The Season of Giving and Good Will

As the festive season approaches, and the end of 2015 is near we are taking a look back at what we have done this year around the world by creating an Advent Calendar of Achievements.

You can take a look at our Advent of Achievements as we reveal them each day on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/muslimglobalrelief

All our achievements would not be possible without such a fantastic amount of support from all our staff, volunteers and donors!

We are very proud of what we have achieved this year and would love to make them even better and bigger, you can help... Give A Gift this Christmas to someone less fortunate. You could give the gift of love by Sponsoring an Orphan, give the gift of health by donating towards our FeedMe and Water4Life projects which helps communities out of the poverty cycle by allowing them to go back to work and school instead of having to spend hours collecting water, being ill from contaminated water or lack of nutrition. Give the gift of time by becoming a volunteer, there are so many ways you can help! 

You can donate online!

By texting 'MGRS01' for a general donation | 'WATW10' for a Water Well | 'WATH10' for a Water Hand Pump | 'FEED05' for FeedMe, adding the donation amount and send to 70070. e.g. Text "MGRS01 £10" to 70070 to donate £10 to our projects. (Denominations are £1, £2, £3, £5, and £10). 

Call us on 01282 604055.

Or by post. Please make cheques payable to MGR and send to: Muslim Global Relief, PO Box 2018, Nelson, BB9 7WB

Thank you, all our beneficiaries are so grateful! Read Hadiza Musa's story here: http://muslimglobalrelief.org/water4life-hadiza-musas-story/

World Toilet Day - Around the world in 45 toilets

World Toilet Day is this Thursday (19th November) - as part of our Water4life project we want to improve sanitation for poor, vulnerable communities around the world. 

Poor sanitation causes poor health and perpetuates poverty in developing countries. Poor health means people of limited means are forced to spend money they haven’t enough of, on treatment and medicine. This is money that could otherwise be spent on food; school books; tools and materials that can generate income. Poor health also affects productivity, so that people who could be working to earn their daily bread, are unable. 

2.4 billion people around the world don't have access to decent sanitation and more than a billion are forced to defecate in the open, risking disease and other dangers, according to the United Nations. 

Even where there are toilets around the world, some hardly warrant the name, as illustrated by Reuters in a photo essay from around the world. Click below to see the video.

You can donate towards our sanitation project via our website, click here. Or you can call us on 01282 604055. 

Find out more about our Water4life project and start your own campaign... click here.

Water4Life: Fatou Khan’s Story

In Gambia, MGR works with ROCA to build water pumps and community wells. Depending on the region, a single well can provide clean water for up to 2,000 people. Families use the water for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry and often even watering crops during dry season. Here’s how MGR’s Water4Life Project changed the life of Fatou Khan and her family in Gambia.

“My name is Fatou Khan and I am 39 years old. Where I live, it was difficult to find clean water, so we used what was available. But even to collect it, we had to walk a long distance every day. Then we had to purify it, because this water was not pure. When we drank it, it made people in my family sick, and the children frequently had diarrhoea.

Things changed when MGR and ROCA built a well in our village. The well has improved the health of my family and it has given a better quality of life to our community. The well is near our compound, so we don’t need to travel to get it every day. It is clean, so we don’t need to purify it before drinking. It is also enough to use for bathing, cooking and laundry. I thank Allah (swt), for allowing us to get clean water through MGR.”

Start your own Water4life Campaign to help another family like Fatou's.
Fatou Khan wants to work to improve her family’s quality of life. She’s willing and capable. She just needs a little help to start up, and the right opportunities. Here’s Fatou Khan’s appeal to MGR donors.
“My husband is a teacher, but his income isn’t enough to support our family of twelve. We sometimes receive food aid, or Qurbani meat during special occasions like Eid. But during the rest of the year, it is difficult to feed everyone. My husband’s second wife and I, stay at home to care for our seven children and my husband’s parents. But we would like to learn vocational skills, like tailoring and tie-dying. This will help us to earn money for our family too.”
Provide Fatou Khan with vocational training

Donate food to Fatou Khan’s family

World Food Day 2015

This World Food Day we focus on breaking the cycle of poverty in rural communities. At MGR our FeedMe project helps feed some of the world's poorest people, we work hard to uplift the poor as they struggle with poverty and hunger. With your help we can take swift action, and bring positive and lasting change to these communities.

MGR’s FeedMe project provides families with wheat grain, pulses, lentils, ghee, sugar and oil to name a few so they can have at least one nourishing meal every day.

Our project focuses on many different area's including;

• Immediate relief for emergency situations by providing relief packages (food and water). 
• Iftari/Sehri during Ramadan, helps hundreds of people a day with their daily requirements of food and water to enable them to fast.
• Qurbani provides fresh meat during the season of Eid Ul Adha.
• Aqiqah is performed on behalf of our donors in their time of happiness when they have a new addition to their families, and provides fresh meat to the poor and needy.
• Food Parcels provide essentials like milk, bread and flour as food prices have more than doubled pushing millions more into poverty, and families struggle to put a meal on the table.

How YOU can help: 
Please donate just £5.00 to give a hungry person a healthy and fulfilling meal, £60.00 to provide a family with one month’s essential food rations.

You can donate online by clicking here, call us on 01282 604055, or by post Muslim Global Relief, PO Box 2018, Nelson, BB9 7WB.

World Water Week - Water4life

This week (23rd -28th August) is World Water Week. At MGR we know water can save lives, that's why our water 4 life projects provide a reliable source of drinking water allowing communities to become more able to grow themselves out of poverty. 

We’re passionate about unlocking potential. After all, water doesn’t change anything; the people we help with your kind donation do.

For a small investment, you can fund long-lasting water projects that serve villages, mosques and schools.

THE FACTS

• 440 million school days lost every year to water-related sickness. 

• Nearly 1 in 5 deaths under the age of five that occur due to dirty water. 

• 840,000 people die each year due to water related diseases

• Every $ invested has a return of between $3 and $34!

MGR’s Water4life Project brings relief to communities around the world who suffer needlessly from a lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation. Providing access to clean, safe water helps capable and determined people realise the hope they have for their own futures.

How You Can Help:

• ONLY £1.50 for each 2L Bottle of Water to a poor household

• £170.00 for a hand pump in an area where water level is high

• £470.00 for a hand pump in an area where water level is low - desert type regions

• £630.00 for a community well

Water 4 Life - Community Well

We have recently installed a new community well in Mariam Kunda in Gambia. We would like to say a huge thank you to all our donors for making our projects possible. It will make a huge difference to the lives of people living in this community.

Please take a look at the images below:

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak from us all at MGR.

We hope you all enjoy the celebrations over the weekend.

Thank you for your support through the blessed month of Ramadan. With your generous support we have distributed hot Iftar meals, food packs, water, and Eid gifts.

Ramadan Food Packs in Gaza

Iftar Meals in Gaza

Ramadan Iftar in Lebanon

Ramadan Food packs in Ghana

Ramadan Food packs in The Gambia

Ramadan Iftar in India

Eid Food Gifts in India

The final week of Ramadan...

The final week of Ramadan is here – with children excited about Eid Ul Fitr, the celebration where people exchanged gifts. Yet for refugees or those living in poverty, it does not seem like a day for celebration. It is just another day, with the daily struggles and hardships. 

And they also ask you about what they should spend. Say: ‘(spend) whatever is surplus to your needs’. (Quran 2:219)

Will you choose to help?

Give gifts

MGR Eid Gifts project is specifically designed for poor and vulnerable children so that they too can have a happy and blessed Eid. No one should have to celebrate Eid without gifts, especially not children.

Zakat ul Fitr

Donate just £3 to provide a child with a gift. It must be paid before Eid prayer so that the poor can enjoy the pleasure of Eid.

Fidya

For those who are unable to fast throughout the month of Ramadan – for each missed fast please donate £6 to feed a poor person twice a day.

Please do not delay and send us your Zakat, Sadaqah, Lillah and Fitra donations today.

BRING HOPE TO LIFE TODAY…

Donate via our website or by calling 01282 604055

We give love during Ramadan... Please GIVE LOVE

Ramadan is a time of sharing love and putting aside our differences and uniting together. What if the only person you had to rely on was yourself as a vulnerable infant without care and affection?

Millions of children in third world countries have suffered catastrophic family breakdown, such that these children – true Orphans – fend for themselves without love of a family and a champion for their lives. These children, the Ones at the very end of humanity’s line, have disappeared from our world’s “helping” agenda.

MGR has 100s of orphan children around the world waiting for you to help them – WILL YOU SPONSOR AN ORPHAN THIS RAMADAN FOR A WHOLE YEAR?

We focus on MyOrphan's Home-Based Care - where children that have been orphaned are taken in by a caring and loving extended family, who are provided with the resources to look after the child's/children's needs and education. MGR strongly believes that children belong and thrive in a family-environment. All our projects seek to provide orphans with loving family-style care.

During the orphan sponsorship, MGR looks after a child’s educational needs throughout the term – we pay for his/her school fees, transportation to and from school, educational literature, a school uniform and also provide financial support to the family, where possible.

How YOU can help:

The cost of sponsoring an orphan child is either £30.00 per month or£360.00 annually

We give up water during Ramadan... Please GIVE WATER

During Ramadan we abstain from drinking (subject to medical constraints) to better focus our lives on prayer and meditation, but imagine not having safe water to drink all the time. 

Diseases from drinking unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Cholera can kill within a day. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhoea, dysentery and other illnesses. 

MGR’s Water4life Project brings relief to communities around the world who suffer needlessly from a lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation. The WHO reports that over 3.6% of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. 

Providing access to clean, safe water helps capable and determined people realise the hope they have for their own futures.

We’re passionate about unlocking potential. After all, water doesn’t change anything; the people we help with your kind donation do.

For a small investment, you can fund long-lasting water projects that serve villages, mosques and schools.

Wells and handpumps can provide a reliable source of drinking water allowing communities to become more able to grow themselves out of poverty. You can help restore hope.

We located, drilled and commissioned 6 water wells & 83 hand pumps throughout South Asia, Ghana and in Gambia. We purchased and distributed 5,000 - 2.5lt bottles of drinking water; and provided 250,000 litres of clean drinking water supplied by road tankers for the people in the Gaza Strip.

THE FACTS

• 440 million school days lost every year to water-related sickness. 

• Nearly 1 in 5 deaths under the age of five that occur due to dirty water. 

• 840,000 people die each year due to water related diseases

• Every $ invested has a return of between $3 and $34!

How You Can Help:

• ONLY £1.50 for each 2L Bottle of Water to a poor household

• £170.00 for a handpump in an area where water level is high

• £470.00 for a handpump in an area where water level is low - desert type regions

• £630.00 for a community well

Donate online: www.muslimglobalrelief.org

Or call us today to give: +44(0)1282 604055

Text WATH10 plus amount to 70070 (£1, £5 or £10)

e.g: To give £5 text WATH10 £5 to 70070

We give up food during Ramadan... Please GIVE FOOD

During the Holy Month we abstain from eating during daylight hours. Not having what we normally take for granted enables us to realise how blessed we are in our own lives and think of the less fortunate.

What if you had to fast 24 hours a day due to a lack of nourishing food?

Giving up our fast each evening is a welcome part and important part of each day, but here’s a fact that you won’t see in the news. Approximately 26,000 to 30,000 children under the age of 5 living in extreme poverty die each day.

Why should we accept this as an inevitability in our lives? 

Feeding the hungry and helping the poor is an integral part of MGR and along with our donors we work hard to uplift the poor as they struggle with poverty and hunger.
We hear their desperate cries and take swift action, bringing positive and lasting change to these communities.

MGR’s FeedMe project helps the poorest people to have at least one nourishing meal every day. We also provide families with wheat grain, pulses, lentils, ghee, sugar and oil to name a few. Throughout last year nearly 70,000 people were fed.

How you can help?

Iftari/Sehri project: Help hundreds of people everyday with their daily requirements of food and water to enable them to fast. Donate just £6.00 to give a hungry person a healthy and fulfilling meal.

Goats: Providing healthy, living goats to poor families in order to provide milk to drink and produce their own cheese - surplus milk and cheese can be sold for some income or exchanged for other edible items. Donate just £120.00 for one healthy goat to a poor family.

Chickens: Each chicken can lay around 5 eggs a day which not only provides families with protein in their diet, but allows the surplus to be sold to buy/exchange for other commodities. Donate £10.00 to provide 3 healthy chickens.

FOOD PARCEL Project: Food prices in developing countries have more than doubled, pushing millions more into poverty. More and more people now rely on food parcels for just the essentials like milk, bread and flour. £60.00 to provide a family with one month’s essential food rations.

Donate online or call 01282 604055

Pay your Zakat

What Is Zakat?

‘Take from their wealth so that you might purify and sanctify them.’
(The Holy Qur’an, chapter 9, verse 103)

The word Zakat means ‘purity’ or ‘to purify’ and it represents Charity; all Muslims who are wealthy enough, must perform this Charity in order to purify their wealth in the eyes of Allah (SWT). In other words, Allah blesses us with wealth; it is therefore our duty to give some of this back to those most needy, which purifies the rest of our wealth.

As one of the five pillars of Islam, it is an obligation upon all believing Muslims.

Who Needs to Pay Zakat?

To pay the Zakat, one must be a Muslim sane adult, in possession of the Nisab (the minimum amount of wealth that one must have before Zakat is payable) for one whole year.

Items from which wealth can be derived include: cattle, crops, gold, silver, and merchandise for business. Zakat must be paid on cash deposits held in bank accounts.

Any personal items from which one cannot derive wealth including cars, utensils, food, clothing, shelter, furniture and which are not to be used for trade, are not included in the calculation of Zakat.

One must not only have the minimum amount of Nisab but it must have been in one’s possession for one whole year. A lot of people choose Ramadan as the month in which they pay their Zakat; both to remember it, and also because the reward for good deeds done in this blessed month is multiplied.

Who Benefits From Zakat?

The Poor & the Needy – These people may have wealth, but not enough to make up the Nisab.

The Destitute – Such people have nothing other than the very basic necessities; they are worse off   than the poor and destitute.

Those employed to collect the Zakat – referring to those that collect as well as distribute the Zakat.

To reconcile Hearts – traditionally, this category was for new Muslims who after having become Muslim, faced extreme poverty due to their decision.

Those who are indebted, but unable to settle their debt

Those struggling in the path of Allah

Travellers who have run out of money and would therefore have no way of reaching their final destination without help.

Zakat cannot be used to build mosques, to bury the deceased, or to clear the debt of the deceased.

Zakat with Muslim Global Relief

Muslim Global Relief uses, and has always used Zakat to help some of the poorest, most needy, and the most destitute people throughout the world. Your Zakat donations bring joy to these people who know that their brothers and sisters all over the world have not forgotten them.

Your Zakat donations give hope to the poor; that one day with the help of Allah (SWT), they will be Zakat givers and not Zakat receivers.

Use our online Zakat Calculator click here

Or download our FREE app

Salaam to all of you as we welcome the blessed month of Ramadan.

Salaam to all of you as we welcome the blessed month of Ramadan.

2015 marks Muslim Global Relief’s 15th year of helping those less fortunate around the world. As you read this our people are working tirelessly around the world where your valuable donations are still working hard to help those in need.

At MGR, Ramadan presents us the challenge of acquiring your support for our many life-saving projects. This Ramadan we are asking you to help us to continue our projects around the globe. Our emphasis is on the following life changing projects:

• Emergency Relief • My Orphan • Feed Me • Water4life

This Ramadan we would like your help to provide food and water to 100,000 people, through our FeedMe and Water4life projects. We also need to find supporters for hundreds of needy orphans’ still awaiting sponsorship.

You can be a part of this effort! If you are planning on hosting an iftaar this Ramadan for your friends and family, we ask you to consider collecting donations for our It’s Your Call Project. This can be in whatever format you'd like. For example, you can ask for donations instead of having a takeaway which people often do, or have a donation box setup where invitees can make their valuable donations for your chosen project.

As you plan your personal Ramadan iftaars, give your guests the opportunity to donate to your It’s Your Call Project. All you need to do is:

1. Provide some information to your friends and family about our organization and what we do;
2. Have a donation box or envelope at the Iftaar where guests can leave a donation in any amount; and
3. Ask your friends to do the same for their Iftaars!

MGR is a charity you can trust who has the experience in the field to make your valuable donations count.

Thank you for your generous support and Ramadan Mubarak.

Ramadan is coming...

Ramadan is coming:

As the blessed month of Ramadan approaches this year, there are several things you can do to prepare yourself spiritually and physically for the month-long period of fasting.

It is recommended for Muslims to eat a pre-dawn meal each day before the fast begins. The pre-dawn meal provides energy and other benefits to the fasting Muslim during the day so it makes good sense to plan on getting up early to have sahoor.

If you are accustomed to drinking tea or coffee in the morning or during the day, be aware that caffeine withdrawal can cause severe headaches while you are fasting. Take some time before Ramadan to wean yourself from caffeine (perhaps gradually) and decide whether it will be necessary to have any caffeine during the non-fasting hours in Ramadan.

Ramadan is a time for generosity and giving. It is a time when we think about those who have less than us as well as thank Allah for everything he has given us. Ramadan is an honourable and blessed month, and the rewards for generosity are multiplied in it.

Therefore we should get into the habit of giving in charity now so by the time Ramadan arrives we would increase in our generosity, giving to those less fortunate than ourselves. We should give whatever we can afford as Allah looks at our intentions.

Islamic Calligraphy

Islamic calligraphy, or Arabic calligraphy, is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, based upon the Arabic language and alphabet. The development of Islamic calligraphy is strongly tied to the Qur'an; chapters, and excerpts from the Qur'an is a common and almost universal text of which Islamic calligraphy is based upon. As Islamic calligraphy is highly venerated, most works follow examples set by well established calligraphers, with the exception of secular or contemporary works. 

In antiquity, a pupil would copy a master's work repeatedly until their handwriting is similar. The most common style is divided into angular and cursive, each further divided into several sub-styles.


The traditional instrument of the Arabic calligrapher is the qualm, a pen made of dried reed or bamboo; the ink is often in colour, and chosen such that its intensity can vary greatly, so that the greater strokes of the compositions can be very dynamic in their effect.




The Islamic calligraphy is applied on a wide range of decorative mediums other than paper, such as tiles, vessels, carpets, and inscriptions. Before the advent of paper, papyrus and parchment were used for writing. The advent of paper revolutionised calligraphy. 

Join us on the 27th June at Lal Qila in Manchester for calligraphy workshop with Ismail Hussayn and 3 course meal.

More info here on our facebook page

Or call us on 01282 604055

Join us for The Creative Ummah: Religion through Contemporary Islamic Art.

Join us for an evening of live calligraphy workshops with Ismail Hussayn, and a 3 course meal at MGR's dinner event on Saturday 27th June at 7pm at Lal Qila in Manchester. 

Calligraphy is the most highly regarded and most fundamental element of Islamic Art. It is significant that the Qur’an, the book of Allah (swt) containing the revelations to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), was transmitted in Arabic.

This charitable event is to increase awareness and raise donations for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the people displaced in Gaza - this Ramadan they do not have the same food luxury as we do. Please help us to reach a thousand fasting Syrians/Gazans with £3 per person per meal, through this event. 

Tickets are £20pp or £180 for a table of 10.

Call our booking hotline: 01282 604055. Or buy from our office or nominated outlets. 

Not to be missed!

Our Winter Cake Appeal raised £583 for Syria and Gaza.

Our Winter Cake Appeal raised a huge £583 for Syria and Gaza, thank you to all who supported our appeal, both shops will continue to sell cakes to raise funds for our ongoing projects.

So why not treat yourself to a slice of cake in the knowledge that you are helping needy and vulnerable people around the world through our projects.

Pop into either shops to treat yourself, or maybe you've got a special occasion approaching, order a full cake to share with your family and friends.

All profits from the sale of each cake will go to MGR’s on going projects. 

Call in now to order your cake - perfect for a special occasion! 

Where: 

Marhaba Ice Cream & Sweets, 83-85 Victoria Street, Blackburn, BB1 6DS - Tel: 01254 671 499

Choc Stop, 72 Manchester Road, Nelson, BB9 7EJ – Tel 01282-788206 

Latest News from Nepal

Muslim Global Relief (MGR) reached Nepal, and is working on ground helping the people. We have provided families with shelter, food packages, blankets and water. The hard work carried out by the MGR volunteers is highly appreciated, and everyone is extremely grateful for their support.

The areas selected for the distribution were:-

Kathmandu - 

• Machine Poker
• Sambho Nath
• Rathna Park

Lalit Pure

• Ingdhol
• Maldi Kheil

Gorkha

• Sindhupal Chawck
• Gawshala

Rice, Lentils, salt, Cooking oil, Spices, Roasted peas, Roasted rice, Dates, Dry Milk, Harlecs for babies, Glucose biscuits, digestive biscuits, and water.

We have set up tents for those who lost their homes. Blankets, towels, nappies, toothbrush and toothpaste were also distributed to the survivors.

Your help is needed to continue this relief operation - please donate generously. 

Please make your donations really count and help us to help the Nepalese people.  

 How YOU can help:

£60.00 can provide food for 1 family for one month

£400.00 can provide a family with shelter

£1.50 can provide 2ltr water bottle

Our funds are limited and we urgently need more support to continue our vital work:

Please donate today .

Visit www.muslimglobalrelief.org, Call MGR on 01282-604055 to make a donation over the telephone

or text your donation - MGRN10 (£1 to £10) to 70070

How ELSE YOU can help:

For just £3.00 per month you can help us to supply and distribute vital emergency relief aid in a more planned and sustained way.