The Week That Was

It’s been a funny old week, eh?

And by funny I mean incredibly sinister.

For anyone living in the UK, the News of the World scandal is dominating the news. I can’t really blog eloquently on the situation (I’m sure there are other bloggers out there writing this up in a much more coherent way than I ever could) but basically it’s corruption, lies and cover ups in the NOTW, the police and politicians. The whole situation stinks to high heaven and the NOTW has been shut down as damage control but surely heads need to roll? Namely, Rebekah Brooks? Why is she still in her job? Is it to do with the fact that she goes horse riding with David Cameron at the weekend? That she has Rupert Murdoch protecting her? And we wonder why we’re so cynical. People at the top have a knack of walking away from disaster with their hands clean while an entire staff get handed their P45. It’s beyond disgusting. Ugh.

I can barely keep up with news rolling. I’d be the worst news blogger. Now, there’s an East African crisis. Bad weather and drought means that vast numbers of people are starving.

Are people in a giving mood?

With the Pakistan flood appeal it felt like people weren’t as giving because they didn’t understand the nature of the disaster and there wasn’t any attention grabbing news footage to tug at the heartstrings. Thankfully, the Pakistani community stepped up to raise money which I saw in my own community. I have many Pakistani friends and I know how kind and generous they are.

I’ll leave you with a hadith.

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “A man (from amongst the people before you) said: ‘Indeed! I will give in charity.’ So he took his Sadaqah (charity) out and (unknowingly) placed it in the hand of a thief. In the morning people talked (about this incident) and said: ‘Sadaqah was given to a thief last night.’ The man said: ‘O Allah! Praise be to You. I have given Sadaqah to a thief. Indeed, I will give in charity!’ So he took his Sadaqah out and he placed it (unknowingly) in a prostitute's hand. In the morning people talked (about this incident) and said: ‘Sadaqah was given to a prostitute last night.’ On hearing this, the man said: ‘Praise be to You, O Allah! I gave Sadaqah to a prostitute. Indeed, I will give in charity!’ So he took his Sadaqah out and placed it in a rich man's hand. In the morning people talked (about this incident) and said: ‘Sadaqah was given to a rich man last night.’ The man said: ‘O Allah! Praise be to You (for helping me) give charity to a thief, a prostitute and a rich man.’ Then he had a dream in which he was told that his Sadaqah to the thief might result in his refraining from his theft, his Sadaqah to the prostitute might help her abstain from her immorality, and his Sadaqah to the rich man might help him pay heed and spend from what Allah had bestowed upon him.” [Sahih Bukhari]