Islam & Europe - Peace, Identity & Integration — Page 35
A BEACON OF LIGHT – SPREADING COMPASSION TO ALL 35 needy and fulfil the rights of orphans and provide aid and assistance to the vulnerable and deprived members of society. With the Grace of Allah, to further such efforts, we have established an international charity, Humanity First and from a community level, we hold various charity events across the world throughout the year. For example, in Africa, when we build mosques, apart from introducing the teachings of Islam to others, we strive to help the local people, irrespective of their ethnic or religious backgrounds. We build hospitals, clinics and schools, where all people are welcome. In reality, the majority of the students and patients who attend our schools and hospitals are not members of our community. Also for the sake of serving humanity, and with the sole objective of helping those who are under-privileged, we have established a humanitarian relief project providing water in remote villages and towns of Africa. Our engineers dig boreholes and install water pumps, which provide clean and portable drinking water to the local people. You cannot imagine, until you see it with your own eyes, how the local people, who had no concept of clean water, are overcome with emotion and unbridled joy when they see it flowing from their taps for the very first time. The innocent children, who have been born into destitution and extreme poverty, cannot contain their excitement and wonder. For generations, the local people were forced to travel miles on a daily basis, with vessels or buckets rested on their heads, in order to acquire pond-water for their domestic use. Even that water, for which they had to struggle so much, was invariably contaminated and the cause of many diseases and illnesses. Given this, when those desperate