As Ramadan bids farewell to the people of Malawi, a large number of needy Malawians will miss the charity offered by generous Muslims during the holy month which offered them free food and blankets in the cold winter.
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"This is winter and Malawi is very cold in the morning and at night," Enerst Bwanali, a local community leader, told Anadolu Agency.
"In addition to food, we have secured some 100 blankets to give to the elderly so that we do not record any deaths as a result of the cold," added Bwanali, whose team paid for the blankets from their own pockets.
"We used our own resources. We did not get the money from anywhere but our community," he explained.
Moreover, the less privileged had been receiving sugar, salt, maize flour and clothes during the holy month.
Bwanali said the most vulnerable groups in Malawi were the elderly and those suffering from AIDS.
"These are the groups we have targeted and will continue to target," he stressed.
Ishmael Baya is a street beggar who has been receiving aid during Ramadan.
"We have been receiving a lot of help from our Muslim brothers. They give us a lot of food and clothes," said Baya before running over to a passing car to ask for small change.
Baya, who looks like he is in his mid-20s, said his mother had succumbed to AIDS when he was only nine years old.
"I decided to come to Blantyre and find a job; but I did not find one," he said. "So I joined my friends who gave me a place to stay at the hospital's waiting shelter."
"When we get nothing from the streets, we eat leftovers from the food that the hospital prepares for patients or is thrown away," he added.
Malawi is home to Muslims who constitute 36 percent of the country’s 16 million population. Islam is the second largest religion in Malawi after Christianity.
The south African county has one of the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in the world with about 80,000 people dying every year, according to the National AIDs Control Commission, an organization managing the issues relating to the pandemic in the country.
The first case of HIV and AIDS was diagnosed in Malawi in 1985.
The World Bank ranks Malawi one of the poorest nations in the world, with its majority poor surviving on less than a US$1 a day. Poverty has been largely blamed for the escalation of the pandemic in the country.
Outreach
The major Muslim organizations in Malawi have also joined hands this Ramadan to reach out to AIDS sufferers.
"It is something that we have not given much emphasis to, but we believe HIV victims deserve our attention," said Altaf Gani, chairperson of the World Association of Friends of Africa (WAFA).
"It's unfortunate that AIDS patients, widows and orphans are stigmatized and discriminated against to the extent that they are even denied food," Gani lamented.
He stressed that Islam taught Muslims to show compassion in all circumstances.
"We are taught to be compassionate as Muslims, as our prophet was," said the Muslim leader.
"We should be more compassionate during this holy month of Ramadan by providing food and love to people affected by this killer disease," he added.
Muslims’ efforts were praised by AIDS sufferers who put themselves at risk to offer help to them.
“The disease spreads through some immoral behavior, such as indulging in immoral sexual activities, drug use and intoxicants consumption, which are all regarded as haram [religiously prohibited]," Tweya Issa, a 64-year-old AIDS sufferer, said.
"This has made most people tight-lipped, but this won't help put the matter to rest," Issa said.
These efforts were part of a campaign launched by Malawi's Majlis Ulama (Council of Muslim Scholars) that is aimed at raising public awareness about the dangers of discriminating against people living with HIV/AIDS.
"These people need to be helped so that they come to terms with the reality of HIV/AIDS, while at the same time being encouraged to seek Allah's mercy and forgiveness," Sheikh Mohamed Uthman, publicity secretary of the council, told AA.
"Any negative attitude towards the HIV-positive [person] is discouraged by Islam," Sheikh Uthman added.
"Allah always leaves the way open for repentance," he asserted. "We should help to add value to their lives by encouraging them to engage in acts of worship this Ramadan by sharing the little we have." /SR
