Week 19 – Is It Halal to catch the Swine Flu? + Fatwa on Swine Flu Safety + DALIA MOGAHED + Why Polls?

May 5, 2009 at 6:59 pm Salam Ottawa Team Leave a comment

Host: Omar (GreenKufi)

Quran

Ar_Rahman [ch. 55 v. 1-16 | Recited by Abdullah Basfar -عبد الله بن علي بصفر ]

Discussion

The month of May always seems to brighten up the city of Ottawa with its Tulip Festival. We find blooming Tulips all around the city. Various parks around Ottawa have gorgeous displays for you to come and see. This is one of those events around the city that you and your family can actually participate in and admire Allah’s creation.

For more information about what parks you can visit to view the Tulips displayed you can visit tulipfestival.ca. Event runs from May 1 to May 18th.

Fatwa on Swine Flu Safety

Swine Flu is spreading very fast and causing a lot of public concern in United States, [Canada] and other countries of the world. WHO (World Health Organization) and CDC (Center for Disease Control in US) have already issued advisories to general public. We urge Muslims to exercise necessary precautions in this matter. It is an Islamic teaching that in the situation of wide spread infections, people living in infected areas should be careful not to move around in order to avoid spreading infections. Similarly those who are healthy should avoid traveling to infested areas in order to protect themselves, unless they are needed as doctors or health workers. Allah says in the Qur’an, “Do not contribute to your destruction with your own hands…” (2:195) The Prophet –peace be upon him- said, “If you are in a land and plague breaks out there, then do not leave that place. If you are told that it is spreading in some land and you are not there, then do not go there.” (Muslim, Hadith no. 5731)

In the light of these instructions the Fiqh Council of North America emphasizes that Muslims should take CDC advisories seriously [or in our case in Canada the Health Canada advisory]. Those who are affected by any symptoms of this flu should avoid shaking hands and coming into close contacts with others. They are allowed in this situation to pray at home and do not go to the Masjid for congregational prayers, until they are healthy. The Prophet –peace be upon him- said, “A sick person (with contagious disease) must not be brought among the healthy.” (Abu Dau’ud, Hadith 3911)

In case there is a Swine Flu pandemic, public assemblies might be curtailed. In that situation it will be allowed for the Masajid to issue special instructions regarding Jama’ah (congregational) and Jumu’ah (Friday) prayers considering the general welfare of their communities and cooperating with local authorities to maintain public health and safety.

We must also make individual and collective du’a asking Allah to remove this affliction and bless us all.

From the Fiqh Council of North America

OBAMA’S MUSLIM ADVISOR

From Islam Online (Full Article) By Muhammed Qasim, IOL Correspondent

WASHINGTON – Dalia Mogahed, a hijab-clad American Muslim, has made history being the first Muslim woman appointed to a position in President Barack Obama’s administration.

She sets on a newly-formed interfaith advisory board the administration hopes will improve relations with Muslims in the US and across the globe.

The Egyptian-born American heads the Gallup American Center for Muslim Studies, a research center that produces studies on Muslim public opinion worldwide.

WHO IS DALIA MOGAHED?

From gallup.com Senior Analyst Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies

Dalia Mogahed is a Senior Analyst and Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, a nonpartisan research center dedicated to providing data-driven analysis on the views of Muslim populations around the world. With John L. Esposito, Ph.D., she is coauthor of the book Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think.

Mogahed leads the analysis of Gallup’s unprecedented survey representing the opinions of more than 1 billion Muslims worldwide, including Muslims in the West. She also directs the Muslim-West Facts Initiative (www.muslimwestfacts.com), through which Gallup, in collaboration with the Coexist Foundation, is disseminating the findings of the Gallup World Poll to key opinion leaders in the Muslim World and the West.

Mogahed travels the globe engaging diverse groups on what Muslims around the world really think. Her audiences have included a variety of people from American senators to British parliamentarians to the U.N. She has discussed her findings with all sorts of people like Madeline Albreight, Quincy Jones, Karen Armstrong the bestselling author and Dr. Ali Gomaa, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Amr Khaled and more.

HOW POLLING IS A GOOD IDEA TO GET OPINIONS ETC. This is FACTUAL information unlike over the top generalizations and people who consider to be representatives of the ENTIRE muslim population talking on their behalf..etc.

Short interview on a videoblog “Here on Earth” – at the beginning of last year

Community News

Success Tip

Brought to you by SuccessLiving.org

Green Kufi’s Greening Muslims Tip

The City of Ottawa will be having a one day collection depot of all your Household Hazardouse Waste (HHW) on Sunday May 10th from 9AM to 4PM.The depot will beat the Trail Waste Facility, 4475 Trail Road, off Moodie Drive, south of Fallowfield Road. Household Hazardouse Waste should not be thrown out with the rest of your garbage. You shouldn’t have bought it in the first place, but that’s another story. HHW consists of:

aerosol containers
barbecue starters
camping propane cylinders
energy efficient light bulbs
fluorescent light bulbs
fire extinguishers
furniture stripper

mercury switches
mercury thermometers
needles and syringes
oil based paints
pool chemicals
window cleaner
wood preservatives

disinfectants

fungicides

herbicides

insecticides

pesticides

stains

turpentine

oven cleaner

For other waste products like some paints, motor oil, electronics, batteries can be taken to your nearest garage, electronics store or used goods store or a hardware store, or yours truly. If you can’t make it out to one of these depots and don’t want to pollute the very river we get our drinking water from head over to greenkufi.ca and contact us under local services about picking up your household waste and taking it to the depot.