Upholding the Prophetic mission, Ma'ruf Chicago in association with the Islamic Center of Naperville sought out on Saturday, June 25th to seize the Povertunity by packing survival kits for the homeless.
"We feel that this is our prophetic duty. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cared for the impoverished during his lifetime even before prophethood," Head of Ma'ruf Chicago Mahin Islam said.
Volunteers, mostly coming from the affluent Naperville area, got the chance to go and see the poverty for themselves around one of the most successful cities in the U.S. After volunteers packed 50 survival kits, they visited the residents of Lazarus House. Representatives of Ma'ruf made clear that one of their goals was to see the problem of homelessness itself because it gives rise to its existence and importance.
"I didn't realize that there was so much poverty around neighboring cities. I didn't know people came to a point in America that they have to set up tents outside in the parks, which is something I've only seen in developing countries," Volunteer and ICN Youth Council Member Areeba Asim said.
Povertunity, an event about serving the underserved, in turn, was able to provide volunteers with something so much greater leaving behind lessons of gratitude.
"I felt grateful for what we have and I was happy to have had an opportunity to give to those in need. Participating in these types of things helps you realize how blessed we really are. We are always complaining about little things and these people don't even have a place to live," Volunteer and ICN Youth Council Member Arwah Faisal said.
Choosing to visit a homeless shelter such as Lazarus House was also a decision made based upon the prophetic mission which pertains to serving the community at large.
"... the Prophet (pbuh) used to serve non-Muslims. He was Al-Saadiq Al-Amin (truthful and trustworthy), he was a chief individual who served the greater community, not just the [Muslims]," Islam said.
As the Prophet (pbuh) was able to gain the trust of even non-Muslims around him through his actions, Islam hopes for the same through doing events such as Povertunity where Muslims don't necessarily preach about Islam but show Islam for what it truly is. Islam says that Povertunity gives Muslims a chance to step out of the bubble they are used to living in and engage in the non-Muslim community with an emphasis on actions.
"The only thing we try to stress is that we come across confidently Muslim in our appearance, but at the same time we're not talking to people about Islam. We're here to say 'hey this is what we're trying to do' as far as the action itself," Islam said.
Other than fulfilling the prophetic duty of caring for the impoverished, Muslims being engaged in the larger community has its hopeful benefits to the American Muslim narrative as well.
"Most people who have a negative opinion of Muslims haven't dealt with Muslims in a positive light... People who have Muslim friends and co-workers will not buy into the narrative of what they hear in the media," Islam said.
For Ma'ruf, who believe in strengthening faith through action, this is just the beginning of their mission as they completed their first major event in Chicago with Povertunity at the Islamic Center of Naperville. Ma'ruf seeks to tackle problems that are most plaguing in communities looking to counter atrocities such as violence in Chicago in the near future.
