Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Kiwaku |
| 04/06/01 at 11:48:27 |
| Asalamu Alaikum Brothers and Sisters, Yesterday when I was at work I got a call from a parent of one of my juvenile employees. She proceeded to yell at me and get very rude and vulgar to me about "Forcing" my religion on her son. The night before this incident we were closing the store (I manage a McDonalds). The kids (all of my employees are juveniles) were still working, I had not completed my final prayers for the day, so I went out into the lobby and began my prayers. When I had finished, the employees were done with their work and waiting on me. I immediately folded my prayer rug and let them out of the store. One of the employees told his mother that I was forcing them to wait for me to pray so that they could leave. Thus the phone call. His mother stated that I was forcing my religion on her son, and would be taking this to the owner of the store and to the corporation. I told her that would be just fine, and that I was never forcing him to do anything. In truth, I gladly answer any and all questions about Islam that the employees ask me (I am the only one allowed to wear a beard in the store, and this raises many questions in general). But never do I make them do anything that would be out of their normal thing to do. I am always discrete about when I pray, I usually go to the basement to pray, but late at night I do not go downstairs for security reasons (wouldnt want the employees to steal any money). I have done a lot of thinking about this subject.... there is a possibility that my boss may tell me that I cannot pray in the store any longer, or that I have to modify my prayer habits. If this happens I am going to quit immediately. If forced to choose between worshiping Allah the way I am susposed to, or working.... I will choose Allah, with no hesitation. Please, I need some guideance in this situation. If any of the kind brothers and sisters out there have been in a similiar situation and you have some good advice, please either write to this thread or contact me at bmw_r1200c@hotmail.com I would be grateful for any help what so ever. I am afraid that if it gets to out of hand (which it may, knowing the way this town handles things) I may be accused of holding the employees hostage while I "forced" them to participate in my "evil" and "terroristic" religion. The people in my area view Musilms as the root of all evil in the world. And yet none of them can say that they have ever even taken the time to study anything about Islam. :o) Thank you all for your help May Allah bless you all Sincerely Usamah |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| humble_muslim |
| 04/06/01 at 12:12:03 |
| AA Bro. Usamah, Maybe this is a sign from Allah SWT. As you are obviously sincere and trying to find out about what is halal and haram, I would say that working in McDonalds by itself is probably haram. So maybe this is a way for you to get out. |
| NS |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Saleema |
| 04/06/01 at 12:28:43 |
| Assalam ualykum, Humble_Muslim, with all due respect, where do you come up with the idea that it's haram to work in MacCdonald's??? Kiwaku, that lady sounds like a real idiot. So does his son for going home and reporting something like that. You did nothing wrong. Try to first settle the issue with the corporation first and if it don't work out and they they try to force you to leave then contact CAIR. They will help you out inshallah. They handle cases like this all the time. CAIR is a civil rights organization taht fight for the rights of Muslims. You did not force anyone to do anything. Standing by and doing nothing isn't forcing someone, it's called just standing by and observing. Maybe he should have gone to the restroom or something if the sight of you praying bothered him so much. Here is their url and how you can contact them. I don't what else to say, i have never gone through something like this. http://www.cair-net.org/ The Council on American-Islamic Relations ~453 New Jersey Ave SE ~ Washington, DC 20003-4034 Tel. 202.488.8787 ~ Fax. 202.488.0833 CAIR Chapters: Canada; N.California; S.California; Michigan; New York; Texas; Ohio; Florida; Minnesota ; N.Carolina If you don't live in any of these states, then contact the nearest state or just call the one is Washington. |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| humble_muslim |
| 04/06/01 at 14:37:26 |
| AA You got it Arslan. Selling it , and especially handling it. |
| NS |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Saleema |
| 04/06/01 at 14:52:45 |
| Assalam ualykum, oh ok. pork. :) To me the word MacCdonald's brings fries and pies to mind. :) wassalam |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| jannah |
| 04/06/01 at 15:01:12 |
| slm, Usamah, I would call in the worker and ask him if he felt that he was being forcefully kept behind. If he feels he was, then you can tell him he can leave when his schedule ends. If you need someone to stay in the store when you pray then ask one of the co-workers to do it as a favor. The woman has no backing going to the "president" or whoever. McDonalds has restaurants all over the world, including muslim countries where people have to pray. It is your right to take a break for 10 minutes to go to the bathroom, catch a smoke and yes even pray. As for the others in this thread, please refrain from passing a fatwa on kiwaku without knowing his situation, life or anything about the details of his job. If you can get something in writing from a scholar detailing his life and details of his situation with a fatwa, please put it up. |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Saleema |
| 04/06/01 at 15:24:48 |
| Assalam ualykum, Very well said Jannah, about the fatwa thing. Kiwaku, let us know what happened ok? :) Inshallah everything will work out for the best. wassalam |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Kiwaku |
| 04/06/01 at 16:05:59 |
| Asalamu Alaikum Brothers and Sisters, Thank you all again for the wonderful advice and support. I definately know where to turn to when I need help. I am not going to push the issue at work too hard. I have the right to pray during my breaks, I do not abuse this right and the store owner knows this. I have been told by my Muslim mentor that if any diciplinary action were to take place as a result of me taking a few minutes out to pray then we could take legal action against them. Jannah, in response to your idea about the crew person leaving when his schedule is done.... the closing crew cannot leave the store unless the entire store is clean and the manager (me) lets them out. As I was in the middle of my prayer and did not know that they finished while I was praying I could not let them out right then. Good idea though, thanks. One question.... what is a fatwa? I will keep everyone informed of what has happened... in sha' Allah I will have more information to give tomorrow. Thank you all again. May Allah bless you all Sincerely Usamah |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Kiwaku |
| 04/06/01 at 16:10:42 |
| I am reminded of something..... As far as the pork is concerned... 1) I do not handle it... period. 2) As a Muslim is it not my duty and my responsibility to be tolerant of others beliefs and culture? Therefore I do not think selling it is a bad thing, considering that pork is very much a part of the cultural eating in the part of Missouri that I live in. So long as I do not handle it, ingest it, or let any of my brothers and sisters in faith do the same, what is the problem? If there is anything wrong with it, please tell me... I will give it up in a heartbeat if it means the difference in pleasing Allah or not pleasing Him. Humbly and Respectfully Usamah |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| chachi |
| 04/08/01 at 12:14:38 |
A fatwa is a legal opinion from a islamic scholar wahid*i swallowed a dictionary*khan |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Kiwaku |
| 04/09/01 at 09:40:32 |
| Asalamu Alaikum Brothers and Sisters Okay... the situation is over. Thank you all for your help. My boss called me into his office on friday. We sat down and started discussing times of prayers and the importance of making prayer on time. He surprised me when he pulled out a prayer time schedule from his desk. He told me that he had received a phone call from this employee's mother and got an earfull just like I had. He then told me that he told the lady that I had the right to pray when I am susposed to, no matter what. And that if she wanted to persue it further that he would be happy to make sure the corporate office knew every bit of what was happening, my rights as a Muslim, and to top it off he told her that her son was not nearly as valuable to the operation as I am and that she needs to keep that in mind when she tries to rock the boat, she might just knock her own son out of the boat in the process. Al-hamdu lillah! The situation is over and it went very easily. Thank you all again for your help. Sincerely Usamah |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| jannah |
| 04/09/01 at 10:38:29 |
| Usamah that's so wonderful!!! Honestly my whole life whenever I've made a sacrifice putting Islam first afraid of the consequences, it always had turned out in khair (good) alhamdullilah :) So since ur so valueable maybe you should ask for a raise :) [wlm] |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| alzinjibar |
| 04/09/01 at 14:57:16 |
| Bismillah Rahman Rahim, wa salatu wa salam ala'a Rasul Karim, As salam alaykum ya Usama' I hope you as well as your beloved ones are well, i'm happy to see that your situation has evolved in a nice way and it reminded me of the end of the verse : " And whosoever keepeth his duty to Allah, Allah will appoint a way out for him, And will provide for him from (a quarter) whence he hath no expectation. And whosoever putteth his trust in Allah, He will suffice him. Lo! Allah bringeth His command to pass. Allah hath set a measure for all things " Sura At Talaq - Divorce (65:2-3) May He (swt) whose soul is in His (swt) hands shower you and your beloved ones with His(swt) blessings and pave your way to Him (swt) with ease and tranquility. Amin nb: dont forget the widows and orphans in your duas. |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| proudtobemuslim |
| 04/16/01 at 07:25:00 |
| Assalam-u-Alaikum, WOW! Al-hamdulillah, that is really great brother! I'm so glad everything turned out well. This just goes to show that truly Allah (AWJ) is enough as a protector and trustee. May Allah (AWJ) make your Iman (faith), Taqwa (conciousness and fear of ALLAH (AWJ)) and Love for Allah (AWJ) and his deen conitnue to flourish and grow and reward you in abundance from his wealth. Ameen. Wassalam-u-Alaikum, Uzer |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Kiwaku |
| 04/16/01 at 10:26:42 |
| Asalam Alaikum Brothers and Sisters I want to thank you all for your help in this situation, and thank you for all the du'a made on my behalf... May Allah bless you all! I received word this morning April 16 that I have been given employment at the local hospital. Thus, I have given my 2 week notice at the McDonalds. This is a blessing on several levels... one being that I will no longer have to work with kufar teenagers, and be forced to serve haram foods. The second being that I will be working with all of the other Muslim brothers and sisters here in town, as they are all doctors. Allah is really looking out for me in this. And the most important it gives me a job that I can be proud of, and something my fiance's father will be more receptive to. Thank you all again for help in this situation. It really means a lot to me! Humbly and Respectufully, Usamah |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| bhaloo |
| 04/16/01 at 10:51:44 |
| slm Brother Usamah, I am really happy to hear of this wonderful news, alhumdullilah. |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| humble_muslim |
| 04/16/01 at 11:10:27 |
| AA Now that you're leaving, I am going to say that IHMO (NOT a fatwa) it is undoutbeldly more pleasing with Allah SWT that your job has no doubts about halal and haram. I am VERY, VERY happy for you, and pray that Allah SWT gives you khair in this world and the hereafter, Ameen. And best wishes for your wedding! BTW, can you tell us other brothers how you managed to get engaed to a Saudi woman ? I though the Saudi govt. doesn't allow non-Saudis marryinh Saudi women? |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Arsalan |
| 04/16/01 at 11:13:02 |
| [slm] [quote]BTW, can you tell us other brothers how you managed to get engaed to a Saudi woman ? [/quote]Hehe ... Good question :) |
| Re: Extreem Emergency!!! Please HELP!!!!! |
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| Kiwaku |
| 04/16/01 at 12:30:51 |
| Asalam Alaikum Brothers and Sisters, Okay, the engagement to my fiance. Tricky situation here. I started talking to her several months ago, we found that we have many common interests, and common faith issues. I began to hint around that we should get married, when finaly she accepted. Her parents are the big issue, as I have not talked with them yet. See, she is not fully a Saudi, she is half German. Her father is a Saudi, her mother is a German. And she holds dual citizenship. We have come to respect one another very much, and we are sincere in our wishes to marry one another. We are aware that the Saudi government does not allow outsiders to marry within their country, so we are planning on waiting till they go to Germany again this summer to talk with her parents. She is so determined about this that she is willing to give up her Saudi citizenship to make it happen. As I said a very tricky situation. But we are determined that it will work. As I am well known for saying.... "The best things in life are never easy to obtain. If you have to struggle for what you want it makes having it that much more of a reward, and you are more concious of its value and worth." Sincerly, Usamah |
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