tawakkul. I keep my whole trust in Allah (SWT) knowing he gave me this chronic illness for a reason. I always go by this verse in the Qur’an, ‘Allah (SWT) does not put burden on a soul more than they can bear.’ I know that Allah (SWT) has given me this illness for a reason,…
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Ramadan Reflections: Day 28 Nafs Hack with Syed M. Hassan
Nafs Hack: Getting Through Dense Islamic Texts Salaam alaikum, everyone! This is Syed M. Hassan from Islamic Relief USA’s Public Affairs Department. For today’s Nafs Hack, I wanted to talk to you about the importance of incorporating Islamic teachings and Islamic advice, especially the ones you get from reading and studying Islamic texts. A lot of Islamic texts tend to be very voluminous, very large, but they’re chock-full of information. To give you an example, last year I read two books: Forty Hadiths and Nahjul Balagha, the famous sayings and famous teachings of Imam Ali. And both of these books were great, I enjoyed reading them a lot, and I…
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Ramadan Reflections: Day 27 Nafs Hack with Suhaib Webb
Nafs Hack: Discipline Your Nafs Salaam alaikum wa rahmutallah. My name is Suhaib, and this is my Nafs Hack. You know in order to discipline the nafs, you’ve got to take away something that it likes—something it finds value in. One of the scholars said the nafs is like an infant. If you just let it breastfeed, it will continue. But if you ween it, you will discipline it. So here’s something that I do that I would encourage you to think about doing, and that is any day that you miss fajr or any of the prayers—but fajr particularly—don’t post anything on social media. Your nafs will go crazy.…
