Very few people know that there are many orphans within our community in Australia. When it comes to orphans our mind straight away connects to overseas and we tend to neglect the Muslim orphans right here in Australia.
The National Zakat Foundation’s Brighter Futures program aims to empower orphans in Australia by providing financial assistance, regular Qur'an classes, extracurricular activities, mentoring and more.
Tell us a little about yourself and why you do what you do?
National Zakat Foundation (NZF) is a ground-breaking foundation for the Muslim community which aims to use Zakat funds and voluntary donations for the benefit of Australian Muslims.
Our work covers five core areas that form a transformative end-to-end Zakat service for Muslims in Australia through collection, distribution, awareness, education, and calculation. Our purpose is to build a confident, selfless, and self- sufficient Australian Muslim community, where no individual in need is left abandoned.
What is the cause you are raising funding for today?
Muslim Orphans living in Australia
Why does raising funds for this matter to you and the organisation you are supporting?
Orphans are amongst the most vulnerable in society. We need to ensure they can progress; are being adequately looked after and they enjoy life, like other children.
Looking after orphans in our community is highly emphasised. Our Prophet (PBUH) narrated that – “Myself and the caretaker of an orphan will be in Paradise like this,” and he held his two fingers together. (Al-Bukhārī 5659)
Children are our future and our leaders of tomorrow, we need to make sure they are supported, grounded, and feel confident in who they are as Muslims.
How will the funds you raise measurably impact lives? and how many lives?
Our Brighter Futures Program has positively impacted lives of Muslim orphans living in Australia by giving these children opportunities they wouldn’t have had normally due to the lack of finances and resources.
To participate in the program, orphans attend regular Qur'an classes run by our service partners, they also have the choice to attend activities such as sports, extracurricular activities/classes, mentoring and more. Currently we have 20 orphans in our program, on average it costs us just over $3000 a year to support one orphan, our aim is to expand this program and cater for at least 200 more Inshallah!
What’s distinct about the organisation’s work?
We are the only exclusive Australian Zakat organisation that specialises in helping Muslim’s in Australia alone and the only organisation that helps Muslim orphans in Australia.
Why should we support this cause as opposed to all the other important causes that the world is suffering from now?
Every cause is important; however, we believe when it comes to orphans this should hold a special place in people’s hearts as our Prophet (PBUH) was an orphan himself. Orphans are amongst the vulnerable and it’s our duty as a community to make sure they are taken care of in the highest regard. The reward of taking care of orphans is mentioned numerous times in Qur'an and Hadith, one that stands out is-
Abu Hurairah (RA) reports that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) stated “Whoever caresses the head of an orphan (in affection), solely for the sake of Allah, a good deed will be written to his account for every hair over which he passed his hand.
There’s no doubt that there are many orphans around the world that need help and support however Islamically it’s our duty first and foremost to help those living amongst us in our own communities.
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