Pearls of Wisdom

As Salaamu Alaikum Community,

We need to raise $4,000 per month to pay all of the bills (lease, utility
and phone) monthly stipends to staff who run the shelter and help write grants
for the organization. Visit baitulsalaam.net if you do not know about us for
more detailed information. We have re-opened (November 2006) the shelter
in metro Atlanta and to date (since November 1999) have provided with the help
of our supporters 471 women and children with a safe place to live
temporarily while they recover from abuse and neglect.

We accept residents based on need and do not discriminate due to race,
national origin, religion or creed. Our residence is managed under rules that are
designed so everyone can live in peace and are in accordance with state and
federal regulations and do not violate Islamic law (Sharia).

Your donation of $10 per month helps us provide the following:

1. 24/7 Food, Shelter and clothing
2. In-house Counseling
3. Referrals for medical services (including Mental Health), career/job
placement, housing
4. Maintain an Outreach Office (moving soon to Masjid Al Bayyinah)
5. Radio Outreach (to begin by late March)

Send your donations made payable to: Baitul Salaam and mail to: PO Box
11041, Atlanta, GA 30310. Your donations are tax deductible.

Pass on to all you know.

From: Mushfiqur Rahman
MushfiqurRahman@hotmail.com

One of our Muslims brothers, Br. Willie Grant, is in coma after a severe stroke. He is in Georgetown Hospital, Room C63 at 6th floor.

His wife, Sr. Fateema (Arabic speaking), does not drive. She is a Maryland resident but temporarily staying with a friend in Skyline mall area in Falls Church, which is closer to the hospital for her. Her friend also does not drive.

She is in need of everyone’s dua and support. But the immediate help she now has is transportation to/from the hospital.

If you know anyone living in that area, please see if you can facilitate a transportation arrangement for her. This will be very much appreciated by her. There must be lot of Muslims living in that area.

Sr. Fateema is currently staying in Falls Church, VA. Please contact me @ Nailah9@gmail.com for her address and phone number IF you are able to provide assistance..

Jazakallah khair.

Allah’s Messenger (p) said, “Every Muslim has five rights over another Muslim: to return the greetings, to visit the sick, to accompany funeral processions, to accept an invittion, and to respond to the sneezer when the sneezer praises Allah.” - Bukhari & Muslim

Allah’s Messenger (p) said, “Visit the sick, feed the hungry, and release the captive” - Bukhari

Remembering Black Wallstreet

(GBN Post/not written by GBN staff)
September 11, 2002

The date was June 1, 1921 when “BLACK WALLSTREET”, the name fittingly given to one of the most affluent all-BLACK communities in America, was bombed from the air and burned to the ground by mobs of envious whites. In a period spanning fewer than 12 hours, a once thriving Black business district in northern Tulsa lay smoldering–a model community destroyed and a major African-American economic movement resoundingly defused.

The night’s carnage left some 3,000 African Americans dead and over 600 successful businesses lost. Among these were 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores and two movie theaters, plus a hospital, a bank, a post office, libraries, schools, law offices, a half dozen private airplanes and even a bus system. As could have been expected, the impetus behind it all was the infamous Ku Klux Klan, working in consort with ranking city officials and many other sympathizers.

In their self-published book, BLACK WALLSTREET: A Lost Dream and its companion video documentary, BLACK WALLSTREET: A BLACK Holocaust in America!, the authors have chronicled for the very first time in the words of area historians and elderly survivors what really happened there on that fateful summer day in 1921 and why it happened. Wallace similarly explained why this bloody event from the turn of the century seems to have had a recurring effect that is being felt in predominately BLACK neighborhoods even to this day.

The best description of BLACK WALLSTREET, or little Africa as it was also known, would be to compare it to a mini-Berverly Hills. It was the golden door of the BLACK community during the early 1900s, and it proved that African Americans could create a successful infrastructure. That’s what BLACK WALLSTREET was all about.

The dollar circulated 36 to 100 times, sometimes taking a year for currency to leave the community. Now in 1995, a dollar leaves the BLACK community in 15-minutes. As far as resources, there were Ph.D.’s residing in little Africa, BLACK attorneys and doctors. One doctor was Dr. Berry who owned the bus system. His average income was $500 a day, a hefty pocket change in 1910.

During that era physicians owned medical schools. There were also pawn shops everywhere, brothels, jewelry stores, 21 churches, 21 restaurants and two movie theaters, It was a time when the entire state of Oklahoma had only two Airports, Yet six BLACKS owned their own planes. It was a very fascinating community.

The area encompassed over 600 businesses and 36 square blocks with a population of 15,000 African Americans. And when the lower-economic Europeans looked over and saw what the BLACK community created, many of them were jealous. When the average student went to school on BLACK WALLSTREET, he wore a suit and tie because of the morals and respect they were taught at a young age.

The mainstay of the community was to educate every child. Nepotism was the one word they believed in. and that’s what we need to get back to in 1995. The main thoroughfare was Greenwood Avenue, and it was intersected by Archer and Pine Streets. From the first letters in each of those three names you get G.A.P. and that’s where the renowned R and B music group the GAP Band got its name. They’re from Tulsa.

BLACK WALLSTREET was a prime example of the typical, BLACK community in America that did businesses, but it was in an unusual location. You see, at the time, Oklahoma was set aside to be a BLACK and Indian state. There were over 28 BLACK townships there. One third of the people who traveled in the terrifying “Trail of Tears” along side the Indians between 1830 and 1842 were BLACK people.

The citizens of this proposed Indian and BLACK state chose a BLACK governor, a treasurer from Kansas named McDade. But the Ku Klux Klan said that if he assumed office that they would kill him within 48 hours. A lot of BLACKS owned farmland, and many of them had gone into the oil business. The community was so tight and wealthy because they traded dollars hand-to-hand, and because they were dependent upon one another as a result of the Jim Crow Laws.

It was not unusual that if a resident’s home accidentally burned down, it could be rebuilt within a few weeks by neighbors. This was the type of scenario that was going on day-to-day on BLACK WALLSTREET. When BLACKs intermarried into the Indian culture, some of them received their promised ‘40 acres and a mule’ and with that came whatever oil was later found on the properties.

Just to show you how wealthy a lot of BLACK people were, there was a banker in the neighboring town who had a wife named California Taylor. Her father owned the largest cotton Gin west of the Mississippi (River). When California shopped, she would take a cruise to Paris every three months to have her clothes made.

There was also a man named Mason in nearby Wagner County who had the largest potato farm west of the Mississippi. When he harvested, he would fill 100 boxcars a day, Another brother not far away had the same thing with a spinach farm. The typical family then was five children or more, though the typical farm family would have 10 kids or more who made up the nucleus of the labor.

On BLACK WALLSTREET, a lot of global business was conducted, The community flourished from the early 1900s until June 1, 1921. That’s when the largest massacre of nonmilitary Americans in the history of this country took place, and it was lead by the KU KLUX KLAN. Imagine walking out of your front door and seeing 1,500 homes being burned. It must have been amazing.

Survivors we interviewed think that the whole thing was planned because during the time that all of this was going on, white families with their children stood around the borders of their community and watched the massacre. The looting and everything–much in the same manner they would watch a lynching.

The riots weren’t caused by anything black or white. It was caused by jealousy. A lot of white folks had come back from World War I and they were poor. When they looked over into the BLACK communities and realized that BLACK men who fought in the war had come home heroes that helped trigger the destruction.

It cost the BLACK community everything, and not a single dime of restitution–no insurance claims– has been awarded the victims to this day. Nonetheless, they rebuilt. We estimate, that 1,500 to 3,000 people were killed and we know that a lot of them were buried in mass graves all around the city. Some were thrown into the river. As a matter of fact, at 21st street and Yale Avenue, where there now stands a Sears parking lot, that corner used to be a coal mine. They threw a lot of the bodies into the shafts.

BLACK Americans don’t know about this story because we don’t apply the word HOLOCAUST to our struggle. Jewish people use the word HOLOCAUST all the time. White people use the word HOLOCAUST. It’s politically correct to use it. But we BLACK folks use the word, people think we’re being cry babies or that we’re trying to bring up old issues. No one comes to our support.

In 1910, our forefathers and mothers owned 13 million acres of land at the height of racism in this country, so the BLACK WALLSTREET BOOK and VIDEOTAPE prove to naysayers and revisionists that we had our act together. Our mandate now is to begin to teach our children about our own, ongoing BLACK HOLOCAUST. They have to know when they look at our communities today that we don’t come from this.

http://www.globalblacknews.com/BlackWallstreet.html

Somewhere within our Muslim community in the DC Area, a child will go hungry tonight. A Muslim sister and her children will find themselves forced into homelessness.

For some who are reading my message, “homelessness” may just be a word. Although they will admit that this is an unfortunate aspect of or American Muslim community, yet they will sit down on their tables and enjoy a warm meal, and sleep in the comfort of their home and feel secure while the homeless families will still be suffering.

Homelessness is something we all unanimously accept as a tragedy which should be addressed in the community. Everyone agrees that something should be done about it.

Even though everyone acknowledges a need, major financial contributions are essential to speed up the progress to make a homeless shelter a possibility for the American Muslim community. However, based on calculated responses from those reading the article written in the Muslim Link about homeless Muslim women and their children, the majority of the readers did not appoint themselves as the one to “do something.”

Oftentimes, our state of affairs is such that we either wait or assume that someone else will respond to the need. Unfortunately, unless we or someone close to us is affected, we generally pass the task of resolutions to someone else. This may be because we feel inadequate or apathetic therefore, our response is either slow or nonexistent.

Thus, in accordance with accountability: to date, the total amount of monies received for the shelter project as a result of the Muslim link article is $425.00. The most notable and touching fact is that the donations were received from individuals who either had a history of homeless in their past, or were somehow involved in another sister’s homelessness experience. Individuals struggling to make ends meet sent in their $5, $10, $20, or $50, and $100 donation.

In that same vein, the article also flooded our health and social services center with financial and housing requests. Thus, even though the monies received were not enough to build a shelter, it at least afforded a few women and children temporary provisions.

While we contemplate the question, “whose responsibility is it?” The plight of the homeless Muslim women and children continues.

When we contemplate that the homeless are also made up of working families who’ve lost jobs or a place to live, or women with children fleeing abusive homes, “Would our hearts be more touched?”

If we see individuals in need of services as a means to permanently transition out of homelessness, would our Sadaqa be more forth coming?

I add to this report that what was worse than the unwillingness to respond was the action of some male responders seeking to capitalize off of the misfortune of these sisters by wanting me to offer my sisters up for servitude either as wives without rights, or as “domestic” help.

Brothers without employment, housing or already married living very far away called with comments such as, “well they are homeless, therefore, they should be grateful and/or appreciative that anyone pf any status even wants them at all.”

How ironic is that the majority of calls were received from brothers offering marriage but not money toward the alleviation of my sisters’ plight. Please note that never would I exploit my sisters in such a way as to move them from one bad situation to another.

If your intentions are sincere, then come correct proposing marriage as a viable solution not as an exploitative one. It is not my task or assigned responsibility to act as a wali for my sisters.

Inshallah, contact Imam Faizul Khan, Board member and Religious Consultant as a more appropriate means of obtaining what you seek through marriage at (301) 879-0930

Muslimat Al-Nisaa Wholistic Health, Education and Social Services Center developed a comprehensive community strategy to respond to the needs of the homeless in the Muslim community, not as a one organization but as personal endeavor. As an outreach effort, Inshallah, my intent is to assist any sister in need; local or nationwide, regardless of race or Islamic community affiliation. All funds submitted to the clinic have been used in the past to provide temporary housing, medical, nutritional or social services to those sisters who come in the clinic asking for temporary assistance.

Only arrogance would allow one to be so covetous with such a task of this magnitude.

Undoubtedly, the resolution of homelessness in the Muslim community is inextricably linked to the Masjid, Muslim organizations, and the financially capable institutions.

The possibility of building a safe homeless shelter will be based on the decisions Muslims leaders make and the practices they implement toward this end.

To all who brought the good, may ALLAH (SWT) Reward you in this life, as well as in the next. “None of you truly believe until you want for your brother what you want for yourself.” Reported in Sahih Bukhari & Muslim

Asma Hanif at (410) 466-8686; e-mail muslimat_alnisaa@yahoo.com or send donations directly to PO Box 31529, Gwynn Oak, MD 21027.

By Asma Hanif

Sister Asma is the owner of the Muslimat Al-Nisaa Wholistic Health, Education & Social Services Center

http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com

What keeps women from achieving the financial security they — and their families — deserve? I believe the root of the problem lies in the dysfunctional relationship women have with money.

That’s the launching point for my new book, “Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny.” My message to all women: Owning the power to control your destiny requires more than 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. It requires reconditioning from the inside. In this excerpt from “Women & Money,” I discuss the eight qualities of wealthy women.

Qualities 1 and 2: Harmony and Balance

Harmony is an agreement in feeling, approach, and sympathy. It is the pleasing interaction between what you think, feel, say, and do.

Balance is a state of emotional and rational stability in which you are calm and able to make sound decisions and judgments.

Harmony and balance are perhaps the most important qualities of all, for they serve as the foundation for the remaining qualities. When you possess true inner harmony, what you think, say, feel, and do is one. We are so accustomed to this split-screen state of mind in which we think one thing, say another, feel something else, and act in a way that has nothing to do with what we just thought, said, or felt. When your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions are not in harmony, it shows up as an imbalance — you feel agitated, uncomfortable, you sense something is off, so you find it difficult to make rational, calm decisions. This is why these two qualities are a pair.

Quality 3: Courage

Courage is the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.

Courage gives harmony expression. When your thoughts and feelings are one, courage helps you manifest them in the form of words and actions. When you are afraid to speak or act, courage helps you overcome your fear. Courage gives you the ability to speak your truth, even when it is not what others may want to hear.

Fear is usually what stands between us and our courage. But if we are to embrace this quality of courage to its fullest, we can no longer allow ourselves to hide behind fear. You can meditate on your fear and think about it rationally and try to will it away, but in the end, if fear is preventing you from acting, you must find your courage and act to overcome your fear.

Quality 4: Generosity

Generosity is when you give the right thing to the right person at the right time — and it benefits both of you.

Generosity is a quality that most women can tap into very easily — maybe too easily. As women, we tend to be overly generous with our time, support, love, and money — but giving simply for the sake of giving does not match the definition of true generosity.

True generosity goes far beyond what you give to others. In giving there is a power, an understanding that you are just the vessel that wealth or energy flows through. You allow money to come in through your hands and out through your heart. To be empowered to give, to be moved to give straight from the heart, is a feeling that all the money in the world could never buy. So let me ask you: Is that how you feel when you constantly give of yourself? Do you feel enhanced or do you feel diminished? You think of yourself as a giver, as generous with your time, your talent, your money. Others probably describe you as a generous woman, but if I were to look at you, I might think you give for the wrong reasons. Do you give because you feel that you should? Do you give out of guilt or embarrassment? Understand that true generosity is as much about the one who gives as it is about the one who receives. If an act of generosity benefits the receiver but saps the giver, then it is not true generosity.

Quality 5: Happiness

Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment.

When you find the courage to live your life in harmony and balance, when you understand and practice generosity in the truest sense, happiness spontaneously appears. When you are happy, you are open and accessible. When you are happy, you tend to be more optimistic. You approach new challenges with a clear mind that seeks positive solutions. You see possibilities rather than problems.

Happiness is not a luxury. It is a necessity for true wealth. When you are happy, you have the satisfaction of knowing that your actions come from a place of purity and balance, that they are correct and generous and kind. There are no regrets in this state of happiness — and that’s a goal worth striving for in all areas of your life.

Quality 6: Wisdom

Wisdom is the knowledge and experience needed to make sensible decisions and judgments, or the good sense shown by the decisions and judgments made from an accumulated knowledge of life that has been gained through experience.

The quality of wisdom is more than intellectual, and it is in no way related to how much schooling you have. Exercising wisdom requires cutting through the noise of life and tapping into your core beliefs to make thoughtful decisions. Wisdom results from inhabiting all the qualities that came before it. A wise woman recognizes when her life is out of balance and summons the courage to act to correct it. A wise woman knows the meaning of true generosity. A wise woman knows happiness is the reward for a life lived in harmony, with courage and grace. A wise woman knows how to summon her courage and do what is right, rather than what is easy.

Quality 7: Cleanliness

Cleanliness is a state of purity, clarity, and precision.

Cleanliness is about respecting the importance of order and organization. When you don’t know where your money is, when you have no filing system for your important documents, when you dive into your pocketbook to pull out crumpled bills, when your car looks like a garbage can, when your closets are filled with junk and clutter — you cannot possibly be a wealthy woman. You need to clean up your act — quite literally — to bring true wealth into your life. In India, women sweep the front entrance to their home each morning as a way of welcoming Lakshmi, the goddess of material and spiritual abundance, into their home, for there is a belief that she resides at the threshold of every house. In order for her to enter, she must have a clear path.

You might be reading this and thinking that cleanliness is nice but not essential to your financial well-being. I am here to tell you that if this quality is not up front and center, wealth will elude you and you will be left with the mess that you created. Respect the power of this quality of cleanliness. Tell the universe that you have cleared the path for wealth and abundance to enter.

Quality 8: Beauty

Beauty is the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.

Beauty is what you create when you incorporate the other seven qualities into your life. When you take the steps to have harmony, balance, courage, generosity, happiness, wisdom, cleanliness, and beauty in your life, you will exude confidence in who you are. And there is nothing more beautiful than a confident woman. Remember, when you are confident you feel secure, and when you feel secure you have no fear. And when you have no fear, you have the courage to say what you think and feel in a calm and wise way. And when you are calm, you make wise decisions with your money, which then allows you to be truly generous to others as well as yourself, which, in turn, makes you a happy, powerful, and beautiful woman. Do you see how all of these qualities work together to help you arrive at the goal of being a woman in control of her destiny?

Summoning the 8 Qualities

I’ve noticed, in my own life and in others’, that the more you summon these qualities, the easier they are to access. Harmony yearns for more harmony, and balance abhors imbalance. Courage begets greater courage. Once you are generous in the right way, a lesser form of generosity will feel inferior to you. True happiness will never permit you to settle for a lesser form of happiness. Cleanliness recoils at disorder. Wisdom, once achieved, is with you forever, and beauty inspires beauty in all things.

Carry these qualities with you throughout your life. Write them on a notecard and keep them close at hand — in your wallet or in your pocket. Make it into a talisman to guide you every day as you make your way through life and all its impossible demands. These qualities will keep you focused and tranquil. Let them and they will offer you constant reassurance that you are acting powerfully and correctly, with love in your heart and the purest intentions, to realize your goals of security and comfort for yourself and all you love.

(Click here for a schedule of Suze’s “Women & Money” U.S. book tour.)

by Suze Orman
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneymatters/24202