Over 821 million people globally were experiencing food scarcity at the beginning of 2020, since the start of the pandemic, the figure increased by another hundred million. It is needless to say that food is one of the most fundamental needs for human existence, its absence is simply fatal; and it has been for many this past year. In 2020 and 2021, more people suffered at the hands of food insecurity than the deadly virus. This goes to show how widespread hunger is and, by implication, how unjust societal food distribution networks are.
We, at AWF believe – and there is a fair amount of research to confirm this – that the world’s food problem is not an issue of underproduction but of inefficient and unjust food distribution. Perhaps this is why the Islamic model of society stresses on the importance of fair food distribution and empathy towards communities struggling with food insecurity.
Where we realize the importance of systematic change, we cannot ignore the need for urgent therefore we work tirelessly to ensure that we provide food aid to as many people as possible on a weekly and monthly basis, in both the UK and in parts of the developing world. We urge you to contribute to our efforts.
The last Prophet (PBUH) is quoted as saying
“He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while the neighbour to his side goes hungry.”
(Al-Albani)
We can build on this hadith and understand that essentially a Muslim cannot be at peace if he/she sees their brothers and sisters struggling to feed themselves and their families, especially in times like these. It is precisely because of this that we, at Ummah Charity International, aim to provide food to as many people as we possibly can this year. As a collective, we focus our efforts on promoting equity and wellbeing among the Muslim Ummah and the world at large. A large part of this effort has always been providing food, both as ready meals and as grocery bundles, to impoverished communities. This year, particularly in Ramadan, we want to enlarge our impact and you can help us do that by donating your Zakat and Sadaqah to us.
Allah (SWT) says in his holy book:
“And in their wealth is a recognized right. For the (needy) who asks and the one who is deprived.” (Quran, 70:24-25)
We ask you to consider that although the developed parts of the world can see an end to this pandemic in the near future, in the developing world the ground reality is very different. With lesser capacity to control and treat the virus, underprivileged Muslim communities in countries like Pakistan are likely to live with the economic shock of the pandemic for years and implicated in that is the reduced ability to afford basic food.
With Winter approaching, the situation worsens, because of this, we focus our energies on providing food in developing countries, which are the worst hit and will likely suffer longer. We do this work driven by the teachings of Allah (SWT) and the Prophet and with a genuine belief that just and equitable food re-distribution can help solve or at least significantly reduce the world hunger crisis- help us in our work by donating to UCI.
“… give of your wealth out of love for Him, to your kin and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves…” (Quran, 2:177)