My name is Salmah. I am a new sister in Islam since reading an English translation of the Qur’an online about three and a half years ago and realizing the Divine origin of its message, all praise and thanks to the One God. Now my 8-year old daughter and I are in need of assistance. I wish to briefly share with you our story so you will understand why and decide whether or not you are willing and able to provide any of the assistance we need. We came from a very small town on an American Indian reservation in the Northwest. There were no other Muslims there, so I made my declaration of faith over the telephone and tried to learn all I could through the internet. It was not until last year that we met other Muslims for the first time when we attended the First International Islamic Retreat on the island of Trinidad. On the return trip, we did not make our connecting flight out of JFK Airport. I was afraid to return with my daughter to the situation which we had left in the Northwest, but I did not know where to turn for help or what to do about that situation. I called whatever Muslim organizations I could think of from the airport but they all referred me elsewhere. I finally went to the little mosque on the 4th level of the airport to let my daughter sleep on the floor while I prayed. As I was moving our luggage inside, I asked God Most Merciful to send us help as he had done for Hagar and Ishmael in the desert. At that very moment I heard, “Assalaamu ‘alaikum” [Peace be upon you] and turned to see an airport security guard. He asked about us, gave us permission to sleep in the mosque until he got off work at midnight, and then spent a couple hours escorting us by bus and subway and on foot to the only public homeless shelter that accepted walk-ins off the street. Along with hours and days of filling out forms, being interviewed repeatedly, sitting in waiting rooms, and going here and there on buses and getting lost on subways in order to fulfill the various requirements, we ended up spending almost 4 months in a confidential domestic violence shelter and living on government-provided food stamps. It wasn’t what I wanted to do but what it seemed we had to do to survive. I spent that time continuing to try to understand our situation and what I could and should do about it, and continuing to search for brothers and sisters and others who could help me. It has been a long and tortuous process, but the mercy of God Almighty has been unfailing. When my allotted time at the shelter was nearly at an end, a Muslim brother, who had learned of my situation at the Retreat on Trinidad and was trying to help me from his home in the Netherlands, spoke with Sheikh Yusuf Estes in Virginia who gave me the name and number of Sister Kadijah in New York. She immediately drove a couple hours to come to where we were, picked us and our luggage up off the street and took us to her home. We have been with her for more than a month now and she has gone out of her way day after day to find assistance for us. We have received money, food, clothing, love and concern and continue to need such assistance while I am working on resolving it. I know Sister Kadijah, who is not independently wealthy, could use monetary assistance to help with continuing to provide us shelter and transportation as she has so lovingly been doing.
My name is Jessica and I’m a twenty-nine year old woman from New Orleans, Louisiana. I was born into a strong Baptist family. But about a year ago my life changed for the better. Alhamdulillah, I change my life style by accepting Islam and becoming a Muslim. I am writing this to explain my situation and I pray it touches your heart. If by the end of this letter you feel the need to help. Then you can help me and my fellow sisters. I was on this online chat site called Smeet from Facebook. Here is where I met many people from around the world. There were two individuals that I talk to most one was from Algeria and the other was from Tunisia. One day I was talking to the one from Tunisia and we started talking about morals and humanity. Then our talk went to Allah and his prophets (peace and blessing be upon them all). About this time I was asked if I would get offended if something was sent to me. Of course I said no as long as it was in English and I could understand it. It was the Holy Quran. I read the entire surah Maryam. By the end of the surah I decided to start reading the Quran from the beginning. I wanted to know if there were other stories similar to the Bible. This is where I began to compare the Bible to the Quran and started to research the two religions. By the end of my research I had become confused of which one was the right one to be in. So for the first time since I was fifteen I got on my knees and prayed. I asked Allah to forgive me of my sins and promised that if he would show me the right path I would devote myself to worshiping him. I told Allah that I needed him to show me which faith he wanted me to worship Him in. So I asked that if it was Islam to tell me to go straight but if it was Christianity to tell me to turn around. At the end of my prayer my head started to split with pain. So I laid back and closed my eyes… I saw myself standing on a straight dirt path in the middle of greenery. The path went straight until it disappeared into the mountains. As I went to take a step forward something grabbed my arm and told me to turn around. But there was a voice inside of me that said to go straight. I jerked myself free and was sitting up in the bed, the headache now gone. As I wonder if it were a dream or not I reach up to my right arm to find a hand print there. From then on I knew that Islam was to be my faith. But the story doesn’t end there. As I accepted my new faith, my family did not. I then spent the last year hearing things about my faith, about the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) and most about my God. I sat quietly listening and repeating to my family. That just because I accepted Islam doesn’t mean I was telling them they were wrong and that I worshipped the same God but just called Him Allah instead. This did nothing to save the pain and heartache I suffered. I was kicked out of my mother’s house and was denied entry to my other family members’ homes. I lost my job due to the fact I wore a scarf on my head, and was denied other jobs for that same reason. My very own father released his aggressive dog on me. My left arm received many bites from the animal. My younger brother use to come up behind me in public to try to pull my hijab off my head. I would always fight him off. I won’t be invited with family because they didn’t want people to see them with me the “Muslim”. After everything I went though I was given a cd with sister Khadija’s information on it. As I finally found myself alone I called Khadija to get information about one of her CD’s. As we began to talk I told her about my problem and what I was going through. She immediately offers me a place to stay. She paid for my plane ticket to Newark, New Jersey from.
My name is Goddah I am a 30 years old battered woman. I am married to a man from Yemen who abused me verbally, physically and controlled me everyday of my life. He was so dangerous, I was scared of him. He would beat me so bad, even beat me in my sleep. I have two broken ribs and a broken jaw. I was scared that one day he might beat me so bad that I might just die. I have one daughter who I had to abandon just for her safety. My husband told me if I took my daughter and he finds us he will kill both of us. One day when my husband went to work, I left my daughter with my neighbors and ran for my life. I ran away and went to a Women’s Domestic Violence Shelter but I found it too difficult to stay there. My husband put a threat against my life while I was at the Shelter, luckily one of the Sister’s I met at this Shelter introduce me to Kadijah. When I first met Kadijah I had no clothes to wear except for the one outfit I was wearing. She gave me her own dresses to wear and gave me a whole new wardrobe of clothes, shoes, and bags. I had no money to buy food, she provided me with food and supplies. Kadijah provided me with a place to stay during the day to keep me out of danger. She gave me advise and support on how to get my daughter back. She showed me so much love and supported me with every decision I had to make with my life. I was later terminated from the Women’s Domestic Violence Shelter because my husband was looking to find me to kill me. I had nowhere to go or no one to turn too so I contacted Kadijah and she told me to come stay with her that she will keep me safe and protected her house is the house of Allah no one will bother me there. I stayed with her for a long period of time and I felt safe for once in my life. I ask that whomever comes across reading my testimony to help support Kadijah’s Dawah for her to continue to save other battered women lives.
I am Nafiah a 35 yrs old Muslim woman with three children. I came to New York in 2006. I met a charming guy and we fell in love. He was Hindu. He converted to Islam and we did the Nikha and got married. When I was pregnant my husband went and told his grandmother that I was pregnant. My baby was born and his grandmother told him that the baby is not his and she will not allow any Muslim baby in her house. My husband listened to his grandmother and put me out on the streets that same day with nothing, not even a penny in my hands saying that the baby is not his. I did not have nowhere to go or any family to turn too. I went to the police station thinking the cops would help me. When the cops came to the house, the grandmother pulled the cop aside and told him something and the cop turn around and told me there is nothing they can do to help me. I started to cry desperately because I did not have a dime on me and I was holding my newborn baby in the dark, cold, dangerous streets. I was devastated, my heart crash. I felt hopeless. It started to rain and me and my baby were both soaking wet. I kept crying, two things came to mind; one was to leave my baby in the Hospital or two give my baby to a stranger for them to take care of him. While I was standing there in tears a guy approached me and said are you ok Maim? because he saw me and my baby wet crying. I said no, I am not okay and I told him what had just happened. He said come I will take you to someone nice, her name is Kadijah. She will help you. He called her and Kadijah said bring her here to my home right away I will take care of her. When I saw Kadijah I said thank you Allah, she seemed so kind and loving. She bought food for me and milk for the baby right away the minute we arrived at her home. She bought milk diapers clothes, shoes and toys for my baby. She also provided me with clothes, shoes, money, and everyday necessity. She took care of me and my baby for many years. She is still helping me and my children up to this day. My son calls Kadijah grandma. He used to sleep on top of her stomach every night. I have such high respect for Kadijah. She is always there for me and my children. I used to work at the nail salon doing manicure and pedicures, I did not have a baby sitter so I use to take my baby to the salon with me to work everyday. The checmals were very toxic for my baby to inhale, he was getting sick so Kadijah says don’t take the baby there anymore it not safe for his health, I will pay for everything and take care of you and your children just stay home please. So I quit my job and stood home with my children and she provides me with everything. She took my baby to the hospital for treatment of bronchitis from the dangerous chemicals from the salon and she paid for his treatment, I almost lost my son. Today my son is 4 years old. Without Kadijah my son would not be here with me today. Kadijah is a blessing from Allah. I would like for everyone reading my story to assist Kadijah so that she can continue helping single homeless mothers like myself.
My name is Teresa I am 60 years old from Newark NJ. My religion is Islam and I am very religious. My husband left me and took another woman because I was not willing to share him with her. I was devastated. I became legally blind after my eye surgery and was facing a series of other major medical conditions and could not work to support my self anymore. At this point in my life I had no family to help me or support me. The Welfare Department was late on my rental payments and I was evicted from my apartment and found my self jumping from Shelter to Shelter. The rules of the Shelter were ridiculous. I had to get up early in the morning, get ready and exit the building everyday. It was tiring and my old age and medical conditions was not making it any easier for me. I was exhausted to do this every single day. I had a room mate and we were fighting like dogs and cats everyday, it was draining me. I was very unhappy. One day I was eating at this restaurant and this nice lady was serving me and I mentioned my situation to her. She told me about Sister Kadijah and gave me her address and phone number. She said call Sister Kadijah, she can help you. I ran over to Sister Kadijah’s home to see the place so I could leave the emergency Homeless Shelter and come stay with Sister Kadijah where I could have peace and healing. The next day I got terminated from the Shelter in the middle of the night at 2am and had nowhere to go. I call Sister Kadijah at 2am and she said come over to my house. I was so relieved. I left the Shelter that night and went to sister Kadijah’s home. When I arrived at her home I was cold, hungry, thirsty, and tired. I did not have anything in my name. I stayed there for many months free of charge. Sister Kadijah gave me my own private room and made me feel right at home. I was so comfortable there, I felt safe and secure. For once in my life I felt like I had family. Sister Kadijah provided me with a lot of clothes, money, hot meals, and everyday necessity. She gave me a lot of support and love. Without sister Kadijah I don’t know what would have happened to me in the cold dangerous streets. Sister Kadijah is a blessing from Allah. Please support Sister Kadijah’s Charity so she can help other people like me.
My name is Mohammed, I am a fire victim from the major fire that occurred on 83 E. 18th Street in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn, New York on Thursday morning, June 6, 2013 where the 11 year old Brooklyn girl, who was stuck on a faulty fire escape trying to flee a burning building, rescued her 3-year-old brother by tossing him into the arms of some Good Samaritans below for safety. I woke up that morning doing my prayers, I started to smell smoke and I heard someone shouting fire! fire! fire!. The fire broke out at the grocery store downstairs and quickly filled all the apartment units upstairs with smoke and heat. This is my true life story of how I received help from Kadijah Dawa. I made the desperate decision around 5:40 a.m. to grab my two little daughters out of bed and alerted my wife and we ran as fast as we can to escape my burning apartment. My main concern was to get my girls to safety because I know how damaging smoke can be to younger children. There was no time to think, just time to run. My youngest daughter is two years old and my older daughter is four years old. This fire blazed through the building damaging the entire building and ruining everything. We lost all of our possessions. We only had our pajamas on with no shoes on our feet. We only had time to run out of the building. I am a revert to Islam that’s why my family did not offer to help me. The American Red Cross put us up in a hotel for four days and after that we went to an Emergency Homeless Shelter thinking we could get some kind of assistance. The shelter kept us for one day and told us we had to leave because we did not qualify for benefits to stay there. I did not know what to do. We had lost everything we ever owned. I felt so hurt like there was no hope in the world, no one would help us. We had nowhere to go so I held my two daughters hand tightly with my wife walking besides my older daughter and we kept walking on the road in the dark night barefoot. I was scared; I kept telling my two daughters that Allah will not leave us. Allah will take care of us; Allah will protect us and keep us safe. At that moment I ran into a Brother and he told me that he knew someone named Kadijah who could assist me with everything. The Brother called Kadijah and Kadijah said for us to go over to her house she will have someone open the door for us because she was driving on her way to Boston for a business conference. At that moment, I said Allah has answered our prayers. When I arrived at Kadijah house, I saw that it was a Women’s Homeless Shelter; however, Kadijah said that my wife and I could stay on the second floor which is a separate apartment. I was so happy and relieved that my family and I had a roof over our heads; no words could describe how happy and content I was. Hearing that no one could help us everywhere we went to try to get help to this amazing women who Allah sent to help us. Kadijah quickly cancelled her conference meeting and turned around and came back home to welcome us and take care of us.
I converted 21 years ago to Al Islam Alhamdulilah. A sister gave me Kadija phone number. She told me there was a Muslim shelter in case anyone needed it. I kept it for a year never knowing that she would use it. Unknowing to her that her husband hadn’t paid the rent, if it hadn’t been for the neighbors, informing her that the sheriff was coming to pad lock it. She called her friends and called sister Kadija telling them that she needed to move quickly. Kadija said, she was on her way to New Jersey she made a U-turn and turned around. She went to Queens instead of New Jersey. Kadija took Muslimah, things and placed them in her garage in Queens. That is how she met Sister Kadijah Alhamdulilah. She made Muslimah that feel that someone cared in the Muslim community.
I am a new revert who found Islam during a very dark period in my life. I was at the lowest Point that I have ever been. I began to call out to Allah. I said to Allah “ I need your help,I need a new way of life.” I heard a voice instantly speak to me. It spoke to my heart and Said Islam is the way of life. At this point, I turned my life around and accepted Islamas my faith. This journey hasn’t been easy but, anything worth anything is not easy.I fell into homelessness moving house to house, couch to couch and floor to floor.Staying with different relatives and siblings. I grew up with my Christian family… I am the first to revert to Islam, the only Muslim in my family. It has been hard to interact with mynon-Muslim family whom does not respect me or my Islamic Faith. I continue topraying to Allah seeking refuge. That is when I met sister whom introduced me to sister Khadija. Sister Khadija welcomed me with open arms and an open heart.She gave me a room in her home, she feed me and gave new garments. She spoke words of encouragement to up lift me. She has helped me further my Islamic education.This has made my determination stronger in making my deen stronger. For the sake of Allah I love sister Khadija and I am so greatful. What sister Khadija is doing is a beautiful thing and she is doing all of this on her own. If she is given the proper financial assistancehow many more people could be helped. This project could be much bigger and better for the sake of Allah the only one true God. May he be merciful with all of us. Please, take part in this project donate be a part of this beautiful project that not only gives you clothes, gives you a home but, up lift your soul and spirituality. Amin.
I am an American revert to Islam 16 years ago. I found Islam through perfume. I kept passing a oil perfume store that had was beautifully decorated. I was moved to stop and go to the perfume store. I had never seen a Muslim up close in my life. I had only seen them on the tv news. I bought perfume of course but, the Muslim wife and husband spoke to me a little bit about Islam. They gave me a couple of Islamic books. I returned to the perfume store again for more perfume and questions. They answer the best they could. They asked if I would like to go to a welcoming party for a new Muslima. By Allah grace I took my shahada that day. My homelessness story began after I return to the USA. I was living in Morocco with both of my daughters to Morocco four years ago. I did so to preserve my both daughters deen. About one year ago I sent my oldest daughter to my father’s house. I stayed behind in Morocco with my youngest daughter. I came to the USA in emergency for my oldest daughter she needed me. My family tried to convert my daughter to Christianity and my grandson was going to be born. I left Morocco with my youngest daughter. We stayed at a Muslim shelter in New York but, there was no Muslim family shelter in New York. I had gotten a job but, I had only worked there a short time. I did not have enough money to rent an apartment. I was left no place to go with my family when my grandson was born. I ended up in Florida in another shelter where my life became impossible. I was unable to get help to find neither job nor transportation. A sister recommended I speak to sister Kadijah. Sister Kadijah took my whole little family in. I have a warm bed for my daughters and my grandson. By the grace of Allah that he alone has protected me and sent sister Kadijah into my life..
My mother was reverted when I was a toddler of 4 years old and I was raised as a Muslima. I was working and pregnant. I had become a liability because, of my pregnancy. I could not work so I decided to travel to New York where my mother and sister had landed coming from Morocco. I needed my family. We stayed at a Muslim woman shelter but, when my baby was born we could no longer stay there because it was not a family shelter. I am grateful to Allah that sister Kadijah. Allah bless her from my heart.
My story I was born a Muslima. The reason I am homeless because, I have always had to depend on myself running everything. I had to grow up fast and learn things fast. As a young woman I should be independent with goals. However life has a way of throwing one obstacle after another. However I have made progress and learned many things about myself. Without Allah’s help I would not have made it this far. Many young woman trying to find their way and don’t make it. I was afraid I knew I had no place to go. I desperately called Wafa House they got me in touch with sister Khadija. Sister Khadija gave me my own room, money for food to eat because, I had not eaten all day. I have also met several wonderful people along the way but, sister Khadija really helped me and took me in. I am happy now and I want to fill my life with happiness as well as love. Allah, has been good to me. Thanks to Allah.