Category: Charity

Overcoming Hopelessness – Nick Vujicic at TEDxNoviSad

I didn’t have the opportunity to attend Nick Vujicic’s event in Manila a week ago. Still I’m glad that a handful of friends were able to. And I’m very happy for them to have met Nick in person and be inspired. I have this BIG hope that I will be able to meet Nick somewhere soon.

This TEDxTalk session from Nick will awaken the hopeless part in you. Just like Nick, I have to admit that there was a time when I wanted to end my life. And I am so grateful to God that He has been faithful to me despite me losing hope when I was younger.

Do we see our real value? Do we look beyond the value of our money? Our investments? our jobs? Our businesses? Our relationships?

Nick tells us to never lose hope. To see the beauty in us. He asserts that the willpower is a driving force for making our big dreams come true. Nick says that if we don’t get a miracle in life, we can always be a miracle to someone else. Continue reading Overcoming Hopelessness – Nick Vujicic at TEDxNoviSad

Is Lending Money for Profit Compliant with Sharia Finance?

One of biggest population of OFW’s are in the Middle East and other Islamic countries. That’s why our heroes should at least be familiar with Islam not only as a religion but as a way of life that embraces various social, economic, and political subjects.

Muslims live in accordance with the Islamic Law called sharia which is taken from Quran. Every detail and matters addressed by sharia is linked with different issues which means anything about money is related to religion, morals, politics, and culture.

Islamic finance, therefore, runs in accordance with sharia. Islamic finance is not new. It’s as old as Islam itself. It is similar to conventional financial systems as they also have banks, stock market, mutual funds, investment firms, and insurance companies but they are governed both by Islamic laws and by the existing conventional finance industry regulations.

The main concept of Islamic finance is the fact that Allah is the owner of all wealth in the world and the human beings are just entrusted with such. Continue reading Is Lending Money for Profit Compliant with Sharia Finance?

Buying A Life Insurance Is A Sin?

For most of us elsewhere in the world, getting a life insurance, or a medical insurance at least is a necessity. A must.

I am bringing up the topic about life insurance because a Filipino in Saudi Arabia died in an accident while at work a couple of days go. And then I wondered whether he is covered by any type of life insurance provided by the company or the Saudi government.

It turned out that his family will be receiving a social insurance benefit worth around SAR300,000 or roughly Php3,300,000 from GOSI (General Organization for Social Insurance) without him even contributing a single halala (peso) when he was still alive. The Company pays for the contribution of all its expatriate employees. So basically, expatriates in Saudi Arabia are generally protected as long as their companies are complying with their government’s Shar’a requirements related to GOSI.

In addition to that, I have learned that the employee’s company medical insurance has a “silent” life insurance coverage and that his family will be receiving an estimated amount of SAR250,000 or roughly Php2,750,000. Continue reading Buying A Life Insurance Is A Sin?