2 November, 2023, Durban: In the year 2020 Brother Abdullah (not his real name) and his family of four, found themselves stranded without a home. Abdullah, a father of over 50 years old, was suffering from a heart condition and was just managing to drag himself to his low-paying job a few days a week. They had been evicted from their home due to them being unable to afford the rental and had now resorted to sleeping in a park, not far from the Darul Ihsan offices in Joyce Rd, Sea Cow Lake. To compound the family's predicament was the stress of their eldest daughter who was missing for a few months.

Without a roof over their heads, food or furniture, and having two small children who were not even in school, the family was uncertain of their future. Seeing their plight, a local property owner offered them a place to live at a reasonable rate but which they could still not afford. It was then that they were referred to the Darul Ihsan Humanitarian Centre with basically just the clothes on their backs.

The Welfare Dept of Darul Ihsan did an intake and assessment of the matter, followed due process and commenced assisting the family with the much needed help of groceries and accommodation.

Heart attack

After some months, the stress took its toll on Abdullah and he suffered a heart attack which affected his health quite severely, rendering him unable to work. The family was now even more dependent on Darul Ihsan for their survival.

Islamic Lifestyle

Because of their circumstances unfortunately the family had also drifted away from Deen. Together with financial assistance rendered, the Ulama of the Welfare Dept encouraged the family to start leading an Islamic life by enrolling the children in the local Maktab under the auspices and for the husband to regularly attend the Musjid which was not very far from their home. The family was given an Islamic book to conduct Ta’leem at home. They were also encouraged to enroll their children in school who were deprived of education prior to this due to their circumstances. In this regard they were assisted for school and Maktab fees as well as uniform and stationery. The women-folk of the household were also encouraged to attend the Darul Ihsan Learn the Deen adult class, a prgramme dedicated to teaching basic Islam to Muslims.

Good News

After some time, Abdullah’s wife received a call from one of the local hospitals. Their eldest daughter had been found. This news uplifted the spirits of the family. But this also meant another mouth to feed as well as a requirement for a bigger living space in their already constraint accommodation. Fortunately their landlord had a slightly more spacious unit which could accommodate the family at a slightly higher rental, and the Welfare Dept approved this without much deliberation.

Continuous Support

Alhamdulillah, the family enjoys much more stability now and even though challenging in the beginning, after much encouragement, the family has become regular with their Madrasah classes and the husband frequents the local Musjid for his Salaah. The family has also been asked to think about ways that they could be empowered or uplifted so that they could become self-sufficient to a certain extent.

Through the grace of Allah and with your contributions, Darul Ihsan makes an effort to continuously offer financial, social and spiritual support and guidance to Abdullah’s family and many like them.

Darul Ihsan Welfare Department