Ramadan is a month for giving. As a way of becoming closer to Allah, we give more of our wealth in charity and more of our time to help others.
Alhamdulillah, the Muslim community in Britain is very generous and annually we give millions of pounds in charity to help many millions of people around the world. But suffering is not just something that happens elsewhere or is reported on the 9 o'clock news; since 9/11 and the ever more stringent laws enforced by the government, the Muslim community in Britain is as threatened and suffers as much as communities elsewhere.
Indeed, on the very same day that the new moon of Ramadan was announced, five more foreign Muslim men were detained during dawn raids and face expulsion from the UK for being deemed "a threat to national security". They face not only the stress of the threat of being deported to countries like Libya where they could face further imprisonment and torture but that, thanks to the government's policies, another five Muslim families face Ramadan apart.
On paper, this is just another statistic to add to the scores of families who will spend Ramadan in the same situation: whole families torn apart by the "war on terror".
With every new twist in the war on terror, the Muslim community feels more and more isolated and marginalised, yet if we do not help the families directly affected, there is a possibility that we could be marginalising sections of our own community, thus perpetuating a situation that we ourselves are frustrated with. Let's make this Ramadan a month of action and unity. Let's give our time and money not just to help our brothers and sisters abroad, who truly are suffering, but also to helping those who are closer to home.
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Remember the Hadith of Ibn Abbas who said "The Prophet (may Allaah send His blessing and peace upon him) was the most charitable amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of Ramadaan when Jibreel used to meet him on every night of Ramadaan till the end of the month?"
(al-Bukhaaree)
There is plenty that each man, woman and child in our community can do such as the following:
You can make donations to Hhugs in various ways (please visit our Donations Page). You can also fill in our online volunteer form and become a volunteer, helping families in your area affected by these issues in other ways, such as prison visits, shopping and visits to the solicitor, etc.
If you know the family of a detainee and if you have your own vehicle, you can offer to accompany them on prison visits or visits to the solicitor.
If they do not speak English well, you can help them with other matters, such as legal and financial matters that the detained husband may have dealt with solely in the past.
You can invite them for iftar in Ramadan, relieving them of the burden of the isolation that many people feel and face when a loved one is arrested (and in most cases not charged!) of being a suspected terrorist or a "threat to national security".
The human face of the suffering behind the often very public arrests is seldom revealed but there are many scores of families right here in the UK whose suffering is very real. Imagine spending Ramadan as a child without your father; perhaps he is locked up in Belmarsh or Woodhill or even further afield in a foreign country or in Guantanamo Bay. These are things that children cannot necessarily express to those around them and the betrayal and hurt they feel can have psychological consequences.
For many of those detained, their children are their main concern. There are ways in which you can help their children too:
You can help by offering to take their children to the mosque to pray tarawih prayers in Ramadan as they may have done in the past with their fathers.
Education is also a concern; often when a father is detained, it is difficult for their children to continue attending private Islamic schools because of steep fees. You can help to meet these costs by making a donation for this purpose to Hhugs.
It can be difficult for the children to get the support with their homework that they may have previously gotten from their fathers. You can offer to help them with their school work.
If you know young people in your area whose fathers have been detained, you can offer to help them in matters that their fathers did before, perhaps taking them to football practice, giving them a ride to an Islamic Sunday school on the weekend, etc.
There are lots of things that we as a community can do right here and right now. There are even things that we can do from the luxury of our own homes:
If you cannot invite others to your home, prepare food and take it to them.
Make du'as for the detained and their families and ask Allah to make things easier for them.
Send Eid cards and gifts to the detainees. You can get your children to draw pictures for them and design the cards.
Write or email your MP, asking them to not support the latest "anti-terror" legislation proposals.
A further step that those who frequent mosques during this blessed month can take is to show unity; more than just targeting individual vulnerable families, the government is targeting the community at large with proposals concerning mosques and certain Islamic groups. We should show our support and unity for each other as Muslims above all other considerations.
The purpose of this blessed month is to get closer to Allah and in doing so, we become closer to each other and learn that we should only fear Him. The ummah is not elsewhere but is right here and is crying out for our help. Charity begins at home; if we start by helping those who are on our very doorsteps, we can then widen our circle of influence to help those who are further away more effectively. While external forces strive to divide and disunite our community, let us use this month as an opportunity to unite and celebrate the unique and beautiful brotherhood of the Muslims.
You can find out more about how YOU can get involved and help the families of the detainees on the following websites:
www.hhugs.org.uk
www.cageprisoners.com
