Jamia Masjid Rehmatul lil Alameen located in sector F-8/4 launches initiative “2kg Rice Movement”
for restoration, rehabilitation of flood victims
By: Kishwer Ali Sarfraz Photos By: Ghulam Farid
The disastrous flood of July 2022 in Pakistan will ever remember in the history of country. This flood has beaten all the records of previous floods like 1992, 2001, 2010 and so on. Although the history of our country of is full of natural calamities especially the earthquake of October 2005 is still fresh in the minds of the people despite passing the period of more than one decade.
The relief, rescue and rehabilitation operation for the affectees of these natural calamities carried out by the pubic and private sector of the country, local and international NGOs, social and religious welfare organizations is still continue with full determination.
The initiatives taken by the government of Pakistan, national and international donors organizations have set a unique example of sympathy, brotherhood and humanity. They have not only provided them relief items like food items, pure drinking water, cloths, blankets, tents, medicines and construction items for building the damaged houses but also launched movements to reconstruct the fully or partially damaged educational institutions and holy mosques in flood-hit areas of the country. These are the unique examples set by these donors.
Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen located in sector F-8/4 of federal capital Islamabad’s Khateeb Dr Ubaid Ur Rahman Bashir has announced to launch a movement name “Two Kg rice movement” objects for the restoration and rehabilitation of flood affectees. The decision of launching this movement was taken after witnessing the video clips of flood-hit areas and their miserable condition. The prayer (Nimazis) of this mosque have announced to donate Two Kg rice per persons in the Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen to provide food to flood affectees. So far 70 thousand Kg rice was donated by the prayer of this mosque and other people of the area. With this donation, mosque is providing cooked food to various flood-hit villages at different 40 locations and approximately 10 thousand affectees are being supplies cooked food to these people.
When this announcement was made by the Dr. Ubaid-ur-Rehman, a prominent religious scholar, the Khateeb of said mosque, the residents of the twin cities (Rawalpindi and Islamabad) donated 30 tons of new and used cloths for flood affectees. They are still donating cloths and edibles items including rice, dry ration like ghee, cooking oil, sugar, flour, pulses and even toys for their children.
As the news of looting the trucks of relief items for flood-hit areas were highlighted by the print and electronic media, the management of Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen has decided to launch “Mosque to Mosque movement” which is unique idea in the history of the country because mosques have huge network in the country.
Through Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen some forty mosques located in various parts of the country including Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Khuzdar, Taunsa Sharif, Larkana and some mosques of Sind and Baluchistan provinces have been installed traditional Islamic “Dastarkhawan” where cooked food is being served to flood affectees with honor, respect and dignity. The affectees instead of standing in long ques waiting for food, they respectfully sit on these “Dastarkhawans” and food is served to them with respect which is the traditional way of Islamic hospitality.
It is the best example for other mosques of the country to adopt this method or way to maintain the relief activities for flood-hit people. The Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen has beared the responsibility mosques of forty villages of flood-hit areas and if the two percent mosques of the country would be active in this regard, the food issue of the flood-hit people would be resolved on permanent basis respectfully.
Distribution of flood items to flood affectees through mosques would not only overcome the incidents of looting the relief items trucks but it will also ensure the fair and just distribution of flood aid. So it is the need of hour to distribute this aid through clerics of the mosques to remove the fake flood victims from the scene.
The Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen is being presented role model for other mosques of the country. More than seventy mosques of the flood-hit areas have been drowned in flood water and Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen is providing food to them on daily basis. The data of the widows, orphans are being collected through the clerics of the mosques of flood-hit areas to provide them relief items and financial assistance. Some people have donated unstitched ladies cloths for flood affectees. It is also decided to distribute these unstitched ladies cloths to young girls whose marriage is being held in near future.
So the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Chief Ministers of provinces is humbly requested to provide data of mosques of the respective provinces. All the mosques can easily overcome the crises of floods. Only mosques can fulfill the three basic requirements of flood affectees which include food, medicines and tents.
So, it is humbly requested that the Government of Pakistan to launch relief and rehabilitation movement for flood affectees through mosques. It is the best time to prove ourselves as a self-restraint nation before the international community. The clerics of the mosques, religious scholars should play their due role in this regard.
It is wroth-mentioning here that Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen has dispatched 13 trucks loaded with relief items which include cloths, tents, blankets, food items like rice, pulses, cooking oil, flour bags, medicines to flood hit areas. Approximately eight thousand families of flood-hit areas have been provided cloths so far. Besides this, cooked food is being provided to some 35 thousand people after every three days. The flood aid is being provided to flood-affectees without discrimination of creed, gender, color, cast and faith. Even the minorities of the Sind and Baluchistan provinces which include Christian, Hindu, Sikhs and Parsis and others can contact with Jamia Masjid Rehmat lil Alameen administration to get relief items. This mosque would certainly provide food to their worship places of minorities including Churches, Mindars and Gurdawaras.
It is humbly suggested that the network of mosques in the country be organized on scientific basis and all the flood aid and donations received from local and international donors should be distributed through mosques of the flood- hit areas without discrimination of color, creed, cast and faith. It is the prime responsibility of religious scholars, prayer leaders of the mosques to promote this ideology through their speeches, Friday sermons and other writings.
We should distribute this aid to actual flood affectees in a transparent way as this aid is deposit of Allah Almighty. Mosques can distribute this aid in transparent, sophisticated and civilized way where self-respect of the receivers will never be hurt and only righteous will receive it without any botheration or inconvenience.
It is also requested to the authorities concerned of the Ministries of Interior and Religious Affairs to provide data of mosques on internet so that relief activities could be continued without any hurdle.
There is dire need of five items for flood affectees immediately which include food, medicine, tents, house building and restoration of infrastructure in flood-hit areas. Out of these five items mosques can provide three items namely food, mosques and tents which remaining two items would be provided by the government on priority basis. The affectees be provided construction items for the building of their damaged houses and measures should be taken immediately for the restoration of infrastructure in those areas. The government should start movement for the building of damaged house and restoration of infrastructure to improve their condition. It is the best solution of problems being faced by the affectees.