Considered one of the poorest countries in the world, 72 percent of the population of Afghanistan currently lives in poverty. A number of factors contribute to this: political instability, food insecurity, dependence on foreign aid, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Your advocacy, volunteerism, and donations are how we can help support and get aid to Afghan families who are in desperate need right now.
Participation of women in society and access to good education for girls is a continued area of concern. The country is also adversely affected by global warming, which has caused drought and led to loss of crops and livestock. Additionally, insecurity and violence has displaced millions of Afghan people, both inside and outside the country.
Imam Abu Bakr al-Warraq al-Balkhi (rahimullah) said: 'The month of Rajab is the month of planting (your seeds), Sha'ban is the month of irrigating / watering (them), and Ramadan is the month of harvesting the crop'."
We are now in the month of Shaban, the month just before Ramadan. According to the hadith above, this is the month we are 'watering our seeds.' This refers to planning for Ramadan from Rajab, and finishing up the preparations in Shaban. The Prophet (saw) tells us that actions are raised to Allah (swt) in Shaban, even though it is such an overlooked month. The reward we will get with Allah (swt) for donating in the month of Shaban is tremendous. For many of us, Ramadan has become the month of feasting, while our fellow Muslims have near nothing to even break their fast with, so the entire month is one of fasting and starvation. The time to donate is now so it can reach our brothers and sisters in need by Ramadan.
Michigan Islamic Academy Humanitarian Service Team
Michigan Islamic Academy is a small Islamic private school located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The humanitarian service MIA MIST team is a small group of five high school girls. We are passionate about this competition and strive to do well. Raising money for these struggling Afghan families is not something we are taking lightly. We are putting in a lot of effort to do this the right way, with Akhlaq. We keep in mind that Allah (swt) has blessed us with so much Alhamdulillah and these people are not as blessed as us. They are in dire need of our help. Although we are a smaller school so it may be more difficult to collect as much money as other schools, we are confident we can do it! Some ways we plan on raising money include:
- Bake sales
- Asking friends and family to donate
- Donation boxes around our school for students and teachers to donate cash
- Movie night
- Candy grams
- Casual day: pay to get out of uniform for a day and wear what you want (keeping in mind the school dresscode)
Some giving incentives we plan to implement later on include:
- Ramadan secret gift exchange
- Lock ins
- Brunch for lunch
We believe these ways will help us reach our goal, and perhaps even exceed it. It is important to note that the amount of money raised is not as important, so please donate whatever you can. In the end, we are recieving the ultimate reward, good deeds from Allah (swt). We thank everyone in advance who donates and will keep you in our duas.
