A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Building the Ummah |
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| zeph |
| 07/21/02 at 01:32:39 |
| As-Salaamu-Alaikum, I'm new to the board. This is my first post. Inshallah many more will come. But to the point. I am searching for fundraising ideas. In today's time I know it seems like at every angle someone is requesting money. But it is going to take genuine and dedicated muslims and CAPITAL to grow as an ummah. It takes money to change our communities around. It takes money to have a voice in this country. We also have a need for skillful individuals. It is very important that we educate ourselves, learn Arabic if you do not know it. Learn Islam. In addition we need to develop a skill, whether it is journalism, finance, computer science, psychology, EDUCATION, etc. These skills need to be applied to our community to BUILD. We need to come together and breakdown the cultural, ideological and any other barriers that are preventing us from being the leading example. I am starting to build by educating myself on Islam, learning Arabic (it's a true blessing if its your native tongue), connecting with my brothers and sisters, and now seeking fundraising ideas. I am anxious to find out what ideas you all may have and what efforts are you making to strengthen our community. Until then...stay blessed Zeph (by the way I am a :-)) |
| Re: Building the Ummah |
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| Muneerah134 |
| 07/22/02 at 14:41:21 |
| [wlm] Welcome sister. Learn Islam, learn your religion - my favorite saying. Learn Arabic - my second favorite saying. Give back to your community - my...well you get the idea! ;) I am a board member of a women's group that offers services to the ummah. Some of the things we have done/do to help the community are: [list][*]a food pantry. Monthly food distribution to whoever comes to our house. This has been invaluable for dawah, [*]a "weekend school" for children of Muslim families who don't attend Islamic schools. We hope to turn this into a full time summer program next year with the help of Allah, and encourage families to send their children to Islamic schools, [*]a dawah program. Recognizing the contribution of one of our members, now deceased, we have free literature and books for anyone who comes into our house. This also sparked a very generous monthly bequest from the family of our sister, to be used to help any Muslim sister in need alhamdullillah.[/list] Bequests or monthly endowments are an untapped source of income that we do not solicit enough. I believe they are called waqf and can help with any number of projects (not to mention the blessings for the giver!) Some fundraising projects we have done in the past: -a bus trip to Islamic shopping areas (helps the businesses and raises money for the sponsoring group), to Islamic events, and conferences. -"sister's night out" very popular, but not for those who adhere to avoiding music. I don't like suggesting this because of the music involved, but perhaps no music, just conversation, food, henna, facials, etc. -dinner sales or food sales at events. This is almost pure profit, but very labor intensive. -weekend conferences for women with private swimming and exercise, etc. ususal held at local hotels or resorts. Pricing can be difficult, but good opportunity for learning - workshops, etc. -vending at events - hijab, jilbab, books, etc. -sales of cakes, candles, etc. These and other fundraisers have been useful to maintain our programs and keep our building operational. They are small in scale and depend on a significant volunteer effort. We would like to expand to the point where we offer many more services including Arabic classes, 24 hour crisis referral (done now on a smaller scale) inshaAllah. To this end we have begun investigating grants and gifts from halal sources. Several of us have experience writing sucessful proposals ahamdullillah, a skill more of us need to become familiar with. Sorry for the length of this post. InshaAllah after our meeting this week, I will come back and let you know what else members came up with. :-) Muneerah [] |
| Re: Building the Ummah |
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| zeph |
| 07/22/02 at 15:15:01 |
| AL-HUMDULILAH! Sister your response was a breath of fresh air. The things you all are doing are wonderful. Exciting. One of the masjids here in Atlanta has been doing the food pantry idea. It is truly beautiful to see hungry mothers and their children be able to come in worry free and receive food. I am going to definitely put your ideas to work. Inshallah I hope to make connections with other muslim youth in other cities and possibly have a chain effect of fundraisers happening. I am a supporter of the Muslim American Society (MAS), I love the direction they are going. It provides or seeks to provide many of the things you have mentioned and more. The leader is Imam W.D. Muhammad. But don't get me wrong, my support is not limited to MAS. I support all that are doing good. Yes, Sis. Muneerah, please keep me posted of more ideas. Inshallah when I gain more experience at this I will begin to share ideas with you as well. Ma'salaama Iman |
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