how can i receive zakat?
How can i receive zakat?
Bismi-llahi-R-Rahmani-R-Rahim
As salaamu alaykum R Rahman-ta’-Allah, wa Barakatu-hu,
My name is Jeremy Mondragon by birth, and my Muslim name is Umar Abdul Hakim.
I am writing this letter because my Imam just recently told me he wanted to help because he had learned about some debt I was in. I did not know Islamically it was wrong to be in debt. He asked me if I feared being in debt and explained to me why we should be in fear of debt.
The way I came into this debt is very unusual. I got scammed out of finances from two people claiming they were going to rent from me. They sent me $3,500 or so each and I was to send some of the money by Western Union to their shippers. So I did. 6 days later the checks were no good from my bank and I was left having to pay for the debt. I now owe $7,000 for just this one incident. So my Imam was inclined to not help because I have other debts. His Zakat he is obligated to give is in the sum of only $7,000 or so.
It is my regret to say that I have been going to school now for about 1 and 1/2 years and every semester I have taken out loans to go to school. My regret is not going to school though. One of the loans has interest, but only if I ever fall behind on any of the payments. The other has no interest. This is how the schools do their business, I do not know all the complete details, only that I do have debt in that area and my Imam says it is kind of Ha ram. The totals of this debt comes up to about $9,000 for 3 semesters. This is quite honestly the first time I have have added it up my school loans. This is just a rough figure of course. It might be a little less or a little more.
Now, during this time I also fell for another scam involving two things. A man said that an inheritance had been left in my name. He gave me all the documents showing me proof of my inheritance. All he needed was $750 to complete the transaction of showing proof that I was the inheritor for the property to be released in my name. The next scam was a woman I met over Muslima, in which I was trying to find a relationship with a Muslim woman. I met her, we talked for over 6 months and eventually I began to trust her. It came to the point where she and I wanted to meet and so I sent her over a $1,000 so she could get her ticket to fly here to meet me. He showed me visas, flight tickets, and even passport documents to prove she was coming. When I went to pick her up at the airport I realized when she did not arrive, perhaps I had been scammed. Now the $750 and the $1,000 is not what I owe. I only took out some of the money from a couple of loans to make pay for both of these scams. The amount I took out was $1,000 on one loan and $400 on the other.
The last debt that I have is from before I became Muslim. I am sorry to say, except that it saved my life, I became Muslim in prison. I have been Muslim for 5 years now. My debt was from before I went to prison. I was a very bad person and did many wrongs in life and one of them was accumulating a bad credit card debt. It is in the sum of a little over $3,500.
Please, can you help me with some, if not all of this debt so I may be free to focus on my Islam. I understand the importance of why we should not be in debt and I will be more careful in the future to not obtain any more debt.
A little about me. I am a full-time student in college, going into the Human Services. I learned I could be of great service to others when I was in prison and feel it is what I should do in life. I work at the local Mosque doing maintenance 2 days a week. I also have a job waiting tables at a local restaurant 3 days a week.Then, just recently, I acquired another job 1 to 2 days a week doing construction work. All this work and I am still struggling to just eat. I have been out of prison for 1 and 1/2 years and I have no family any more because they are in the drug business and I wish to stay away from this lifestyle. So, I did not have the full support of family coming out of prison. Yet I have managed to do remarkable things in my life to show that I am living a better life. I go to Jumu’ah every Friday and I even have a Zawiyah in my home. I am renting a home, rent to own which is a bit strenuous keeping up with when I have these loans to pay off. It is awful that I have to pay them off and they were for money that I did not even see. Mash Allah.
So, in all honesty my debt throughout my life comes to the figure of about$19,900. But my Imam said he would help me with the loan for $7,000 if I never got any loans ever again in my life. So, I would still be in debt of $12,900.
I would kindly appreciate help, or a reply, or advice, or references to other resources if there are any who would find it in there hearts to help me, or all of the above.
Thank you,
Jeremy Mondragon, Umar Abdul Hakim
July 15th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Since Febuary 2010, I have been executing a business but the cash was not forth coming. Main while, I have already collected some money from two of my friends on the ground that i will pay back soon. I collected $12,000usd from one and the other $18,000usd. It got to a point that money became a problem and I was short of cash. My cousin told me about one lender called Mr. Davidson that he paid no fee to him before getting the loan. I contacted him and told him the problems I was facing and ask for a loan of $280,000usd. He called me and said that i should pray against the spirit of lost that he will also pray for God`s favours for me before sending the $280,000usd to me but that I will have to agree to his terms and conditions. I committed the matter to God hands and decreed an end to every lost of business. Three days later my loan of $280,000usd was deposited to my account by Mr. Davidson Loan Firm, he sent me an email that favor will come my way, I went to return the $12,000usd I collected from my friend, he returned $2,000usd to me as a gift but I refuse it on the ground that I have delayed his money. I then remember that I miss it all because Mr. Davidson Whyte said that he has prayed for God`s favor for me. I went to return the $18,000usd given to me by my other friend he collected $15,000usd and gave me $3,000usd and said that I should use it to boost my business. I have not recovered from the shock when an elderly friend called me and told he wanted to sell some materials off. But since I needed them for my business, he said I should go get a van to carry them free of charge. Mr. Davidson is not only a loan lender but a man of God. You can contact him via. tell him Mrs Reyes from Indianapolis USA directed