Asalamu alaykum (Peace be upon you) friends and family,

On behalf of PCRF, I'm working to make a dent in the approximatly $1.5 million dollars we need to build a lab system for the cardiology department in European Gaza Hospital - South Gaza serving both pediatric and adult cardiac patients in Gaza! For those who are ready to donate to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF.net) please feel free to clink the “donate now” link on the right side of this web-page. If however you are interested in learning more about  why this is so important to me please keep reading!

When I learned I could run the Chicago marathon on behalf of PCRF, I jumped on the opportunity! An opportunity to both train for an event AND raise money for a truly noble cause was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Throughout my fitness journey I’ve  thirsted for the opportunity to combine the endurance sports I have grown to love with work that can do genuine good for those in need.

In the Qur’an, God says:

“By the passage of time, All humanity is in loss! Except for those who believe and do good, promote truth and promote patience and perseverance.”

One of the main reasons I have been attracted to endurance sports, whether it be this upcoming Chicago marathon or another event, is the fact that the entire activity is one big exercise in patience and perseverance.  Many who have run races will agree that when you first start a race or an event, you must control your emotions so that the adrenaline does not carry you too far and you do not properly pace yourself (which could lead to bonking later in the race). With the crowd of all your peers racing and perhaps others watching, the beginning of an event is the easiest time to get carried away with going too strong by regardless of how much you have trained. But as you settle into the race and the outside factors that were driving you at first begin to fade in the distance, your body catches up with what you are doing and begins to react according to your level of preparedness, the task now comes down to you, your training, your mental toughness, and your patience and perseverance.  

Yes, you are in a race with others, but for me, it has always been a race between today-me versus yesterday-me and finish-line-me versus quit-me. It’s a battle against my own body, my own mental talk (which is helpful at times and not at others), and the road ahead but it is always me versus me. In every single event, activity, or race, if I succumb to anything that would prevent me from finishing then I am in loss (as the verse above says) but if I am truthful to myself in that I have trained and prepared as I should have and if I am patient and if I persevere through this………. then I finish and I succeed.  

The Prophet Muhammad (sAw) said:

“Prayer is a light, charity is proof of faith, and patience is illumination.  (Muslim)”

In the same way that the Prophet Muhammad (sAw) combined the activity of charity and patience above, I too combine them with the running of this marathon. I liken this event to the 30 day Ramadan daily fasts that Muslims do yearly conjoined with increased amounts of charity and culminating with the Zakat Al-Fitr at the end of the month!

And this brings me to my dedication:

When I think of the connection between charity and patience, it helps me understand why the Prophet Muhammad (sAw) linked treating illness with charity. He did this when he said: “Treat your sick ones with charity.”  The reality is that those who are fighting sickness can only do so with patience. Yes, medicine is needed and should be taken but an individual can only take the medicine and the results of that treatment for any one individual is simply in the hands of Allah.  Battling an illness is un-related to whether one has or has not succumbed to that illness, rather it is related to how the individual exhibits patience and perseverance thru it.

My wife Sarrah was diagnosed with Stage 3C Ovarian cancer in June of 2018 and has been showing a beautiful patience thru it all. She continues to persevere even when treatments are difficult to bear and  sometimes do nothing but make her feel worse. So I raise these charity funds for PCRF on her behalf and ask Allah to accept it as treatment for her illness!

Please consider donating to this PCRF cause and if you do, PLEASE use the link on this page and donate on Sarrah’s behalf, asking Allah to give her a complete recovery and to increase her reward and to continue to beautify patience!