Muslims usually clarify “orphan” as a child who has lost his or her father and the family. Breadwinner. The term “orphan” is held to include foundlings, infants, street children those with known relatives.
What Is An Orphanage?
An orphanage is a residential institution, an entire institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, can’t be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may be unwilling to care for the child. The legal responsibility for the support of abandoned children differs from country to country and within countries. Government-run orphanages have been phased out in most developed countries during the latter half of the 20th century, but continue to operate in many other regions internationally. It is now usually accepted that orphanages are injurious to the emotional well-being of children, and government support goes instead towards supporting the family section.
Some large international charities continue to fund orphanages, but maximum are still generally founded by smaller charities and religious groups. Especially in developing countries, orphanages may prey on vulnerable families at risk of breakdown and actively recruit children to ensure continued funding. Orphanages in developing countries are rarely run by the state. However, not all orphanages that are state-run are less corrupt; the Romanian orphanages, like those in Bucharest, were founded due to the soaring population numbers catalysed by dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, who banned abortion and birth control and incentivised procreation to increase the Romanian workforce. Today’s residential institutions for children, also known as congregate care, include group homes, residential childcare communities, children’s homes, refuges, rehabilitation centres, night shelters and youth treatment centres.
History Of the Muslim Orphanage
There are lots of Muslim orphanages in the world.
Mukkam Muslim Orphanage (MMO)
MMO was an educational institution in 1956 with 22 inmates. Now, 28 institutions are functioning under the MMO management. It won the central government’s National Award for Child Welfare in 1982 and 2008. MMO is set in the valley of the Western Ghats, at Mukkam, about 35 km northeast of Calicut city, Kerala, India. The thriving, small town today pulsates with life that mainly revolves around the elegant MMO campus. Curiously, the credit for the whole institution, that today nurtures around 1,200 mediocre souls, goes to a single family (Vayalil family) presided by the grand patriarch Moi Haji in the 1950s. Moi Haji, his brothers and their sons owned 16,000 acres of land between them. They grew teak trees and traded in their worthy timber and elephants taken from the wealthy forests of the Western Ghats.
The Vayalil family’s philanthropy was mythical. The vast chunks of land had hospitals in and around the tiny village. They thus earned the love and respect of all. This manifests itself in the strong fraternal bonds seen among Hindus and Muslims in the area. The village stood by the river Iruvazhinhipuzha, which has been immortalised by Malayalam novelist S. K. Pottakkad. Around 1956, Vayalil Moideen Koya Haji thought of setting up an orphanage to educate and train the poor, orphaned and destitute kids. Thus was born the Mukkam Muslim Orphanage (MMO), which has been adjudged the winner of the National Child Welfare Award by the Government of India twice within three decades, i.e., 1982 and 2008. The spirit of charity still runs in the family which manages the MMO today, which over the years has developed into an institution of repute with vast paraphernalia. The family has endeared everyone, be they Hindus, Muslims or Christians, in and around Mukkam. All swear by their integrity.
Salimullah Muslim Orphanage
Salimullah Orphanage, also known as Sir Salimullah Muslim Orphanage, is a historic orphanage in Bangladesh founded by and named after Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Salimullah.
Salimullah Orphanage was established in 1907 as Islamia Orphanage by the Nawab of Dhaka, Nawab Sir Salimullah Bahadur. It was essentially located near Ahsan Manzil in a rented building. The governor of Bengal, Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael, visited the orphanage in 1913. He donated one thousand rupees and land near the Gore Shaheed Mosque of Amlapara. After the death of Sir Salimullah, the Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael- Wikipedia orphanage became known as Salimullah Orphanage. The government of Bangladesh nationalised the orphanage on 2nd January 2008. Before the nationalisation, a few land of the orphanage were sold in 200,3, and corruption in management remains a serious problem. On 17 September 2015, the Bangladesh High Court ordered Concord Group to hand over an 18-storey building in Azimpur to Salimullah Orphanage, which the law court ruled was illegally built on land owned by the orphanage.
Tirurangadi Muslim Orphanage
Tirurangadi Muslim Orphanage is an educational hub of ten educational organisations situated in and around Tirurangadi town in Malappuram district, Kerala, India. P.S.M.O. College is the largest campus in the whole group. The Noorul Islamic Madrasa was established in 1939, followed by the Oriental Higher Secondary School in 1955. The well-known philanthropist M.K.Haji Sahib donated land for the orphanage, and the Orphanage L.P.School was established in 1960. P.S.M.O. College was established in 1968. The Orphanage helped to relocate 114 orphans whose parents died in an outbreak of cholera in Malabar in 1943.
Wayanad Muslim Orphanage (WMO)
WMO is a charitable institution based in the Wayanad district, Kerala, India. The orphanage is situated in Muttil village near Wayanad district headquarters, Kalpetta. It runs about 20 educational institutions apart from the charity outfits and small-scale commercial firms. It includes a school, a college, a foster home, a creche, an academy for Islamic studies, and an extraordinary school for visually or hearing-impaired pupils.
WMO was established in 1967 under the leadership of Syed Abdul Rahman Bafaqi with a few children as a branch of the Mukkam Muslim Orphanage. As of 2007, it gives food, clothes, shelter and protection to nearly 1,100 orphans and the destitute. In an article about its 40th anniversary in 2007, The Hindu wrote that the orphanage has been playing a vital role in improving the social and economic status of the Muslim community and the society as a whole in the Wayanad district. It has criticised the dowry system that prevails apparently in society and has organised several sans-dowry wedding fetes in connection with that. This institution has been managed and looked after by General Secretary M.A. Mohammed Jamal for decades. The current vice-presidents are Mayan Manima and Muhammad Sha Master. The treasurer is P P Abdul Kader.
In Islam, orphans are children who are left with no protection as a result of the passing of their fathers. Most of the orphans have no source of income or a guardian to take care of them.
This is where Muslims as a community should step in and render help to the orphans, not just to extend a helping hand to the children, but also to their mother, who in most cases is the sole breadwinner of the family.
As Muslims, it’s our duty we have to protect others from any kind of harm and to assist those who are in need in any way that we can. Islam is a religion that has always uplifted the deprived communities in society and brought them the status of orphans. Before the Islamic era, orphans were vulnerable individuals and were often victims of cruelty. They were ignored members of society who had no rights and had no caring individuals around them. Additionally, the mistreatment and abuse of orphans is one of the worst kinds of oppression that is prohibited in Islam. As Allah s.w.t. says in the Quran:
فَاَمَّا الْیَتِیْمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْؕ(۹)
‘Therefore, do not put pressure on the orphan.’
[Kanz-ul-Iman (translation of Quran)](Part 30, Surah Al-Duha, Ayah 9)
How To Find A Muslim Orphanage Near Me
Online Directories Search Engines
One of the most reachable ways to start your search is by using online directories and search engines. You can use the most popular online resource, which is The IslamicFinder.org website and Muslim Charity Navigator. This site lists Muslim charities, some of which operate orphanages. Go to Google Search and use specific terms like “Muslim Orphanage Near Me” Or “Islamic Children Home Near Me”, Etc.
Local Islamic Centres Or Mosques
You can look for mosques near your home and visit nearby mosques and Islamic centres, speak with community leaders or the Imam, explain your interest clearly and ask for guidance from them and attend community events where charity work is organised.
Muslim Charity Organisations
There are lots of charity organisations available that operate orphanages. Here are some organisations’ names are Islamic Relief Worldwide, Muslim Hands, Helping Hand for Relief and Development, etc. You can visit their websites or physically visit their orphanages to verify them, and you can also speak with their volunteers to get more information and find ways to contribute.
Social Media
You can use social media or online platforms to gather information about Muslim Orphanages. You can search on social media groups around you, from there you can get different information and meet multiple people. In these groups, you can join and post here that you are looking for a Muslim Orphanage. Here are a few social media platform names like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube where you can verify information from multiple sources.
Statistics On Muslim Orphanages
According to UNICEF, there are around 17,000 children in Gaza undressed and separated from their families. This situation is likely a result of the advancing opposition in the region. Many of those unaccompanied children are orphans who have been separated from their parents, families and relatives and are not being cared for by adults who, by law, are accountable for doing so. Children are separated from their parents and families, or their previous legal but not necessarily from other relatives.
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