Some people spend their Sundays polishing their cars and neglecting the Qur’an. Others their weekends shopping for the perfect outfit and forgetting those in need. When night time calls, many of us are deep in sleep forgetting to pray to Allah (SWT). So, as the holy month of Ramadan approaches, let’s ask ourselves:
How much time do we spend in search of the love of Allah (SWT)?
Ramadan is a time of self-discipline and self-sacrifice, a period to reflect and show compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves.
Right now, millions of people across the world need your help. Facing a daily fight for survival due to poverty, famine, disasters and conflict, they’re in dire need of support. However, you can help save and transform their lives – all for the love of Allah (SWT).
Saving lives for Allah (SWT)
Since 1984, Islamic Relief has saved and changed more than 117 million lives around the world. Working in more than 40 countries ready to assist the most vulnerable people, Islamic Relief offers all of us the opportunity to gain Allah’s pleasure and mercy.
Here are just a handful of the 117 million precious lives that you’ve helped save and transform for the love of Allah (SWT).
Escaping child marriage: Sakina
Sakina is from Afghanistan. Sadly, instead of having a happy, healthy childhood, she and her sister Shukria lost their father when they were very young. When their mother then remarried, the children went to live with their aunt.
Subject to physical violence, three -year-old Sakina and six-year-old Shukria were luckily able to move to live with their grandmother in the mountains. However, living in a cave in abject poverty and with an elderly grandmother as their only carer, Sakina ran the high risk of becoming a child bride.
Alhamdulillah, our work with thousands of orphans means that children like Sakina can go to school, receive hot meals and have a safe place to play. More importantly though, Sakina is now safe from the risk of child marriage and on the path to a brighter future.
Making education the future: Mohammed
Mohammed’s life is a real success story alhamdulillah! Born in the slums of Pakistan, he became an orphan after losing his father. From the age of eight, Mohammed was then cared for by Islamic Relief in our orphan sponsorship programme.
This was the turning point in his life. He was able go to school, receive regular meals and was given greater prospects to enable him to build a more successful future for himself. Years later, he now has a degree in mathematics and is a teacher masha’Allah!
Mohammed is now helping the next generation of children to build their own success. Without your help however, his future may have been a lot less bright.
Rebuilding broken lives: Ali
Ali from Afghanistan was once a strong and healthy body builder. However, left worrying about financial difficulties, he became addicted to heroin and his life quickly started to fall apart. Thin, ill and left with nothing, Ali no longer resembled his former bodybuilder self.
With Ali dependent on heroin, his wife – a trained midwife – later became addicted to opium after using it as an initial painkiller. Having lost her job, not only were the children no longer attending school but the family could no longer afford to pay the rent.
Thanks to your donations, after four years of addiction, Ali has since been able to receive treatment for his addiction and start to rebuild his life.
Thank you for making these great changes possible. This Ramadan help us to save and transform even more lives. We’re calling on you to fast, pray and save a life, all for the love of Allah.