LivingHalal in Action: Worship Allah, Not Your Job

Surely, Allah makes things easy if you strive for his sake.

Muslim employees get more time for prayers
Saturday, January 26, 2008
BY MARY WARNER Of The Patriot-News

Somali immigrants who quit work at Arnold Logistics in Hampden Twp. because of a "misunderstanding" are back on the job, with accommodation for their daily prayers, a Muslim advocacy group says.

The warehouse and distribution services company has agreed to provide a 15-minute break for Muslim prayer, according to the Pennsylvania office of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

CAIR said 16 machine operators walked off their jobs on Jan. 9 "after a misunderstanding over a new policy which limited personal breaks for all employees to five minutes."

Madina Hasson of Mechanicsburg, a nurse who volunteers as a community organizer among midstate Somali immigrants, contacted Justin Peyton, director of civil rights for CAIR in Philadelphia.

They met Jan. 11 with Amy Rafferty, human resources director for Arnold Logistics, to explain that five minutes was too short for the daily prayers required of Muslims.

The workers had been unable to make their case because of a "language barrier," Peyton said Friday.

He said Rafferty "graciously listened" and relayed the workers' concerns to senior managers, who offered this week to rehire all 16 and provide them time each day for prayer.

About half the employees returned to Arnold. The rest had found other work, Peyton said.

Efforts to reach Rafferty were unsuccessful Friday.

MARY WARNER: 255-8267 or mwarner@patriot-news.com

This story of LivingHalal in Action is clipped from The Patriot-News.

My Sweet Memories from Hajj

A sister telling her sweet memories from her Hajj trip, some highlights:
-You can communicate without knowing the other person's language
-Hajj is like walking into the National Geographic Magazine
-Excitement about sharing Hajj stories with classmates
-Human generosity in action
-Hajj is what you make of it

Please post your comments so we know what you think... may Allah reward you.



**If you are a sound engineer and would like to give us some free tips about recording... please contact us. May Allah reward you.

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LivingHalal in Action: Waste Concern

In the authentic hadith collected by Muslim:

عرضت علي أعمال أمتي حسنها وسيئها فوجدت في محاسن أعمالها الأذى يماط عن الطريق
It is presented to me my Ummah's deeds, the good and the bad, so I found that among the good deeds: removing the filth from the road.

Waste Concern, a waste management not-for profit organization in Bangladesh, recently got covered by Marketplace Philanthropy Series.

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LivingHalal in Action: Muslim helps attacked Jews

Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: they are the ones to attain felicity. [Quran 3:104]

Muslim helps Jews attacked on New York subway

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Muslim man jumped to the aid of three Jewish subway riders after they were attacked by a group of young people who objected to one of the Jews saying "Happy Hanukkah," a spokeswoman for the three said Wednesday.

Friday's altercation on the Q train began when somebody yelled out "Merry Christmas," to which rider Walter Adler responded, "Happy Hanukkah," said Toba Hellerstein.

"Almost immediately, you see the look in this guy's face like I've called his mother something," Adler told CNN affiliate WABC.

Two women who were with a group of 10 rowdy people then began to verbally assault Adler's companions with anti-Semitic language, Hellerstein said.

One member of the group allegedly yelled, "Oh, Hanukkah. That's the day that the Jews killed Jesus," she said.

When Adler tried to intercede, a male member of the group punched him, she said.

Another passenger, Hassan Askari -- a Muslim student from Bangladesh -- came to Adler's aid, and the group began physically and verbally assaulting him, Hellerstein said.

"A Muslim-American saved us when our own people were on the train and didn't do anything," Adler said. Watch Adler describe the altercation »

Adler pulled the emergency brake and the train stopped at DeKalb Avenue station, where police came on board.

The 10 suspects, ages 19 to 20, were taken into custody, said Brooklyn district attorney spokesman Sandy Silverstein.

Askari was first handcuffed alongside them, but he was released when Adler told police he was not an attacker, Hellerstein said.

Alder was treated at Long Island College Hospital for injuries that included a fractured nose and a cut lip that required several stitches, while Askari suffered a black eye, Hellerstein said.

The suspects are to appear in Brooklyn District Court on February 7 on charges that include assault, attempted assault, menacing, harassment, unlawful assembly, riot and disorderly conduct, Silverstein said.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident, and will determine whether the suspects will be charged with hate crimes, Officer Philip Hauser told CNN.

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LivingHalal in Action: Never Miss Your Prayer

This story of LivingHalal in Action is clipped from Washington Post. May Allah reward this Muslim Taxi driver, and may Allah make his action a reason for people to know the true Islam.

I already was in a bad humor as I watched the taxi meter click away on my trip home from Dulles one recent Sunday afternoon. My bag had gone astray on the way home from South Carolina.

I read the notice about the increase in fares to $2.80 for the first quarter-mile and wondered if the decrease in gas prices would reverse the fare hike.

My driver apologized after receiving a call on his cellphone. I asked him what language he spoke, and he replied "Urdu, or a branch of Urdu called Punjabi."

He explained that Punjab is located between Pakistan and India and was divided in half. He was from the half that went with Pakistan at the time of the great division. Later, he got another phone call -- "the wife," he said. And we both acknowledged that he had to take that call. When we turned on to the Clara Barton Parkway, I asked him if he knew who Clara Barton was. He didn't, so I told him what I knew about her. He had a couple of questions about her that I couldn't answer, and that ended our conversation.

After we pulled up to my house and I paid him, he popped the trunk. I asked why he opened the trunk because I didn't have any bags. He replied by asking if he could use a corner of my drive to say his prayers.

I was surprised, but even an agnostic, which I am, would not deny a person a place to pray. He spread his rug, faced east and began to pray. I observed him from the house. First he stood and then he kneeled, and I was surprised at how touched I was.

It seemed like such a formal but human thing to do, and right on my driveway. I was very proud that he trusted me to ask and that I trusted him and gave my permission. My experience that evening seemed so starkly different from what I hear on the news each day.


-- Lee Gough, Bethesda

LivingHalal In Action: Muslim Cabdrivers

Muslims cabdrivers refuse to carry customers with alcohol.

Ma-sha-Allah Tabaraka Allah... May Allah help and reward these Muslims who strive for living Halal.

MINNEAPOLIS --Cabdriver Muhamed Mursal doesn't wear his Muslim beliefs on his sleeve, but he may soon broadcast them from a light atop his cab.

Mursal and hundreds of other Muslim cabdrivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport refuse to take customers they know are carrying alcohol. They don't search bags, but a wine box may be enough to leave a fare waiting for the next cab.

Now, they may be required to buy different colored lights to sit atop their cabs so airport workers who hook up travelers with taxis can steer alcohol-carrying fares to cabs that will take them. The proposal needs approval from the airport's taxi cab advisory committee, and airport officials hope to have the lights ready by year's end.

Cabbies without the light who refuse fares will be sent to the back of line -- often a three-hour wait until it's their turn again for a fare. Some drivers said they'd rather wait for another fare than risk punishment in the afterlife.

"It is forbidden in Islam to carry alcohol," Mursal said.

Click here for the complete article

Quoted materials are by Associated Press.