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Dated: 20 December 2007

Written by: Haniyyah Anwar aged 12

Yep you’ve guessed. This article is all about money.

Money, Money, Money. I’m guessing that most people reading this article want to be rich when they are older. Am I right? I bet you would like be the next Sir Alan Sugar-with your own private jet and colossal mansion. Shopping at Harrods instead of the 99p Store! Life would be so relaxed with no worries and no debts. Well if you believe all that you are fool! You can’t buy happiness and love. That’s the reason why you see so many celebrities committing suicide, taking drugs and having marriage which only last a few months. These famous people start to become so obsessed with themselves and their money that they forget about everything else. I guess that having less of the luxuries shows you the good things in life.

You and Your Money

As soon as I have money in my hand I can’t wait to spend it – I’m guessing all youths go through this phase and our parents are praying that we grow out of it as soon as possible! But if we do want to buy something we should see if it is worth while or are we just buying it for the sake of it. I personally think that buying designer labels are silly. Why spend £200 on a Gucci coat that will last you 3 months if you can buy a coat for £20 that will last you a year! If you can come up with a valid reason other than ‘cos my mates wear them so I have to follow the trend’ then I will give you a medal! You should take care of your money and buy something useful. Moving on lets read about how you can help others with your money…..

Zakah

Zakah, is the third pillar of Islam. You may think Zakah its ‘only money’ your parents have to give to charity, about £20 a year’ but it isn’t anything like that at all. Yes, it is fard (you have to) on your parents to give at least 2.5% of your savings to charity but it is also an act of worship. Zakah itself means PURITY. Now I bet you didn’t know that? We know what Zakah means but what’s in it for us, what are the benefits? The benefits of Zakah are:

You gain the pleasure of Allah swt

Increase in wealth

You get protected from losses

A shelter on the day of Judgement

The Zakah will be a shield from the hell fire

It keeps you away from sin and helps you be more generous and not selfish.

Zakah is only Fard on adults but we can do it too and earn lots of reward and help the needy.

So, how can we help? Well that’s the fun and easy part. Here are some great, fun and simple ideas which can help you raise money for a local mosque, charity, school or cause.

You could get sponsored with a friend to do practically anything e.g. Fun Runs, Handcuff yourselves together for the day, Do a mini Nasheed concert for your friends and family. The list is endless.

At family gatherings you could give a talk and ask for donations or just simply send round a donation box at a family dinner.

You could put a donation box in your kitchen(or somewhere no one can miss it) and put in your spare change and get your family to do the same.

Zakah doesn’t have to be with money you could think up a talk or speech you could make about something Islamic. If you cant think of one just read out an article from this magazine.

You could be like us and set up a magazine where all profits go to charity.

See its easy peasy, lemon squeezey! So give it a try. Here is a tip- Start small and work your way up.