As-salaamu alaykum and Ramadan Mubarak to you and your family
CAIR Philadelphia IS your most effective Muslim-American civil rights organization that defends our community from mosque oppositions and vandalism, hate crimes and discrimination against our businesses, bullying of our children in schools, and increasingly vital, against government intimidation, profiling, surveillance and discrimination against law-abiding American Muslims.
As you consider distributing your zakat and sadaqa funds during Ramadan, please keep CAIR-Philadelphia in mind. A sample of how we served our community is highlighted below. Additional details are noted in our Ramadan newsletter and 2012 Annual Report.
- Fighting government discrimination by challenging US Dept. of Defense and US Dept. of Justice
- Bringing the issue of school bullying/harassment to the forefront of the legal community
- Conducting anti-bullying workshops for our children
- Continuing to be the go-to source for the media providing reliable information on Islam and Muslims while responding to current events such as the Boston bombing incident
- Leading the successful opposition to Pennsylvania’s Anti-Muslim House Bill 2029
- Effectively lobbying The Philadelphia Bar Association to proclaim a resolution affirming religious freedom and opposing HB2029
- Educating college students regarding the role of women in Islam
- Building bridges with other faiths in a climate of fear
To continue addressing the challenge of rising Islamophobia in the form of stereotypes, propaganda, biased media coverage and misinformation about Islam and American Muslims, CAIR-Philadelphia employs professional and seasoned staff. However to meet our expenses, CAIR-Philadelphia is seeking your assistance: Your CAIR-Philadelphia chapter needs to raise $100,000 immediately. Invest now during Ramadan to maximize your reward in perpetuity while making CAIR-Philadelphia effective today.
Since we believe in financial transparency for our community members, a breakdown and distribution of your funds are highlighted in the Ramadan newsletter and Annual Report.
Please help us sustain your organization and also to grow and expand our bandwidth to accomplish more for our community.
I remind you that a donation to CAIR Philadelphia is tax-deductable and zakat eligible.
Here’s how you can help:
- Donate all or part of your zakat or make a general donation to CAIR this Ramadan.
- Urge the zakat committee of your mosque to dedicate a portion of its distribution of zakat for CAIR.
Support for giving zakat to CAIR:
Numerous scholars have confirmed that zakat is payable to organizations that exist to serve members of the Muslim community by protecting their rights. The work done by CAIR can be classified as “fi-sabilillah” (working in the way of Allah), which is one of the eight categories of Zakat recipients detailed in the Quran (9:60).
Commentators on the Quran (mufassirun) and jurists (fuqaha) have extended the term “fi-sabilillah” to include all beneficial works and initiatives that are of common benefit to the society.
CAIR also fits the zakat category of “muallafatu quloobuhum,” those who are new Muslims and those sympathetic to Islam and may be brought closer to the faith. CAIR has a proven track record of educating new Muslims and people of other faiths about Islam.
A principle of Islamic jurisprudence states that if something that has been considered as obligatory cannot be fulfilled without fulfilling something else, then fulfilling the latter also becomes obligatory. Thus, since defending and empowering Muslims cannot be achieved without institutions like CAIR, it is imperative that Muslims support such groups.
Your zakat donation will show support for CAIR’s steady perseverance and commitment. Along with your zakat, I urge you to consider giving $10, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, or whatever you can.
I thank Allah Almighty for giving us the blessed month of Ramadan. We hope to get your donation during Ramadan so that you receive more blessing and CAIR is able to carry out its important work on your behalf.
Sincerely,
Osama Al-Qasem
President, CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Committee
P.S. – It is my sincere prayer that you will find a space in your heart to make a generous donation to support CAIR’s important work. If you and others do your part, we can achieve our Ramadan fundraising goal. Donations to CAIR qualify for “zakat” and are tax-deductible. If you prefer, go to http://pa.cair/donate to donate.
