For those observing the month of Muharram through prayer and remembrance, the legacy of Hussain’s selfless sacrifice continues to inspire truth in the face of injustice today. We are grateful to those who are standing up against oppression in order to protect our communities and future generations.

Peace and blessings to all our donors. May God accept your deeds in this month and beyond. Amen

We are also reaching out as it’s Saman’s birthday today and even as the severity of her illness continues she is so grateful she was able to complete another year around the Sun. She is sad though that she couldn’t be with her mother and loved ones on her special day. Please do say a prayer for her well being and that she can be reunited with family soon inshallah. 

Message from Saman:

“It’s with a conflicted heart, wavering between hope and fear, I have to reach out to you about my worsening condition given my recent labs/imaging and ask those of you who can, please continue to support my cause so I can reach my goal as in clinic treatments and continuity of care with providers is not possible without having the funds to pay upfront. I am forced to cut corners and not do aggressive treatment in a timely way due to lack of finances as 90 percent of effective care is out of pocket. Just relying on oral medications and drs who take insurance is not making a difference. 

I know there are many worthwhile causes, but you would be making a huge impact to my life by continuing to support me, as there is a lack of organizational support especially for single women facing catastrophic illness and disability in the muslim communities in North America.

I’m praying for a miraculous recovery however need to take difficult measures and can’t do this without a helping hand.

Every day I battle scary and painful symptoms, but lately the financial worry has been the heaviest on me, and how to afford medical treatment including aftercare of any surgery that I will need to save my life or worse prevent me from losing more functionality and all that makes me, me.

It’s the most humbling thing to advocate for myself again. If every past donor contributed even a little every month, I could reach my goal.  

To this end:
1) please contribute in whatever way you can
2)more importantly continue to share this campaign ( organized by my dear friend Dr Sana) in your circle,
https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/lifesaving_brain_surgery_for_saman?src=312575#!/

God bless you for taking the time to read this. If anyone would like to help in kind with navigating my medical/day to day challenges or simply give me moral support please reach out directly. 

With gratitude,
Saman”

Assalam Alaykum,

Saman is so touched by your words of support and your generosity. We are so grateful as we are halfway to our goal.

Every dollar you have donated has helped Saman survive and take the next step on the road to rehabilitation. This involves testing, treatment and continuity of care since recovery with this illness is not a linear process. The sooner we can meet our target, the easier it will be for Saman to execute her treatment plan without gaps. 

The blessed days of Dhul Hijjah have begun today and it would make all the difference, if you can please continue to support her campaign ( it is also zakat eligible), by: 

1. Donating whenever you can. No amount is too small, and every contribution will go directly to medical expenses.

2. Sharing her launchgood campaign or sending us any leads on institutional support and practical suggestions for greater outreach.

You Support Saman through daily giving this Dhul Hijjah here:

https://www.launchgood.com/TeamShifa4Saman 

May Allah reward your generosity and accept all of your efforts this Dhul Hijjah.

Ameen 

Alhamdulillah, we have entered the last of Ramadan. You have been more than generous, and your gifts throughout this fasting month, as well as through the past year, have been a lifeline for Saman. 

Saman has a difficult road ahead, and this month was particularly painful for her. She’s been remembering you collectively in her prayers and is comforted by your concern for her. Please continue to support Saman where and when you are able as we still are short of our target goal, each dollar truly makes a difference to Saman’s ablilty to continue care. Offline tax deductible donations are also welcome. We hope Saman is well enough to send you a video message soon inshallah, please keep her in your prayers also. 

Jazakallah khayr.  May God reward all your acts of kindness with greater goodness from Himself.

Wishing you and your family, Eid Mubarak!

کل عام و انتم بخیر

May Allah SWT create afiyah and ease in all our matters. May blessings, taqwa, istiqamah, and sabr bejewel us this Eid. Ameen.

Alhamdulillah, we have entered the last week of Ramadan. Saman is so grateful for your prayers, personal messages of hope and continued financial support.

May God reward all your acts of kindness, acts of worship, and pure intentions with greater goodness from Himself. Ameen

If you or anyone you know is still looking for further opportunity to give, whether zakat or sadaqah, please support or share our link [https://www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/lifesaving_brain_surgery_for_saman?src=203714 ]

Praying that these final days of Ramadan will be ones filled with blessing and mercy for you and your family, for Saman, for the ummah, and for this whole troubled world that we live in.

Surely without our collective action for the greater good in alignment with God's mercy and guidance there can be no justice, no peace, no joy, no understanding, no healing. We call and wait upon Him, the Lord of all the words, the fountainhead of all goodness.

Peace and blessings.

Salam,

In these last blessed nights of Ramadan, I’d be grateful if past donors can continue to support and share Saman’s campaign appeal. 

In her own words: 

“I wanted to request those who are waking up for tahajjud to please ask for forgiveness, a return to health and relief of hardship for me.

I’m heartbroken that I’m unable to be regular in worship and fast this Ramadan- because of the severity of my illness compromising even basic functions. I’m deteriorating each day- struggling to walk, sit, sleep, eat and drink- the inflammation/pain has been relentless for weeks.

I am unable to attend any gatherings myself because of my condition so reaching out to you. subhanallah I’m so inspired and humbled by the spirituality and capacity of generosity in my fellow Muslims. 

I have no family by my side so I turn to you in this hour, as I can’t express how heavy my heart is, this Ramadan. It’s been hard to shake off the exhaustion both physical and emotional. I’ve been wanting to send a video message to you and will still try but I am so unwell it’s hard to be upright and speak at times.

If anyone is blessed enough to be in the haram or madina please remember me if you read this inshallah

I hope Allah swt grants me the ability to see another Ramadan and worship as I should and give back. I remember each of you collectively when I raise my hands to my Lord- names I know and the many I do not know who have shown me kindness out of our connection to the Most Merciful. I pray that Allah swt returns your beautiful gift to me manifold in this life and the next, and puts blessing in it for me. And May we all capture the Night of Power. Ameen” 

Long covid being a cause of the damage to her vascular health that is only now coming to light after extensive workup, means it is a hard road ahead. However with your generous support Saman can access the novel care she urgently needs and stop the progression of her destructive inflammatory disease. 

As a young immigrant who is without family support, she is short of funds to for life saving treatment. By making a zakat eligible contribution (https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/lifesaving_brain_surgery_for_saman?src=203714) to cover out of pocket medical expenses, you can be a beacon of hope for Saman’s recovery and prevent lifelong disability. Every dollar makes a difference. 

Offline tax deductuble donations for donors requiring a receipt can be made by contacting Saman directly for details as she is partnering with the U.S registered charity, Lyme Treatment foundation. Her email is saman@aya.yale.edu


Thank you for including Saman’s welfare as one of the many causes you are supporting and taking the time to read our update. 

Jazakallah 

Salamualaikum, dear friends. Greetings of peace to all of you. 

This is a difficult time to ask for your help, with our hearts heavy for our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We are humbled by their courage and steadfast faith in the face of suffering. 

As Ramadan begins, It has now been a year since we started fundraising for Saman, and subhanallah the combined generosity and kindness of so many wonderful people raised $ 55 k which kept a roof over her head, covered basic living and allowed her to stay stable through access to medical care. In this year, unfortunately Saman has had one medical complication after another that required further imaging and labs, resulted in ER visits and need for acute treatment. Because of her complex medical history and inherent risks of brain surgery, neurosurgeons deferred brain surgery in 2023 and decided to monitor her by repeating imaging in July 2024. The medical management currently requires treating the underlying inflammatory conditions to reduce her pain, increase her mobility and to prevent progression which could lead to a stroke or brain bleed. 

Hence, this Ramadan, we are focusing on her current need and have to increase the original goal to include what’s critical for her recovery. At the moment, Saman cannot move forward on recommended out of pocket treatments and essential oral surgery because she does not have enough funds. 

Saman's health rarely allows her to post herself so we appreciate your understanding about the lags in keeping you informed of her progress and challenges. To respect her privacy we will be posting any medical documentation and upcoming treatment costs, so those who are interested can stay abreast of details by registering here https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/saman or contact the organizer directly.

Assalam Alaykum,

We wish to extend holiday greetings, while also remembering that it is an incredibly sad and painful time for our community, and hence all the more reason to check in on each other and be grateful for the blessings we still have. 

Prayers requested, as Saman has not been recovering well from medical setbacks this year- however she is hanging in there and against all odds trying to access the care she needs. 

(Saman is without family support in the U.S..She is especially alone this winter and is struggling to update well wishers as she would have liked to due to her increased limitations with communication, and largely housebound outside of medical visits. She has also struggled with PTSD in light of the daily pain and complications from physical injuries during a fall sustained while in the hospital. And her heart like many of you has been grieving due to the events in Palestine). 

We humbly request you to please continue to share and support  her fundraiser throughout the new year as its Saman's main means of support to maintain running costs and pay for ongoing medical care. 

Unfortunately her out of pocket medical costs are due to increase in 2024 as she needs extensive multi organ treatment and minimally invasive surgery to prevent progression and stay stable. There is also a dearth of organizational support especially for single women facing catastrophic illness and disability in minority  communities in North America. 

Saman’s prognosis can still be promising if continuity of care is maintained with her providers. 

Assalamalaikum and greetings of peace to all of you. 

I wanted to give an update as Saman has had complications from her preliminary visit at Stanford Neurosurgery in California. She has been to the ER 4 times and following up with outpatient specialists now that she is back east. Unfortunately today she was told she may need to go back into the ER to get abdominal CT scan and other workup as getting in with a surgeon asap as outpatient may take time. She is unable to eat solid foods and in considerable pain plus also on various topical and oral medications to deal with the symptoms that developed since June 23rd. 

At the moment there isn’t clarity on her health condition, and she will need further evaluations with specialists to determine next steps due to this immediate medical crisis from complications. Once this is resolved, we will update you regarding her preexisting brain condition and next steps. 

Please continue to keep Saman in your prayers and share our LaunchGood appeal as widely as you can, as well as send any messages of comfort particularly since it’s also Saman’s birthday today and she’s having to cope with medical visits and hospitals all on her own. 


Saman is touched by your generosity and concern in this difficult time. Message from her: “Please keep up the positive words, thoughts and special prayers- I've seen it work in mysterious ways when I’m at my lowest point and amazed by unexpected gifts of kindness and relief. Your support has been like an answer to my prayers and helped me have the courage to carry on.”

Jazakallah khayr and thank you once again for the kindness and friendship that you have shown her. It is truly more than she could have imagined. 

• ​Request Saman in prayers and continue to share her fundraiser. Unfortunately she’s had medical complications due to the diamox injection given to her during her brain scan on June 23rd. Since then she has been in and out of the ER 4 times with acute gastrointestinal distress, stroke symptoms and severe skin allergy with blistering of lips as well as deep burning pain in her gut, chest pain and trouble swallowing and breathing. 
  
  We wanted to update donors and friends  even as things are in a state of flux about her status. 
• 
  
  

As the month of Ramadan has come and gone, we wish to extend upcoming Dhu al-Hijja greetings to our Muslim friends and supporters, while also remembering that it has been a special time of year for those of other faiths, and wish a joyful summer season to everyone. 

Prayers requested, as Saman’s health has declined, however she remains hopeful. To respect Saman's privacy, we thus decided to streamline the process and you can stay abreast of details by registering here

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/saman  

Please leave any comments of hope, prayers, inspiration on caringbridge and continue to share her fundraiser as its Saman's main means of support to sustain running costs and pay for immediate/upcoming medical care. 

We are greatly moved and humbled by your kindness and generosity.  Please do contribute if you can during the holy days of Hajj as every dollar is a critical right now to Saman's survival and continue to share Saman's fundraising link with your contacts. 

Message from Saman, in her own words,
“To friends with hearts of gold:

It’s completely obvious that thanking someone for saving one’s life is near impossible; it’s because the magnitude of a “thank you” can and will never equal the magnitude of having one’s life saved. Everything comes up short, save being reminded of this verse:

‘Seest thou not how God sets forth a parable? - A goodly word like a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the heavens,- of its Lord. So God sets forth parables for men, in order that they may receive admonition.’

Because of so many of you ‘ahsan’ people, I persist with hope and possibility, because I am motivated by the incredible compassion and love shown to me when I’m battling through the darkest moments-when calamity upon calamity befell me and an act of generosity is giving me respite from the crushing burden I’ve been carrying.

May God bless you all, put immense blessing in your kindness and grant all our sincere prayers this year. Amen”

Alhamdullilah, with your help we raised half of our goal of 60 k and hope the momentum can continue to allow her continuity of care, and alleviate the financial stress of recovery. Hence meeting her fundraising goal is all the more critical right now. Every dollar is a lifeline for Saman. 

In these last few nights of Ramadan, I ask you to continue to help in whatever capacity you can. Jazakumullah Khayr and may Allah accept from you all regardless of how much you give! Ameen

We’ve also discovered that beyond social media, the most effective way to spread the word is with group emails/texts/WhatsApps, etc. If you can find a few minutes to do so yourself, fabulous! And if not, we cannot stress enough how overwhelmed with gratitude Saman is, and she’s made sincere dua for you collectively in Ramadan. 

If you’d also like to help and join Saman’s support team since it’s purely a tiny volunteer effort please contact me.

If you want to assist in other ways but can’t donate—Saman needs other kinds of help, too. You can message the organizer here.

Saman’s Caringbridge site, will be launched as things get underway, for those donors who are interested in more details about the testing, surgery and immunotherapy treatments, and info about other kinds of support that would help her immensely.

We remain grateful to all of you who have helped Saman to keep the hope alive and carry-on.

We’ll have another update as things develop  with news about her health and progress—as well as details about how your donations continue to help.