I usually always upload videos during Ramadan, make sure you subscribe if you want to hear more, inshaAllah.

May Allah accept from me and from you. ameen.

Surat Yunas:

Surat Al-Qiyyamah:

I often complain about living in Louisiana, after all there are only a few avenues to seek knowledge. But wallahi brothers and sisters one blessing Allah ‘az wa jal has given the Muslims here In Louisiana is the chance to become the Ansaar of Allah.

One week after coming back from Egypt, I’m welcomed by Hurricane Gustav. (Ahh, the genius behind the name “Egyptian Gumbo.”)

The shelves in the grocery stores are empty, people lining up to fill up their gas tanks, and the interstate starting to crowd with cars coming from New Orleans in hope to get out before the storm comes. Stores are even starting to put away the jewelry in a safe place in case of looting.

Every year I’ve been a student at LSU, we’ve always gotten days off the second week of school due to a hurricane — whether it struck or not.

I received calls yesterday asking me if I could help accommodate the sisters that will be coming to our masajid for due to mandatory evacuation in New Orleans. During Katrina, we had over 100 families stay in our small campus masjid.

A solider of Allah is coming, and we ask Allah ‘az wa jal to protect us from his wrath.

It’s truly a humbling experience to be able to help shelter people and tend to their needs. And I’d very much like to share it with the world. So if happens and the hurricane does come to Louisiana, I will try to document the efforts and the needs of the victims so that inshaAllah people will know exactly what is needed in order to help them. And perhaps i’ll try to get people’s personal stories. I can’t promise anything, because 1. We are unsure what the conditions will be like and 2. My priority will inshaAllah be helping people, not filming them — but if I have the opportunity and feel it will be beneficial, inshaAllah I will. — This is, if Allah protects us and averts any destruction from coming our way.

You don’t need a hurricane to help your fellow Muslims and non-Muslims. Ramadan is here, feed those who need food. Become an Ansaari.

May Allah protect us all, and bless us in Ramadan with His mercy and forgiveness. Ameen. Keep us in your dua, inshaAllah.

Bismillah,

It’s time to offer a different type of analysis of an already huge story.

As most of you have heard, Why Islam has been under a lot of heat lately because of their attempt to do dawah on New York subways. The goal is to place ads within the subways that provoke thought with those who see the ads thus, drawing them to their website where they can learn more about Islam. The controversy? The controversy arises with the sponsors of the ads and some bigoted republican, Peter King, who is calling on the Metropolitan Transit Authority to take down the ads claiming Sheikh Siraj Wahaj, a supporter of the ads, is “linked to terrorism.”

I thought it was time for me to do my research and analyze the subway controversy.

As I was doing my research the first place I went to look for information was WhyIslam.org. To my surprise they had nothing on their Web site mentioning anything about the controversy.

This in turn, provoked me to write this post offering my advise to both Why Islam and anyone else who may be put in the situation of crisis communication (may Allah protect us from this):

1. Information on Web site*

From a public relations perspective, not having information on the website is not a very good idea. So far, it seems Why Islam has really defended themselves well, mashaAllah. However, in crisis communication you should always provide outsiders with information.

I understand that millions of people must have gone– and are still going– to the Web site. And I also understand the over all goal is to educate the public about Islam. However, know that millions of reporters are also going to the Web site looking for any information about the controversy and looking for any statements from the organization. This is perhaps the first place a reporter looks. So my advice to Why Islam is to place a section on the Web site with a statement about the controversy, and any other information debunking myths surrounding the crisis situation.

If you don’t already have a communications director get a PR person to write the pieces that will go up on your Web site. This is extremely important for the credibility of your company. The way it looks as of now is that there is something shady that no one wants to talk about.

May Allah make it easy on all those involved.

2. Get people to write letters to the editor (opinion pieces), in defense of the ads.

Get public figures to back you up and support you. I saw that the mayor was not against the ads saying that if people wanted to spread Islam, they are protected by free speech. When writing press releases or opinion pieces one should mention these big public figures and their stance with your campaign. It will build your credibility, and get you more public support.

The most important aspect of this is to get people who are well informed and preferably people from your communication/PR department to write any press releases or other statements that will be sent to major media.

3. Always have a calm and collected spokesperson.

The general image of Muslims today is that they are violent and always angry. Having a spokesperson who is both eloquent in speech but not someone who gets angry easily is the way to go. CAIR does a great job of this with their spokesperson, Ibrahim Hooper. He knows when to be tough when he needs to, but he’s also not raging with anger.

The video with Br. Azeem Khan was a great example of this as well:

4. Be proactive, not reactive. Take advantage of the media blitz.

This is hard with crisis communication, only because you have to be reactive to the issue that has just ensued. However, be prepared and minimize the possibility of the situation getting any bigger.

Be prepared for anything they might throw at you. With the media spotlight on you, do more dawah activities and work. Make pseudo events and invite media to your events, give back to the community and during Ramadan give lots of food to the poor.  This should all of course be done purely for the sake of Allah, but there is no problem using this opportunity for spreading Islam by inviting the media. This can be done in various communities sponsored by Why Islam. And each locality can invite the media of that area to attend an iftaar or any other event sponsored by Why Islam.

5. Build good relations with reporters, and get contact information.

Not all reporters are out to make you look bad. Be nice and courteous with them and exchange contact information. Let them know that if anything new happens you’ll call them to report on it. That way anytime you have a major event in the future, you build a good relationship and can have a nice story about Islam run in the paper or on the news.

6. Pray istikhara before making any moves.

This is especially important for Muslims because we may think that we will say something that will make the situation better, but wallahu alem things get turned on us very quickly and easily. Seek Allah’s help in everything that you do and put your trust in Him alone.

For anyone in a crisis communication situation, be sure to follow these few guidelines of many.

We ask Allah ‘az wa jal to make it easy on the Muslims everywhere, and to give us success in this life and the hereafter, ameen.

Wallahu ta’ala alem.

—-

*If anyone is wondering why I wrote “Web site” rather than “website”then this is because this is the way it is written in Associated Press style.