As I enter his apartment I notice a set of flags adorning the dining room wall. He tells me that those are the Palestinian flags, the country of his parents’ birth. He himself was born in Iraq after his parents fled Palestine in the aftermath of the Israeli occupation. The flags are  his piece of history and identity, his past, his connection with his people. He used to think of Iraq as his homeland for that is where he was born and raised and where he was raising his family. But he too became a refugee like his parents when Iraq came under attack. In 2007 he left lraq to take refuge in a camp situated in no-man’s land between the borders of Syria and Iraq.

Abu O has been living in his new adopted country, the United States of America, for more than 10 months. The government stopped paying his rent  almost 6 months ago. He survives on food-stamps and occasional help from aid agencies, local churches or kind people. He has been looking for a job since he came here but has had no luck so far. His wife and 2 young sons are his emotional support and living right next to the masjid gives him peace and helps him bear the difficult situation with patience. He says he has everything and wants for nothing. He just needs a job so he doesn’t have to ask anyone for help and can support his family. He wants to settle down somewhere and call it his home. He does not want to be a refugee for life!

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Verily, if Allah loves a people, He makes them go through trials. Whoever is satisfied, for him is contentment, and whoever is angry upon him is wrath.” [Tirmidhi]

Abu O is satisfied and his trust in Allah’s promise of ‘Verily, after hardship comes ease’ is enough to keep a smile on his face.

However, here is a way you can give back so much more without giving anything at all.  Pepsi has selected an Al Amaanah project as a potential for receiving a $25,000 grant. Yes that is 25 THOUSAND! All you have to do is go vote for our project on Pepsi’s website.

The Project:

We want to help a group of refugees by entering them into an After School Program, We need funds to transport them every day after school safely. Pepsi has given us the chance to receive a grant to fund this program. We need your help to make it successful.

All you have to do is vote through Facebook (http://pep.si/eT35A3 ) or Text 105151 to Pepsi (73774)

Thank you for your continued support!
The Al Amaanah Team!

When I visit her she welcomes me and my family with open arms, offering us ‘qahwa’ and desert and a whole load of love. Her daughter is in college and wants to become an Engineer. Her older son is in High School. They both work part-time to contribute to the household expenses. Their faces are so animated as they tell me how grateful they are to be here and recount the arduous journey that finally led them to Houston and then connected them with Al Amaanah. I don’t hear any complaints, rather her words are laced with  ‘Alhamdulillah.’ She is patience and thankfulness personified.

She tells me she used to have a huge house in Baghdad, a driver and many servants. Her husband was a pilot. She never needed to work and contentedly took care of her family as a house-wife. The American life is hard for her. With her husband’s demise she has to take care of everything on her own. The alien culture, the foreign language, the lack of relatives here all add to her struggles. Her relatives have all dispersed, some taking refuge in China, some shipped off to Egypt or Jordan. But she bows down to Allah’s plan for her and takes it all in stride. Allah is AL-KHAFIDHU (The Abaser) – He who diminishes or decreases and AR-RAFIU (The Exalter) – He who uplifts.

As I leave her I think how much she has given me in this little time I spent with her. I have found an older sister whose very existence teaches me to remain steadfast in the face of every difficulty, be thankful for everything that comes my way, and learn to accept the decree of Allah. What have I to complain about in life – a husband who sometimes forgets that I exist, two kids who are whining and screaming when I want to rest or deciding what to cook for the day. I have learned to say Alhamdulillah!

There is an Iraqi family that arrived in Houston not too long ago. The family is comprised of a father, mother, a son, and a daughter. The father is currently unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. And recently had knee surgery due to a car accident. The mother has been diagnosed with a tumor but Alhamdulilah it is not a cancerous one. The daughter has Multiple Sclerosis and is paralyzed from the waist down. Even though she is mentally sound, she was placed with the mentally challenged students in public school. She learned nothing and was having a horrible time.

Alhamdulilah, a sister from Al Amaanah came along and became a part of their lives. The sister visited and helped them. Then she went a step further. The sister negotiated with a local Islamic School to accept the daughter as a student. Not only did they accept the young girl, they gave her a 50% discount on the tuition as well.

Just a few days ago the sister sent this text message to another Al Amaanah staff member, who forwarded it to me.

“——– parents say thank you for everything we have done for her. I took off from work and I went with her to school. Today was her first day and she was very happy Alhamdulilah, and they were very helpful in schoolJ”

When reading this message I could not hold back my tears. This is what making a difference is all about.

Join our team! Job responsibilities include general clerical, receptionist, financial, and project based work. Essential job functions include answering telephones and emails, assisting Finance Director with book keeping, and general clerical duties. Bilingual (Arabic and English) strongly preferred.

For the complete job description please click here. To apply or for more information, please contact Ghulam Kehar, Executive Director, at ghulam@alamaanah.com.

This event is an annual one organized by Al-Amaanah, a non-profit organization began in Houston by students who wanted to help refugees who were settled in Houston. Many of these families are displaced from Iraq and Afghanistan, but also include from other parts of the world due to political turmoil or natural disasters. The annual event put together by Al-Amaanah is the Zakat al-Fitr Food Distribution, in which they use zakat al-fitr money given to them by Muslims of the community. This money is incumbent upon all Muslims during the month of Ramadan before Eid al-fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. This amount is to be specifically used for poor and needy on items such as food, household items, and clothes. This money allows them to have a good holiday. Al-Amaanah uses this money to buy essential food, toiletries and other items for these families who have a hard time making ends meet.

When the truck of food arrived, we all were separated into teams and given an apartment complex with a list of residents to whom we were to distribute the food. As we loaded the food into our cars, the skies began to let down rain. My team drove to a complex where we had to distribute the bags to about 20 families, most of them from Burma. By this time the rain was coming down hard and we were more concerned about the bags of rice and sugar getting wet than our hair. We all put on ponchos and lugged the bags to the different apartments at times wading through the rapidly rising water. When we arrived at each of the apartment and the residents opened the door we told them we had a gift from Al-Amaanah for Eid. They all smiled and wished us peace, grateful for the items. As we slowly gave away all of the bags, it was around 3:30 in the afternoon and the rains let up. My group was still in high spirits and one wished that we were not done yet and had more bags to hand out. We all took a group picture and wished each other a good day.

As I drove back home I realized I was not that tired or hungry. In the excitement of giving something good to people that truly deserve it I had forgotten my own  hunger, something that I feel daily in the afternoon due to my fast. I know that when I go home in the evening I was going to have a meal that was more than enough and did not have to worry about whether I was going to have enough rice to cook or not. This was my first time working with this organization and I was impressed and moved by the effort put into it by the organizers and volunteers who do it because they care about others and want to share their blessings with those that really need and deserve it. Also I was thinking of how Muslims doing something of this sort are never covered in the media (not that we are doing it for that). What the media shows are examples of fringe groups and negative things so that people get the picture that Muslims don’t do anything good for society. These events by Al-Amaanah are perfect examples of Muslims practicing their faith and making a positive impact on society. In the month of Ramadan many Muslims around the nation and world participated in sharing and giving to those around them. If you are interested in supporting Al-Amaanah in any way visit their websitewww.alamaanah.com.

Check out Houston Chronicle’s coverage of the event: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7198094.html

Webinar

The last ten nights are here, we’re at the finish line! Join AlAmaanah and Qabeelat Hosna for a webinar on Saturday, September 4th at 4:00 pm CST to learn how to maximize your last ten nights. Guest speakers include Sh. Waleed Basyouni, Wisam Shareiff, Yasir Birjas and more! RSVP at:

www.ramadanfinishline.com

Pay your Zakah and distribute it too!

Pay your Zakatul Fitr online at www.alamaanah.com/zakah by Friday, September 3, at 5:00 pm to have it distributed locally. This year we plan on distributing food and household items to over 150 refugee families in Houston.

After you pay online, be sure to volunteer to help give out Zakatul Fitr. We will be distributing on Labor Day, Monday, September 6th at 1:00 pm at 8 different apartment complexes. Updates on location will be sent out to all those who sign up!

Pay your Zakah!

Pink and Blue Eid Celebration

Preparation for the 2nd Annual Pink and Blue Eid Celebration is almost completed! Our volunteers have really raised the bar in everything from gathering donations to the variety of activities planned for this celebration. InshAllah our massive Eid party will be held on September 12th. For more information about the event click here or email jida@alamaanah.com

Half Date Drive

Half Date is having a popularity contest. Scroll down to about a third of the way down the page and vote for us! Winners of each weeks poll receive $500! That money can be used to supplement the rent of a widow, purchase much needed groceries, pay for more kids to attend an after school program or even expand our weekend Islamic School. Please don’t forget to vote for us! Voting is reset every Friday. Jazakullah Khair to all of our facebook supporters who helped propel us to victory last week!

New Staff Members

We made dua’a for our staff to grow, so we could grow and continue to help more and more. Our dua’as have been answered! We have a few new faces to welcome to the team. We have two new directors: Adeel Siddiqui is our new Director of Field Operations and Amina Mehic is our new Director of Finance. New caseworkers and support service team members include Ahmed Megahed, Rabab Sabbahi, Haitham Baghdady, Jida Nabulsi, Abdel Rahman Taher and Judy Sultan.  And we welcome back Salma Taher to the Support Services team as well. We make dua’a that Allah puts baraqah in their time and rewards them and their families for every ounce of effort they put forth in helping our clients stand on their own two feet.

We have a lot going on! We’re grateful that Allah has given us this opportunity to get closer to Him. Don’t worry, we won’t be selfish. To hop on the ajr train, email us at info@alamaanah.com

http://alamaanah.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/what-no-eye-has-ever-seen/

It began with 15 hour days, starting at 7 a.m. and on some occasions ending as late as 2 a.m. Countless hours were spent searching for furniture to pick up and deliver to those in need. One staff member hunted for donors while another searched for those who needed the items. Back in the day, we had to deliver donations the same day we picked them up because we had no storages. Finding volunteers to take part in the operations and getting money to rent U-Hauls added to the difficulties. On one instance, everything was in place, but there was no money to rent a truck.
Al Amaanah’s after school program in 2009 ran for 2 months without official drivers, schedules or a plan. Each day’s drivers were found the day of, and, despite the behind the scenes nightmare, they scraped through. That program was definitely a turning point for Fed Ops. It took everything out of them to transport 25 kids, 4 days a week, from SW Houston to University of Houston and back. Come to think of it, I don’t even remember where we got the funds to keep it going for that long.
While we continued our unorganized adventures week after week, we knew some sort of structure was needed to make fed ops sustainable. We started reaching out to the community and within the span of 1 year we managed to build up a fleet of 5 vehicles which includes 1 box truck, 1 passenger van, and 3 mini-vans. Alhamdulilah
SubhanAllah, we’ve gone from having 6 guys in the front seat of one U-Haul driving around Houston with no directions and no set plan, to a fleet of five vehicles we can call our own. The department has made many leaps in its short history, and Insha Allah there are many more to come.
Apart from the direct service Fed Ops provides to clients, it’s providing another great service to the community at large. We decided to employ some of our clients to conduct field operations on a weekly basis, living our vision of empowering the refugees to become forces of positive change within their own community. This has proved to be more dependable than searching for volunteers every weekend. By having the clients work for us, they increase in their sense of the society they have been brought into and personally understand, as well as help, those still struggling to adjust to the culture and people. Because these brothers (who are all under the age of 25) are working with us, they do not have to go through the trouble of trying to find weekend work to support their families, and they are not stuck at home wasting valuable time either. Since they are young, they make a lot of mistakes. A lot of improvement needs to be made but we hope to provide them with an opportunity to build themselves, meet people, and take this work further in the future.

It is unimaginable within Al Amaanah to mention fed ops without mentioning the name of Abdullah Nafis, our former Director of Field Operations. He was, without a doubt, the pioneer for this department and we ask Allah to reward him for all his work. He set the groundwork for Fed Ops, leading by example. Whether it was out on the field or behind a computer screen, he was full of energy. He rallied everyone together to move forward. He implemented processes and procedures, and managed to standardize a number of things which led to more efficiency in the department. With Abdullah moving on as the Director of Field Operations, we’ve got a high standard to match, and we hope that whoever fills his place will be able to not only maintain the bar he set, but raise it to new heights. If you are interested in applying for this position please contact me via email @ ghulam@alamaanah.com. A job description is attached below.
With all that we have been able to accomplish with the Blessings of Allah, we are still not even close to being satisfied with Fed Ops. There is much to be achieved and we ask Allah to assist us.
Operations to Date:
• 65 furniture pickup and drop off operations
• 300 people transported
• 15 family relocations
• 8 moving services performed
• Provided transportation for 10 major events

We need all the dedicated people we can get, please email me if you are interested in joining Al Amaanah’s most hands on department.
Also, if you are in need of moving services, please e-mail info@alamaanah.com

(Job Description)

Title: Director of Field Operations
Department: Field Operations
Reports to: Executive Director

Position Overview
The Director of Field Operations is responsible for the general supervision of departmental activities.

Essential Job Functions
• Supervise Maintenance of Al Amaanah’s fleet
• Plan and oversee furniture pick up and drop off activity
• Plan and coordinate event and program transportation
• Supervise relocation services
• Ensures safety measures are in place for all operations.
• Administer the Department Budget
• Ensure financial and service policies and procedures are observed
• Ensure documentation and filing of activities are in order
• Manage Field Operations Support Team
• Ensure quality of departmental service is maintained and improved
• Seek resources to expand department budget by networking
• Provides Executive Director with progress and performance reports

Other Skills/Abilities
• Strong Leadership qualities
• Effective Communicator
• Excellent Organizational Skills

Disclaimer
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

Alhumdulillah with the completion of our first Islamic summer school we immediately moved on to the next one. The second Islamic School is held at El Farouq Masjid on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It costs about $150 per week to run the school. The money goes towards paying for the two drivers, their gas, and our 3 teachers. Some of the benefits of this program include: keeping the children productive over the summer, teaching them beneficial knowledge, and creating respectable jobs for some families to help them pay their bills. When the kids in the program are up to speed in being able to read the Qur’an, we’ll start combining them with the Qur’an classes that are already being held at El Farouq—so they’ll have an opportunity to make some friends. Also, the program serves as a marketing tool because it raises awareness about Al Amaanah in that area of Houston. Insha Allah the increased exposure will bring increased support.

Over the past year we’ve created jobs for several of our clients including Umm M, her sons, and B. We have 4 clients that help us with field operations every weekend. We hired one of our clients to teach at our new Islamic school, and more of our clients to drive the kids from Boca Springs apartments to Elfarouq Masjid. Here is the gist of their stories:

• Umm M – we started out helping her and now she works for us and connects us to all of our clients. Her sons also work for us in Field Operations as drivers
• Abu J – Him and his family used to live in Forum Park, and we helped him pay his rent. He got a job and moved to the Madrasa Islamia area. We also helped them to move into their new apartment. Umm J now helps our caseworker Umm Z.
• Abu B – Came to Houston with just his son B. B now works in Ilmquest Productions and travels to different conferences. Abu B gives rides to some of the families, helps with our other clients, and just lightens up the mood wherever he goes.

Any help that you can give to Al Amaanah, in the form of time or money, goes not only to us helping our clients, but to our clients helping out others in the future Insha Allah.

“By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you give freely from that which you love.  And whatever you give, Allah knows it well” (Qur’an 3:92)