Over the past few days I have met some really amazing human beings who are absolutely selfless, doing fantastic work within their communities without actually receiving any recognition for it. I met a Scottish couple at Milpark hospital and they told me that they came to South Africa when they were around 19 years old. They came to this country because they were huge Ernie Els fans. They fostered a child and last year she got married. It was supposedly the happiest day of their life. This couple is very much involved with the church. They co-ordinate Bible study classes for orphaned kids and assist in terms of taking kids off the streets and placing them into schools. Everyday they feed 250 orphaned HIV positive kids in an informal settlement near their place of residence when they return from school. The funding is acquired from their immediate family members residing in Scotland. Despite the fact that the wife suffers from scleroderma, a rare autoimmune rheumatic disease, she is adamant that life is about living and giving. She says that even if you have sickness, you need to be positive. In her own words, " There is plenty of time to sleep when we go six feet deep. If each one of us helped at least 2 people, it will cause a ripple effect and eventually everyone will be able to lead a better life."
Yesterday I met another remarkable woman who is also involved with a church charity organization. Every week, they hand out goody bags to the poor in the community. In January, she was on a charity drive and whilst walking the streets of Randburg, she came across 2 boys who were huddled together in a street corner. She went up to them and started chatting to them. She told me that she had an instant connection with them. After chatting to them for a while, she realized that they were heroin addicts residing in a cardboard box structure on the streets. She went home that night and was unable to sleep. She kept on thinking that whilst she is enjoying the comfort of a bed, the young boys she met were sleeping on the streets. The next morning she jumped into her car in search of the boys. She took them home with her. Over the next few days, she took them for a full medical check up. She is now in the process of trying to get them off their heroin addiction. The problem she has is finances. Rehabilitation centres are costly and she does not have the funds to assist both the boys. If there is anyone out there who knows of a good rehabilitation centre at a minimal fee kindly inbox me. As a matter of interest I am wondering, do any of the government hospitals have a free rehabilitation centre?
I love meeting such inspiring people who find satisfaction and happiness through helping others. On the other hand I am livid and disgusted at some of the Muslim people within our own communities. Last weekend my family and I attended the Saaberie Chishty annual fundraising event. It was an absolutely well put together fun filled event for a very good purpose. However, during the cause of the week I received inbox messages stating, " Are you not a tableeghi? How can you attend the event of Bidatis. They not Muslims. They do not follow Islam properly."
Naturally, I did not respond to any of the messages out of sheer disgust. I have no time to waste by responding to ignorant fools.I mean, who are we to judge another human being. I am a Muslim. I am very proud of my culture and religion. My Islam is very simple. I follow the five pillars of my religion as best as I possibly can. My religion teaches me to assist anyone irrespective of race, colour or creed. I hate it when people use religion to divide people. These people who spread hatred and who claim to love the Prophet Muhammed (saw) are actually very very far in terms of his teachings towards humanity. The Prophet (saw) was kind and sincere even towards his enemies. To those of you who messaged me stating absolute rubbish, please do yourself a favour, instead of wasting your time and energy texting me, kindly refrain from messaging me at all.
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