US Muslims Join Haiti Relief Effort

Everyone is appalled at the extent of devastation from the 7.1 Magnitude earthquakes that struck Port-au-Prince area on January 12, 2010. So far more than 200,000 people have been buried and three million are homeless. People are in desperate need of food, water and shelter.

Written by

DR. ANIS ANSARI

Published on

August 8, 2022
Everyone is appalled at the extent of devastation from the 7.1 Magnitude earthquakes that struck Port-au-Prince area on January 12, 2010. So far more than 200,000 people have been buried and three million are homeless. People are in desperate need of food, water and shelter.
US and many other Governments have risen to the occasion. One of the first one to arrive was the team from Turkey to help find people trapped in the rubble due to their expertise in this area. According to CNN report within few days of earthquake Muslims donated more than $800,000 for Haiti relief. Muslims have strong tradition of helping people in time of their need based on many sayings of our Prophet (may Allah bless and greet him), who said in a Sacred Hadith that if we want to be close to God, we should visit the sick and feed the needy.  On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will say, “O son of Adam, I fell ill and you did not visit me.” The person will say, “O Lord, how could I visit you when You are the Lord of the worlds?” He will say, “Did you not know that so-and-so fell ill and you did not visit him?  If you had visited him, you would have found Me with him [the hadith continues].”
Even though every Muslim organisation is trying its best to raise fund, Islamic Society of North America (www.isna.net), the largest Muslim organisation in US has been in forefront of Haiti relief. So far they have collected more than $67,000 to send to Haiti already. They are also coordinating care among other groups to facilitate this process. They have given $20,000 to Islamic Medical Association that has sent a team of doctors to meet immediate expenses. The appeal has been sent out for another team due to great demand. They are also working closely with habitat for humanity to provide shelter for the homeless. They have assured the public that 100% of the fund collected by ISNA relief efforts is distributed without any administrative fee.
The other organisation actively working towards relief is Islamic Relief (www.islamicreliefusa.org), a nationally recognised Islamic organisation. They have set up camp to house 1200 people that were sleeping in the streets of the Delmas 33 neighbourhood in Port-au Prince. Due to enormous needs, they have raised their goal of raising $ 1Million to 2.5 million.  They have worked closely with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints to ship 160,000 pounds of much-needed goods to Haiti already.
Three nearby area Muslim organisations, including Islamic Centre of Quad Cities, Moline, Muslim Community of Quad Cities in Bettendorf and Islamic Society of Clinton County in Clinton, have joined hands along with many other Christian and Jewish groups to raise fund for this noble cause. So far more than $10,000 has been raised for this effort so far.
People who are interested in donating through our channel can go to either www.isna.net or www.islamicreliefusa.org. All donations are tax-deductible.