Friday 15 May 2020

Ramadan 2020/1441: Ramadan Giving Day 22 – Nakba Day

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 sourceThe 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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