New Muslim Care.
Educating, Mentoring & Empowering
New Muslim Care is an engaging program that creates a positive impact on the lives of those who accept Islam and begin a new life as Muslims. Our program nurtures new Muslims, helps prepare them to face the challenges ahead, empowers them through Islamic education, and facilitates healthy networking opportunities. It’s a holistic approach dealing with various aspects of the life of a new Muslim and this will be achieved by three fundamental elements of our program; Educating, Mentoring & Empowering.
EDUCATING
We start as Allah has started with His prophet(salAllahu alayhi wa sallam).
Recite in the name of your Lord who created – Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous – Who taught by the pen – Taught man that which he knew not.
[Surat Al-`Alaq, 96:1-5]
New Muslim Care is designed with the same principle (in mind) that Allah introduced our Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) with; education.
MENTORING
If a person was to carefully study the contributions of the ansaar, one would find that their biggest and greatest contribution was giving opening their arms to their brethren, aiding them to settle in the new land by sharing their wealth, family, and livelihoods, and ultimately giving the immigrants of Makkah a chance to practice Islam freely and openly. The Ansaar made Madinah a fertile ground for the New Muslims/migrants to live Islam; they embraced them into their families, became their brothers and sisters – bonds stronger than blood relations. It was their generosity and kindness that made the lives of the Muhajirun (immigrants) easily adaptable to Islam.
Our Mentoring program takes inspiration from that successful model, that model created by our Prophet. Our mentors are encouraged to make the journey of their fellow (New) Muslims one of ease and comfort. They create a safe-haven for those needing help and support and they vow to grow with them in this journey to Jannah.
EMPOWERING
Our program is designed upon what our Prophet did and he is the best example for us to follow. So to empower other Muslims we studied and implemented the following example:
Narrated Anas ibn Malik: A man of the Ansar came to the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and begged from him. He (the Prophet) asked: Have you nothing in your house? He replied: Yes, a piece of cloth, a part of which we wear and a part of which we spread (on the ground), and a wooden bowl from which we drink water. He said: Bring them to me. He then brought these articles to him and he (the Prophet) took them in his hands and asked: Who will buy these? A man said: I shall buy them for one dirham. He said twice or thrice: Who will offer more than one dirham? A man said: I shall buy them for two dirhams. He gave these to him and took the two dirhams and, giving them to the Ansari, he said: Buy food with one of them and hand it to your family, and buy an axe and bring it to me. He then brought it to him. The Apostle of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) fixed a handle on it with his own hands and said: Go, gather firewood and sell it, and do not let me see you for a fortnight. The man went away and gathered firewood and sold it. When he had earned ten dirhams, he came to him and bought a garment with some of them and food with the others. The Apostle of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) then said: This is better for you than that begging should come as a spot on your face on the Day of Judgment. Begging is right only for three people: one who is in grinding poverty, one who is seriously in debt, or one who is responsible for compensation and finds it difficult to pay. Sunnan Abu Dawud
New Muslim Care aspires to identify a solution for the current need and provide the appropriate tools and resources to empower and achieve sustainability in the future.
Overall Objectives of New Muslim Care
1. Basic understanding of:
• Five pillars of Islam
• Six pillars of Emaan
• Knowledge of Tahara (purification)
• Conditions of the shahada (declaration of faith)
• Halal and haram knowledge related to everyday life
• Tawheed and basic understanding of the principles related to Asma wa Sifaat (Names and Attributes of Allah)
• Concepts related to sunnah & bid’ah (innovation), the necessity of prophethood and its implications
• Basic knowledge of the seerah of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and the khulafa ar-rashideen
• Familiarization with basic Islamic terminologies, symbols of Islam, names of famous sahaba & scholars, classical sources of Islamic knowledge, etc.
2. Ability to read Qur’an with basic fluency
3. Memorization of a minimum of six short Surahs of the Qur’an du’as & adhkaar of the salah for khushu’
4. Building brotherhood/sisterhood between the mentee and the mentor
5. Healthy integration with the wider Muslim community through various community engagement initiatives
6. One-on-one counseling on religious and personal matters received from qualified individuals
7. Career and financial advice & support from successful Muslims of various professions
