Man cannot live alone. He needs
the help and support of his fellow members in the
society. This is not an ideology, but Allah’s
destiny. That was why the Almighty ordered the people
in an imperative manner to help each other. This
fact is well established by the following verse
of the Holy Qur’an:
“Co-operate
with each other in virtue and piety.” (5 :
2)
Al-Qur’an is pregnant with
verses emphasizing the urgency and importance of
assisting each other. To regulate this kind of help,
Allah has introduced Zakat and Sadaqah. The beneficiaries
of Zakat are very clearly defined, and whoever is
in need is entitled to benefit from Sadaqah.
The society, as predestined by
the Creator, is composed of rich and poor, healthy
and sick, strong and weak, young and aged and so
forth which set-up makes everyone bound by each
other.
The needy and the destitute should
be looked after and protected and their tears should
be wiped thus preventing them from begging on the
streets. Similarly at times of disasters the affected
have to be rescued and rehabilitated and their immediate
and other needs have to be addressed.
As the number of poor, needy, orphans,
affected, widows, destitute, etc. is on the increase
day by day, it is imperative to accelerate the assistance,
relief and rehabilitation activities on a large
scale. ‘Al-hamdu lillah’. Helping hands
both individual and institutional are extended towards
such underprivileged. Philanthropists all over the
globe play a central role in fulfilling their needs.
Organizations have come up to organize the role-play
of the philanthropists. Ultimately the society has
accepted with open arms such social service organizations.
It is in this background that the
Mountain of Mercy was born in 2005 in the wake of
the tsunami which sent shock waves to the entire
world on 26.12.2004 by taking thousands of lives,
damaging thousands of properties and causing trauma
to thousands of people. This budding social service
institution has showered mercy on the afflicted
by the tidal wave in Sri Lanka by its rehabilitation
programmes that include inter alia assistance to
the women in Iddah, Madrasas, marriages, self-employment
and permanent housing. Though very young in age,
it has rendered a considerable volume of services
to the tsunami-stricken people.
Now the Mountain of Mercy, in line
with its broader objectives, has decided to address
the needs of non-tsunami affected people. To begin
with, it is planning to establish an Islamic centre
in Puttalam, an ancient Muslim city in Sri Lanka.
As a responsible person in my capacity
as the General Secretary of All Ceylon Jamiyyathul
Ulama and one who closely works with the Mountain
of Mercy in aid of the society, I wish to appreciate
the honesty, integrity and commitment of the management
of the Mountain of Mercy particularly Brothers Mohamed
Ziyad Hafiz and Mohamed Farook Patel whose brainchild
is the Mountain of Mercy. I would like to grab this
opportunity to register the profound and profuse
gratitude to the Mountain of Mercy on my behalf
and on behalf of all Sri Lankan brothers and earnestly
solicit its continued help and support to Sri Lanka.
While warmly congratulating the
management of the Mountain of Mercy on their great
success in implementation of relief and rehabilitation
programmes, I would like to call upon all individuals
and institutions involved in social service to co-operate
and work together with the Mountain of Mercy.
Ash-Shaikh H. Abdul Nazar
General Secretary, All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama
2006.09.04
