“Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and set the captives free.” Sahih Bukhari 5058
Community Revival is a movement organised by Croydon Islamic Community Trust that seeks to change the negative perceptions of Islam by empowering young people. Inspired by the Sunnah, the movement seeks to encourage young people to play a greater role in serving their community through a series of projects. The first project is a food kitchen outside Croydon ICT mosque. Hot food will be served to the poor, dispossessed and vulnerable people of Croydon, as well as passers by. All people will be served regardless of religion, gender, colour and creed.
In an age where Muslims are vilified by society and media alike, it is paramount that we as a community stand up and project the true message and spirit of our faith. Not only this, but the honour of our beloved Prophet SAW is threatened by extremists and those who seeks to degrade his character. Our projects seek to dispel these misconceptions by following the real way of our Prophet SAW, which is steeped in humanitarianism, tolerance, love and compassion regardless of the attacks on us. As Imam Ali said,
‘Be like the flower that gives its fragrance to even the hand that crushes it’
The projects inspired by Community Revival will help feed the hungry, as well as encouraging young people to visit the sick in hospices. We also seek to run lectures in local schools where the dangers and falsehood of extremist ideologies will be dispelled. With this, we hope young people will be put off by the notions of radicalisation, and will feel empowered to give up the temptations of the dunya around them
Our first event took place on Monday May 4th. Currently, the Muslim Association of Croydon run a similar food kitchen on a Friday, but Monday was chosen due to it being the day of birth of our Rasul SAW, and a day in which fasting is recommended. Five volunteers, joined by some members of the Muslim Association of Croydon gathered outside ICT mosque to hand out food. A local Kurdish restaurant kindly provided ‘keema naans’ for us at a subsidised price, and one of the volunteers brought some home cooked food as well. Central to this project is the idea of sustainability. Thus, one of the volunteers who owns a shop brought some sandwiches which were due to expire in a few days. Given so restaurants waste much food, we want to develop a system in which this food can be used without bypassing health and safety laws.
The Pakistani news channel, Geo News kindly covered this event, and ICT mosque were very accommodating to let this event happen. Insha’Allah, there will be a food kitchen every Monday evening between 7pm to 8pm outside ICT mosque in West Croydon. Please come along and join us, and stay in tuned for more projects to follow…
For more information please contact Croydon ICT directly here.
