Drinking water for refugees at Turkish border with Syria

The Saudi National Campaign for Supporting Brothers in Syria is providing drinking water for displaced Syrians on the Syrian border with Turkey, the Saudi Press Agency reports. 

Five stations equipped with the latest purification equipment have been operating for 42 weeks. The Director of the Campaign's Office in Turkey, Khalid Al-Salama said the Campaign has worked through relief efforts to find appropriate solutions to a water crisis on the Syrian-Turkish border. The organisation is coordinating with Turkish entities to provide water purification plants that produce drinking water at 20,000 cubic metres hourly.

KSA finances 300,000 iftar meals for Syrian refugees

The Turkey-based Office of Saudi National Campaign to Support Brothers in Syria have concluded a contract with Merqez Market to provide 300,000 iftar meals for Ramadhan for Syrian displaced and refugees in Syria and Turkey, the Saudi Press Agency has reported.

The move is valued at SR3,037,500.

Singapore mosques participate in fundraiser for Syrian refugees

The “Blessings-To-All” Mosque Committee, representing all mosques in Singapore, is organising a special fund-raising effort in collaboration with the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) to offer winter relief for Syrian refugees.

The committee notes that more than 4 million Syrians have fled the country and sought refuge in other countries,and that Jordan alone is hosting 650,000 refugees.

"The high concentration of refugees in the country has placed a tremendous strain on the resources of the nation which is also struggling to meet the demands of its own population. Our hearts are with the refugees and the nation that has so kindly accepted to host them," said the committee and the RLAF in a statement from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis).

With severe winter conditions currently affecting the Middle East, the RLAF is working closely with mosques in Singapore to conduct a special winter collection to extend aid to Syrian refugees in the region.

The RLAF will further be working with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Singaporean student body in Jordan to assist in the winter aid programme as well as education programmes for Syrian children.

In 2014, the RLAF and mosques in Singapore raised more than S$400,000 through two collections for the Syrian refugees. The funds collected were used to hand out cooked food, household rations to over 4,000 Syrian families, school packs for young children in three schools for Syrian refugees in Turkey, as well as medical kits for clinics treating injured and disabled refugees.

Interested?

RLAF donation boxes will be placed at all 70 mosques till 9 February 2017. All boxes will be marked Special Winter Collection in Aid of Syrian Refugees.

Members of the public can also donate cash or by cheque. All cheques should be made payable to RLAF with Special Winter Collection in Aid of Syrian Refugees written on the back. Cash and cheques can be delivered to the Muis Building at the Singapore Islamic Hub, 273, Braddell Road, Singapore 579702.

Online donations are accepted at the Muis website

posted from Bloggeroid

Ministry of Haj, KSA holds discussions with pilgrims' affairs delegations from Bahrain, Syria

HE the Haj Affairs Undersecretary of the KSA, Dr Hussein Al-Sharif, has met with the Bahrain pilgrims' affairs delegation headed by Sheikh Adnan bin Abdullah Al-Qattan, the Supreme Court of Appeal President, and the Bahraini delegation head; as well as with the Syrian delegation headed by Yahya Maktabi, the Secretary-general of The National Coalition, and the Haj Council head, and their entourages.

During the two meetings, services to be provided for their respective pilgrims in 2016 were discussed as well as the optimum arrangements and preparations to receive the pilgrims.

The Ministry of Haj Undersecretary touched on the potential effectiveness of the electronic portal during the Hajj season this year, as the portal has proven to provide significant benefits in past years. He has stressed the importance of compliance with the programmes prepared by the Ministry of Haj, including continuing the ongoing emphasis on building pilgrims' awareness on following transportation programs and scheduled timings on the Jamaraat bridge for the 'stoning of the devil' ritual, as well as of the registration of contracts in licensed accommodation.

The respective delegations heads praised the integrated services provided annually by the Saudi government to pilgrims in Makkah, Madinah, and the holy sites; the enormous expansions at the Two Holy Mosques, including the expansion of the Mataf (the area surrounding Ka'abah); and the ongoing infrastructure work to serve pilgrims, most notably the holy sites train, and the Two-Holy Mosques train project currently underway.

Interested?

Read the Suroor Asia blog post about the Ministry of Haj's overview of Hajj 2016
Read the Suroor Asia blog post about the Uzbek visit to the Ministry of Haj

UNHCR and Islamic Museum of Australia to host fund-raiser for Syrian refugees

The UN Refugee Agency Australia for UNHCR and the Islamic Museum of Australia are hosting a fund-raising dinner in aid of Syrian refugees on 28 November 2015, at the museum premises.

Dinner will feature the work of Masterchef Finalist Samira El Khafir. The evening will also feature guest speakers and an auction.

All of the ticket sales and proceeds go to UNHCR for the Syrian refugee crisis. Urgently-needed relief includes cash for medicine and food, stoves and fuel for heating, insulation for tents, thermal blankets and winter clothing.

Interested?

Tickets cost A$260 per person, or A$2,500 for a table of ten. Call 1300 915 171 or email admin at islamicmuseum.org.au for enquiries.

Read the Suroor Asia blog post about the new UN, World Bank and Islamic Development Bank approach to MENA and the refugee crisis

Rahmatan Lil 'Alamin Foundation spearheads charity drive for Syrian refugee children

Source: MUIS.

The Rahmatan Lil 'Alamin Foundation (RLAF), in collaboration with mosques in Singapore, has kicked off a fund-raiser in aid of Syrian refugee children.

Part of an initial fund-raising effort in April this year, which netted S$240,000, was used to send relief in the form of food packages, hot food, medicines, clean water, school packages, and household items. 

S$150,000 has been set aside for the establishment of a school for children of Syrian refugees in the border town of Kilis in Southeastern Turkey. "This school will help to restore some semblance of normality, sanity and confidence in the hearts and minds of the young children," the charity said in a statement. "To make this school project possible, we will need to raise at least S$350,000 for the building, facilities and equipment needed for the school."

Donation boxes marked Singapore Muslim Community’s Special Collection for School Project for Children of Syrian Refugees have been placed at all 68 mosques till 11 December 2014. Those who are not able to make their contribution at the mosque can also offer their donation in cash or by cheque. The cheque should be made payable to “RLAF” with the words Special Collection In Aid of Syrian Refugees written on its back. The cash and cheques can be delivered to the MUIS building at the Singapore Islamic Hub, No. 273, Braddell Road Singapore 579702. In addition, members of the community can also make their contributions online via www.muis.gov.sg/epayment/Donations.aspx.

The RLAF is working with Kimse Yok Mu, a Turkish humanitarian agency, and Aid to Syrian Refugees in Turkey (ASRIT) for the project. Kimse Yok Mu will provide the teaching staff, remuneration and all the utilities needed for the school. Registration of students has already begun.

Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization to feature early capitals of Islamic culture

Source: Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization.

The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization in Sharjah, the UAE, will be hosting an exhibition on early capitals of Islamic culture from 14 October 2014 to 17 January 2015.

Early Capitals of Islamic Culture: The Artistic legacy of Umayyad Damascus and Abbasid Baghdad (650 – 950) will feature objects from the dawn of Islam, charting the transition from pre-Islamic to Islamic cultures which took place under the Umayyad caliphs in Damascus, Syria, and the early Abbasid caliphs in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Samarra. 

At its height, the Umayyad Caliphate, the second of four caliphates to rule the Islamic world after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), was the largest empire in the world. While the Umayyad family came to power before that, the Umayyad regime was founded in 661 by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, a governor of Syria. Syria was the Umayyads' power base, with Damascus as the capital.

The Umayyads fell to the Abbasids in 750. The Abbasid Caliphate ruled in various cities, but for the longest time in Baghdad. Samarra was its capital from 836 to 892.