In a bid to celebrate International Widows Day, an Islamic foundation under the aegis of Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation has lamented on negligence and noncommittal of the concerned people and organizations to the plights of widows and senior citizens in the society.
Speaking on Thursday, Osun State Coordinator of the Foundation, Mrs. Monsuroh Adewale said “just as we know that there is a specific day the United Nations stipulated to celebrate unsung women in the society, those are the widows.
“All of us should fall back in line with Islam. A rich person should see himself as a custodian of his wealth. He should see that God gave him the wealth to make life more liveable for the poor.
“Donations we receive is very little compared to the demands.
“Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation also joined in the celebration of this women today being International Widows Day.
“Zakat-ul-fitr is one of the pillars of Islam. People have however neglected this too, we had to resuscitate it, hence we gathered this on behalf of the poor from the rich who voluntarily give.
“Also we extended our care to the senior citizens of the society who are being neglected. After these people have spent years laboured on their children, these children may neglect them in old age. We do gather them, gift them commodities and organize programmes that would make them happy. We give them sense of belonging.
She added that the Foundation is also involved in distribution of Zakat-ul-fitr collected from the rich to the downtrodden in the society, Ramadan giveaway programme called “Memorable Ramadan”, Eid al-Adha among others.
“As Eid al-Adha is coming, we will rally the rich to give to the poor, monies we are able to gather shall be used to purchase rams for the poor.” she said.
Also, the Osun State Administrative Office of the Foundation, Mr. Olaoye Moshood Adewale stated that donation is tailored to empower the widows, not only in Osun State.
“We are doing this nationwide. Our head office is in Lagos. We have branches in Oyo, Ogun, Edo and others. We have coordinators in some states where we don’t have offices.
Our medical outreach is coming up July 30-31st in Osun State, though it has been happening in other states.” he said.
Furthermore, one of the pioneer members of the Foundation in Osun State, Mr. Owolabi Abdulazeez applauded the Foundation for its strides in humanitarian roles.
“They have been doing this for a long time. They should be applauded. This is one of the good things that should spread in Islam. If there are more of this, it will be so hard to see people who lack in the society.”
