About the Situation
Every 9 seconds a woman in the United States is abused. But few people are like Asma Hanif who have dedicated their entire lives to actually doing something to stop that. She founded one of the only shelters for battered Muslim women in the United States, Muslimat Al-Nisaa, and is relentless in urging leaders to stop sweeping this ugly issue under the rug and pretending like it doesn't happen.
And now, because of how much she gives to helping the women at this shelter - Asma has given up everything of her own in return. She has no income and no home. The shelter she started is where she lives too. It's a willing sacrifice she makes to help the people around her, and she of all people shouldn't have to. It wouldn't be a surprise if the women she's helped are your mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins or at least someone you know. And even if they aren't she wouldn't hesitate to take care of them if they turned to her for help.
Why can't we do the same for her? We all hope and pray that her reward will be from Allah, but she, of all people, deserves good from this life and from the people around her.
What We Need
By trade, Asma is a nurse. She takes care of strangers and ensures their well-being but isn't able to do the same for her very own mother. Now, she is in need of a place of her own where she can take care of her sick mother, who is suffering from a terrible disease. Someone with a bad disease and other health conditions needs proper medical attention and cannot live in a shelter that houses dozens of women and children.
If that is not enough to help the Muslim woman devoted to improving our community, then what is?
Without her asking, her friends decided to set up this fundraiser to get Sister Asma and her mother a place to stay. Buying her a house would be ideal. However, if we can raise at least a year's worth of rent for her, it would be a great start. We have located an adequate place in the DC area that rents for about $1,200 a month (a standard rate for housing in the area). That comes out to about $14,400 a year. She would be able to stay close to the shleter and have her privacy to help her mother out in the last stage of her life.
Every penny, every dollar that we are all capable of giving, helps build a shelter for Asma as she whithers a storm that we pray nobody should have to go through. Especially alone.
See how others have tried to shed light on the work Sister Asma has done:
