Cover may be deceptive

by Dr. Aslam Abdullah

Three months ago, when he first came to Las Vegas, apparently no one knew him. This is what he claimed. But within a short span of time, he became known as one of the most pious persons of the town. He would pray five times a day in one of the five masajid of Las Vegas. People spoke of his habit of fasting for four days a week. His room mates would even report on his tahajjud (nightly) prayers. Certainly, he introduced himself as a man of God, without any interest in the worldly affairs. He claimed that he was a displaced Palestinian who was a victim of world politics. He told people about his displaced family. He told them of the persecution that his family has gone through. Later, he revealed that his Palestinian father had married with his Egyptian mother, even though some people doubt it now.

The man was unemployed and sought help. Our community came forth. Almost every masjid gave him whatever the people could afford. He took the money and told the people that he was moving to Anahiem to find a job there. Ten days later he came back. A Muslim teacher, struggling to survive, provided him temporary stay at his apartment. Another young engineer paid his cell phone bills.
Then, in the month of November, he informed the community that his brother was shot and wounded by the Israeli soldiers during their attack on Masjid Aqsa in Jerusalem. He sought help and people donated him their hard earned money. He did not have a bank account, so he asked a young Muslim whom he met in one of the masajid to deposit his checks and pay him the cash. The young Muslim even gave him his bank account so that people who wanted to help could directly deposit the money. Later, he found out that the account was misused by someone.

Three weeks before the Eid ul Adha, he hired an unemployed old man to distribute fliers on his behalf in all the masajid. The flier offered a very lucrative price for a lamb or goat sacrifice during Eid ul Adha. He offered a lamb for $160 and a goat for $150. Even though he had initially introduced himself as Abdullah, the flier was in the name of Abu Bakr. People called him and reserved animals for sacrifice. He asked for advance money. He would invite the people at any of the masajid to finalize the transaction. It is believed that he collected money for about 300 to 400 goats and lambs. Most people paid by cash. Those who paid by check were not refused. However, he asked one of his acquaintances to cash checks for him.

On the night of Eid ul Adha, he told his room mates that he was heading to the farm to line up animals for sacrifice. That was the last time he was seen in Las Vegas. Now no one knows which community will become his next victim. Among those who are his victims were poor people who were saving throughout the year for this occasion. They were from all ethnic backgrounds and they were from all different vocations.

What was done by Abu Bakr, or Abdullah, or Majid or Abelaziz (he used four aliases) is not new. Every religious community has been tricked by people who pretend to be holier than they are, and rip others off on the basis of their so called piety. Some do it at a smaller level some at a bigger one. 
People of all religious communities have been taken for a ride by crooks, cheaters and fraudulent people. They would continue to do so if we do not develop a fool proof system to take care of our religious needs.

Our religious institutions must develop a policy to scrutinize those who are soliciting funds or offering services to the community. No one should be allowed to distribute any flier of any type unless his or her credentials are verified. Masjids should adopt a strict policy of checking the background of anyone who is seeking help from the community. Above all one should base one's judgment of others on the basis of his or her dealings not on the basis of looks. It is possible that most charming and attractive cover may be the most deceptive.

The photo of the gentleman who allegedly ripped the community of its hard earned money is published with this article. Make sure that other masajid in America take note of him and prevent him from causing further damage.

Dr. Aslam Abdullah is the Director of Islamic Society of Nevada (ISON), he can be reached at dr.aslamabdullah@gmail.com

Comments

[muslim]

Inshallah, we all learned something from this experience and do not allow it to harden our hearts. This is horrible and deceptive yes, but we should by no means judge everyone who asks for help, but as you said use discretion as needed.

May Allah make it easy. At the end of the day, Allah sees all, this man will not escape that at any rate. We should only seek justice for the sake of Allah, not our hurt feelings.

[rizruby]

very sad indeed somebody behaved this way.
we should be careful in future but ofcourse be generous while helping others

[Askia Talib-din]

The Qur'an advocates moving on certainty...surely with doubt; however, I wonder ultimately what knowledge the Muslims are working with. One may say, Quran and sunnah, however this notion is relative. It's expressed, maybe not understood, that the best during the times of ignorance will be the best in Islam. So those of you that survived the times of ignorance, what qualities did you throw away and which ones did you carry into this deen? Ta Ha, Allah did not give you this deen to be trip'n i.e gullible, or a better word credulous....

[Mansur Malik,vleehenderson@hotmail.com]

I have tried in vain to post a comment.I cannot convey my thoughts in the very limited words allowed. so in just a few words let me say, the Qur'an say's I have created you different tribes and nations so that you may know one another.not look alike or emulate another people to the point where you lose your own culture and orgin, but to be different tribes and nations under the umbrella of the Blessed Ummah,the Ummah of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) to be alike in consciouness and purpose and to proclaim the Oneness of Allah in unism, to work in concert to bring about a better humanity and a better world. To give tens of thousands of dollars to to a wolf in lambs clothing, a perfect stranger while bypassing a known brother in the Deen who offers halal meats slaughtered in the manner of Zabiha while living right next door to the masjid is really off the mark! May Allah forgive us our ignorance, prejudices and self hatred Ameen.

[Askia Talib-din]

I just want to correct my quote of Qur'an..."surely without doubt."

[A Muslim]

This is very sad, Allah (swt) will punish this person, however I hope this does not discourage our community members from their continuous charitable work around town. In the future, we should all use caution before providing funds for sadqa and other works of charity or animal sacrifice. In addition, it is about time we expose criminals in our community, this is the only way we can protect our community.

[Yehia Marreez]

I think this important message has to be distributed to all North American mosques and make the highest authorities of the North American Islamic Association/Society (I don’t remember its exact name or abbreviation?) aware of this major fraud, and take their responsibility to distribute this message to all other mosques in USA and Canada before harming some other Muslim or even non-Muslim people.

[Stefani]

I live in a California town directly in route to Las Vegas. I truly feel for this community and any other community affected by this "man". What saddens me is that I have seen situations where a man like this crook, who no one knew from a can of paint, would be helped and taken care of simply because he is Arab and a brother or sister who is Black would be turned away because "we don't know them". Insha'Allah the help that this "man" received was with the purest intention (simply to help a Muslim in need - not a fellow countryman). If it was, then Allah (swt) will deliver justice as only He can do. If not, well then justice has been served on those who put country, ethnicity and race before deen.

[Ali]

This story reminds me of the child beggers you see in the streets countries like India and Pakistan. It's heart-wrentching to see them in thier pitiful situation but money given to them is likely going to people that are exploiting them. The state needs to provide zakat to them in a manner that improves their lives. If you feel really bad give them food, clothing, or something that is less likely to get misused.

[Jameela Pugh]

It is strange that here in AZ, our family has been raising, slaughtering, and providing sheep and goats for the community and for the Eid for over 20 years, and we have a lot of difficulty even asking for a small deposit, let alone full payment in advance. I find this story very interesting. Our prices are close to what this person asked. We are well known here, and do not have a reputation anything close to being questionable. Still, every year, Subhanallah, it's deja vu.

[Zakaria Bakier]

Special thank to our brother Dr. Aslam Abdullah for posting something like this for every one to know. And we all should allways be careful of who we try to deal with and not to judge onyone by his or her look..

[hasan]

Salam, thanks for sharing. It happenned anywhere and something should be done so that it won't repeat.

[Aisha Johnwell]

Stafallah