Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found in 2020 that among seniors who live in their own homes, 25% suffer from persistent loneliness.
Working to help senior citizens age gracefully, a community village at the Islamic Society of Baltimore is providing a warm and friendly area for elders, giving them a chance to age in place while enjoying a good company, delicious food, and mind games.
“If you’re retired, and your children are grown, you can end up just sitting at home all day doing nothing, maybe even getting depressed,” says Tariq Randhawa, 66, a retired corrections officer who lives in Catonsville and comes by almost daily, The Baltimore Sun reported.
“It’s better to be active, get out of the house and meet friends. It’s about the company. This is really good for all of us.”
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Launched almost a decade ago, activity hub Golden Age Village now has more than 200 men and women as its members.
Diversity
The village is one of 17 similar grassroots organizations in Maryland and 280 in the United States, and it’s a particularly diverse one.
With users hailing from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tunisia and 24 other nations, the center probably serves a greater percentage of immigrants than any other.
Though located inside a mosque, the center welcomes people of all faiths according to Wajiha Farooqi of Catonsville, a volunteer who works at the center several days per week.
“Believers are just like one body,” she says, citing a passage from the Hadith, a collection of narratives about the Prophet Muhammad.
“When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body suffers. So we all take care of each other.”
The concept of providing help for seniors is not new to the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a community that serves about 3,000 people.
Members began improvising senior services in the early 2000s when a group of younger adults, realizing that the mosque’s founders were reaching retirement age, began offering home visits, transportation and other resources.
Muslims are instructed to help their parents, especially as they grow older. In many instances, parents’ rights are mentioned immediately after belief in Allah, or tawheed.
And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: ‘My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was small.’ (17:24)
Thy Lord has decreed, that you worship none save Him, and (that you show) kindness to parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age with thee, say not ‘Fie’ unto them nor repulse them, but speak unto them a gracious word. (17: 23)
The post Baltimore Mosque “Village” Helps Seniors Age Gracefully at Home appeared first on About Islam.
source https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/n-america/baltimore-mosque-village-helps-seniors-age-gracefully-at-home/
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