Message #15008

[Heba E. Husseyn]

The situation of single sisters are still harder and they are completely left to themselves without a shred of help.  The reason is the same.  There is simply no concept of non-profit work (in the true sense of the term) among the volunteers of our Muslim communities.  Single sisters are looked upon as bigger burdens than single brothers.  Married sisters also try to keep a distance from single sisters, looking upon them as potential threats, fearing that their husbands might start eyeing them.  That's how weird our Muslim societies are, no matter where.  Greed for money and lack of trust among each other have wrecked them.

This is another very factual point.  Married sisters can socialize a lot more through the presence of their husbands compared to widowed or single sisters with elderly parents or single sisters who are absolutely alone.  These are looked upon as resourceless and vulnerable.  It's really cruel.  It also exposes how little most Muslim women trust their husbands.  And with all those unsightly Abu Huraira hadiths, probably many of those buggers, their husbands, don't deserve to be trusted either.  Both sides are a bunch of irritating lunatics.   

I have sometimes seen young Muslim volunteers setting up free food stalls and distributing free food in non-Muslim neighborhood to the homeless, which is fine.  But what about putting up similar food stalls for lower income Muslims in Ramadan or Eid?  Of course I see and hear of plenty of fun fairs at our community centers with delicious goodies sold in different stalls.  But take a look at their prices!   

Exactly.  Not once have I seen Iftar being distributed at the homes of the poor Muslims on fixed income.  Iftar is free only during lecture sessions in Ramadan at the community centers which is mostly crowded with the community donors who are generally allowed to bring with them one or two guests.  None of the dinners in the event of Eid are free.  In fact they usually have quite a heavy price tag .. like $30 or $40 per person and half for kids under 12.