Asalamu Alaykum wa rahma tullahi wabarakaatuhu Friend,

I found myself today in a very reflective mood, and I had the urge to write to you all. I was pondering over the events in my life of the last year, especially with the pandemic affecting so many of us at a very personal level. I have lost many family members due to Covid and today again we have the burial of a dear community and family member who returned to Allah after a short stint in intensive care due to Covid. What is even more sad, is that we cannot honour him by attending his Janazah.

But then I had to quickly change my mindset to reflect on the positive things instead. See how the same event of death can also be a positive event, depending on how one views it. Take my own experience with the passing of dear and beloved father this last Ramadan. I was saying to my sister yesterday, “Dad, certainly planned it well.” But then again that was my dad, the ultimate quiet achiever. His death was so timely, that I felt a sense of pride and great happiness for my dad instead of sadness. Allah has honoured him, as he left this world in the last 10 days of Ramadan, odd night, had a massive Janazah as there were no restrictions. He had in his Will, as to who should lead his Janazah prayer and he gave three options (that was dad, always the planner); and due to the number of people at the Janazah, he got all three options fulfilled. Subahannallah.

So my dear fellow bothers and sisters, why am I sharing this with you today?

In a nutshell I am so grateful as the head of NZF that you are a supporter of our vision and work. Whether you are a new donor or have been giving since 2013, or you have only given once or twice, big or small amounts, let me assure you, the people who are benefitting every single day from your support, make dua for you. We hear daily: “May Allah give the team and all those who donated Jannah”.

So with so much uncertainty around us, we can feel happy today, that we are making a difference to our own community.

May Allah grant everyone safety and well-being and from my team and those that we help, Jazakallah Khairan.

Looking forward to your on-going support.

Your brother in Islam,

Abu Muneer