Our
Ramadan Giving series highlights the amazing work charities are doing and showcases
their special Ramadan campaigns, giving us all the opportunity to support,
donate and do a little good insh’Allah
Ramadan
Giving Day 22: Nakba Day
Today
is Nakba
Day, or “The Catastrophe” in Arabic, the day that marks the 1948 expulsion
of Palestinians from their lands. Seventy-one years ago, hundreds of thousands
of Palestinians were forced to flee their villages and towns in historical
Palestine to neighbouring countries as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. According to
UN refugee agency UNRWA, more than 1.5 million Palestinians -- almost a third
of the already registered Palestine refugees -- are scattered in 58 recognized
refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem.
So
on Nakba day (15th May), I wanted to highlight the work of charities
that support Palestinians and encourage you to consider donating to them:
Since
1994, Interpal has provided
humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians in need. We are a specialist,
non-political charity working to support the most vulnerable and support
Palestinian communities. They exist to
empower Palestinians to face their challenges and hardships in our principal
areas of operation: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the refugee camps in Jordan
and Lebanon.
Friends of Al-Aqsa, first established in 1997,
is a UK based non-profit making NGO concerned with defending the human rights
of Palestinians and protecting the sacred al-Aqsa Sanctuary in Jerusalem. The aims of the organisation include highlighting
Human Rights abuses suffered by the Palestinians, bringing the Palestinian
issue to the attention of those concerned with International Law, human rights
and UN Resolutions and emphasising the significance and the centrality of the
al-Aqsa Mosque to the Islamic faith and the Muslim identity and re-affirming
the Muslim historic and religious rights to the area.
MedicalAid for Palestinians (MAP) works for the health and dignity of Palestinians
living under occupation and as refugees. It’s origins are in the massacres of
the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp when in 1982, Lebanese Phalangist militants killed
and injured hundreds of unarmed Palestinian in the camps. Working in a hospital
inside the camp at the time was a young orthopaedic surgeon from London, Dr
Swee Chai Ang. Refusing to leave the hospital, Dr Ang worked tirelessly to save
the injured and protect her patients during the massacre.On her return to
London, Dr Ang joined with fellow medical professionals and humanitarians to
establish Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), in order to send out doctors and
nurses to work in the Palestinian refugee camps and provide front-line care. Since
then, MAP has been reaching out to Palestinian communities, striving to deliver
health and medical care to those worst affected by conflict, occupation and
displacement.
image source: The key is a widely used symbol of the Nakba, as many Palestinians kept the keys to their homes when they were forced into exile in 1948.
O
you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you ~ Quran
2:254
Narrated
Ibn ‘Abbas: “The Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of
Allāh be upon him) was the most generous person, and he used to become more so
(generous) particularly in the month of Ramadan…more generous than the fast
wind in doing good” (Bukhari).
The
Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him)
said: “The believer’s shade on the Day of Resurrection will be his charity.” (Al-Tirmidhi)
"Who
is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He may multiply it for him many
times over? And it is Allah who withholds and grants abundance, and to Him you
will be returned." ~ Quran 2:245
Prophet
ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said:
"The best of people are those that bring most benefit to the rest of
mankind." (Daraqutni)
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