Saving the world, one orphan at a time
October 20, 2006by Farhan Asrar
UNICEF estimates that by the end of 2003, there were 143 million orphans aged 0-17 in 93 developing countries. More than 16 million were orphaned in 2003 alone. Due to recent events such as wars, tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, these numbers have increased exponentially.
Islam emphasizes the obligation and responsibility upon us to take care of orphans. There are many sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and verses in the Qur’an that mention the importance of taking care of orphans and of Allah’s (Glory be to Him) dislike for those who do not treat orphans and the needy fairly.
Narrated Sahl bin Saa’d (may Allah be pleased with him):
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him, will be in Paradise like this,” putting his index and middle fingers together (Bukhari).
Another Ramadan is about to pass us by and then we’ll be left with bittersweet memories of all the good deeds we did and what we neglected to do that could have earned us the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah (Glory be to Him). But don’t let this Ramadan pass you by without making a difference!
The MSA’s Orphan Sponsorship Program is currently sponsoring 100 orphans from 17 countries, Alhamdulillah! It only costs $360, $396 or $720 to sponsor an orphan for a year depending on the country the orphan is living in (the disparity is due to the differences in the cost of living in different countries). That’s only one or two dollars a day! But from donations that have been collected thus far, barely half the amount required to re-sponsor these orphans has come in and we’re in dire need of your help to continue providing basic necessities to these orphaned children.
Donate any amount that you can. Get together with your friends and family and sponsor an orphan or two collectively. Donations can be in the form of cash, checks or credit card (online). Donations will be collected at the Jumu’ah prayers at Hart House. Every dollar makes a difference. And remember that Allah, Glory be to Him, never forgets an atom’s weight of good that a person does. And when it comes down to weighing our good deeds against our bad deeds on the Last Day, an atom’s weight of good might be just what we needed to tip our scales…
Please make your checks payable & addressed to:
Orphan Sponsorship Program
c/o MSA, University of Toronto, St. George campus
21 Sussex Avenue, Suite 405
Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1J6
NB: Tax receipts will be issued upon request
For further information please visit the MSA website, or contact: osp.uoft@yahoo.ca
Some orphans currently being sponsored
This poster is scary.
It’s not a poster just a collection of few pictures of orphans that we are sponsoring. Perhaps it might be nice to get and display picture with smiling faces. However, this is reality and Allahu Alam what the children are thinking of while their picture was being taken….
http://www.ospuoft.wordpress.com
No, I’m not commenting on the children’s faces themselves, rather I’m referring to OSP’s (or MSA’s) poor attempt to collate the images in a normal fashion. Please dignify the children with better cut-and-paste techniques.
We have hardcopies of the pictures that everyone is welcome to see.
Blog space is limited and trying to get in many pictures in such little space is challenging. Also for such a reason OSP started it’s own blog in order to devote more space and time.