Find out more of our work this last year, and find our how you can donate. IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh’s message outlines the key issues that IHRC has focused on, what we have done and how you have helped.
Help IHRC this Ramadan and donate to the Islamic Human Rights Commission Trust.
Shaban – Ramadan 1440 / May 2019
Salamun Alaykum
We have been blessed yet again by Allah to be able to witness and observe the holy month of Ramadan. It is a time when we strive to get closer to our Creator through increased acts of worship and good deeds. For many of us this also means an increase in our generosity towards helping and supporting those less fortunate than ourselves.
Last year your donations to IHRC helped thousands of Muslims in the UK and abroad. Many of them are still benefiting from your support to this very day. Please support
I am sure you will have already been inundated with requests for your sadaqah and zakat. We hope that you will take a moment to consider IHRC once more and the work that we do. Unlike in previous years we are not printing a hard copy of our Annual report or newsletter this Ramadan. We feel that given the cost and the impact on the environment it is better to try and keep things digital. You can find our Annual Report for the last year online under Publications. It gives an overview of our work and its extent and impact.
Only recently we witnessed wanton violence being unleashed on Muslims in New Zealand. The environment that has produced the normalisation of hate and violence against Muslims is something that we identified long ago. We have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of this phenomenon. IHRC has been at the forefront in exposing and campaigning against the spread of that virulent and putrid ideology. Heinous crimes are being incubated in countries that have voted into power fascist leaders who encourage and fan hatred. The forces of xenophobic hyper-nationalism threaten to engulf an increasing number of countries where Muslims reside as minorities. Our hate crime report series and the recent CIK report in conjunction with University of Leeds are just the latest examples of our work in this area.
How many more Muslims must be killed and brutalised before we as a people say enough is enough? What type of world do we wish to leave our children? Although it may seem like an impossible task to challenge the rise of hatred, combating this evil is possible. With the help of Allah, all things are possible as seen by the successes of previous generations. With your support IHRC has been able to keep alive the fight to overcome these forces and we do so with the inspirational words of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in mind:
“If one of you sees something wrong let him change it with his hand. If unable to do so let him speak out against it. If still unable to do so let him hate it in his heart, and that is the weakest manifestation of faith.”
It should be remembered that in the time of the Prophet (pbuh) some of the key formative events events in Islam took place in Ramadan. In the fight for justice Prophet Muhammed and his companions took on an army three times their size and won. The Battle of Badr on the 17th day of
Ramadan has gone down in Islamic history as a decisive and most inspirational event. It is a stark reminder to us that despite the larger size and the resources available to our enemies, we can still overcome the oppressor. The Prophet (pbuh) had a united front and with a common vision he was able to humiliate the enemies of Islam. Allah was pleased with them and sent his assistance in the form of angels. Today we have at our disposal greater numbers and resources, yet we are more fractured more than ever. Over the last decade IHRC has invested heavily in combating sectarianism. We have made great headway in places like UK, Pakistan and Indonesia.
In Nigeria, we have successfully been able to assist hundreds of victims of state violence with life-saving operations. Recently I travelled to Nigeria with a team of expert doctors to assess and treat the injured Muallim Zakzaky. We continue to campaign for the rights of the oppressed in Nigeria. Whether it’s taking up the challenge to the Nigerian government or taking it to the highest institutions such as the EU, UN or International Criminal Court we have taken the lead on highlighting and documenting the persecution of the country’s Islamic Movement. I also led a team of researchers to Turkey recently to interview Uighur migrants who fled China in the face of the crimes being committed against them by the regime. This is a work stream that we have been pursuing for over a decade through exhibitions and reports from inside the Uighur homeland, Xinjiang.
Whilst the world has largely forgotten the Rohingya as their plight has stopped being streamed across our TVs, we have been lobbying and advocating for their rights with special rapporteurs at the UN and also with the Bangladeshi government, trying to ensure that they get access to full support in their attempts to recover from the genocide being waged against them. Right on our doorstep in Europe we have been witnessing untold cruelty against refugees fleeing violence. Due to the war the West has waged in places like Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, to name a few, people are fleeing their homes with just the clothes on their backs. Furthermore, sanctions and blockades are being used as a tool to cripple nations, even by our brothers, one against another. The intention is to starve millions of people into submission. As a result, millions have had to leave their homelands in search of a dignified way of life. We have documented and highlighted how migrants are being abused, enslaved, killed and denied their rights in Europe. We have also written research papers on the damage sanctions have had on the civilian population. Sanctions and war against the oppressed are not anything new; the Prophet (pbuh) himself was subjected to this throughout his life.
The nature of our work is such that it will never be completed. This is a responsibility we carry out with full commitment with the intention of passing it on to the next generation. However before pass the baton we have to do justice to the causes for which we fight. Therefore, we request you to continue to support us with your donations. May Allah reward your fasts and accept your prayers and may He grant you strength and fortitude during these challenging times.
Your brother in Islam,
Massoud Shadjareh
