Muslim community leaders in the east London Borough of Redbridge have launched a campaign to collect clothes and food for the homeless after the huge success of last year’s campaign.

“The issue of homelessness continues to be a major problem in the borough of Redbridge as well as nationally,” Mohammed Asif, the chairman of the Federation of Redbridge Muslim Organizations (FORMO), told Ilford Recorder on Thursday, December 5.

“This has been made a further challenge in the current economic climate with austerity measures taking their toll on ordinary households.”

Announcing the launch of this year’s campaign, Asif said that the new items will be collected over the coming weeks before being taken to the Salvation Army in Clements Road, Ilford.

The items collected will include clothes, toiletries and tinned food.

The items will be collected over the coming weeks before being taken to the Salvation Army in Clements Road, Ilford.

The FORMO campaign is not the first.

Last year, the federation collected two truckloads of goods as well as raising almost £2,000 for rough sleepers.

Witnessing an increase in homelessness and the success of the campaign last year, the Muslim leaders were inspired to repeat the campaign.

Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.7 million, mostly of Indian, Pakistani and Bengali backgrounds.

In July 2012, a report by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex found that Muslims are the most likely of all groups to be identified with the concept of ‘Britishness.’

In 2011, think tank Demo found that Muslims in the United Kingdom are more patriotic than the rest of population.

Responding to the statement “I am proud to be a British citizen”, 83% of Muslims said they are proud of being British.

The percentage came higher than average across the population which scored only 79%.

Islamic Belief

For Redbridge Muslims, the campaign was a chance to perform an Islamic value.

“We recognize and value the excellent work that the shelters have been doing and appreciate how busy they will be during the winter months,” Asif said.

“It’s one of the five pillars of Islam to help the community and we always start off close to home giving to the areas we live in.”

Zakah, the third pillar of Islam, is obligatory upon every (capable) Muslim.

According to Islamic Shari`ah, a capable Muslim pays 2.5 percent mandatory payment and spend it to help the poor and the needy.

The FORMO chairman expressed hopes to expand the campaign further next year, holding talks with the federation about setting up somewhere rough sleepers can shower.

“We are working towards setting up somewhere these people can get clean,” he said.

“This could be at one of the mosques or community centers. We would like to put some money aside for them.

“It’s something we are thinking about at this stage.”

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/466637-uk-muslims-prepare-for-winter-appeal.html

https://en.islamstory.com/en/artical/16299/UK-muslims-prepare-winter-appeal