Islam recognizes the importance of food security and, thus, deems it a great blessing that we should value, appreciate and pursue.
Allah says in the Qur’an, {Let them worship the Lord of this House, Who has fed them, [saving them] from hunger and made them safe from fear.} (Quraish 106: 3-4)
Solidarity among the community members is one of the strategies that Islam uses to combat hunger.
Read Also: ‘Over 820m People without Food’… Here’s How Islam Fights Hunger
A mosque in Oxford is working to make sure no child goes hungry over the winter holidays, thus embarks on providing free meals to school children, Oxford Mail reported.
The Central Oxford Mosque initiative will provide hundreds of free meals Monday to Friday this week and then during the school holidays in December.
“The mosque has paid for all the food from donations for this initiative,” Faisal Aziz, from the management committee, said.
“The initiative has been inspired by our prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings upon him and his family) who set an example of feeding those in need and instructed all Muslims that the best charity is to feed a hungry stomach.
“The food is for everyone irrespective of religion, faith and background. We have been liaising with local schools and offer a delivery service.”
Spreading Love
Aziz believes these initiatives are very important to spread compassion and love at a time of rising Islamophobia and hate messages.
“With the recent despicable events in France followed by the subsequent appalling, irrational, reaction from the French Government which I believe constitutes inciting religious hatred and extremism it has brought home to British Muslims such as myself that we are so lucky to be British and to live in a nation of tolerance, freedom, and cohesion,” he said.
“Being British means that we have freedom, freedom to worship, freedom not to worship, freedom not to blaspheme, freedom not to incite religious hatred and most of all freedom not to label a whole religion because of the actions of an individual.
“As proud Oxfordians, we hope and try to assist our beloved city whether it be asking our youth club members to assist with litter picking in Cowley or assisting through initiatives such as this.
“We at Central Oxford Mosque believe that we are at the heart of our community as we have the community embedded within our hearts as we have been taught by our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) therefore, our mosque and congregation have always strived to assist our whole community and God willing always will.”
Charity or Zakat in Islamic Shari’ah is a form of alms-giving. By Qur’anic ranking, it is next after prayer in importance.
As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious obligation for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth.
Check our section Muslims 4 Humanity.
The post Oxford Mosque Offers Free Meals to School Children appeared first on About Islam.
source https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/oxford-mosque-offers-free-meals-to-school-children/
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