A day full of Barakah @ Ba’alawie Mosque

Published: January 7, 2019

Saturday, 5 Jan 2019 – Alhamdulillah, it was another memorable day at the Ba’alawie Mosque annual food fair this year. AN@S members and volunteers were on duty for the 8th straight year giving our full support for the event serving up food from the generous donations and contributions of our members and supporters.

The morning started with the congregational recitation of prayers (Mawlid) headed by a group of specially invited religious leaders from all over the world hosted by the Imam of the Ba’alawie Mosque, Habib Hassan bin Muhammad bin Salim Alattas. It was a peaceful and meaningful start for the day which was followed by the guests heading out to the compound of the mosque for the food fair. We were fortunate this year that all the Habaibs (religious leaders) visited our booth along with other VIPs including Habib Hassan and his lovely wife, Mdm Tumi Zawawi, as well as Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Dr Maliki Osman.

Altogether, AN@S served more than 40 boxes of pizza to all guests which included beneficiaries and staff from orphanages, welfare homes, elderly care and student care centers, the visually-handicapped and other under-privileged groups. Our guests were also treated to a Middle-Eastern pastry called Fatayeh sponsored by a couple of dedicated AN@S supporters and a delicious Sujee dessert lovingly made by AN@S member, Mdm Felicia Ayling. Another special thing about this year’s AN@S booth is that we had strong support from new youth supporters who provided much needed valuable help. May Allah reward them bountifully for all their contribution!

After hours of work drenched in sweat from preparing to serving to tidying up, it was a wonderful divine gift for us that as soon as we stepped out of the mosque, the heavens opened and rain poured instantaneously drenching all of us in cool rainwater instead, subhanAllah.

As always, it was very sobering for us to see the smiles of those who are facing so many of lives’ challenges that day, most of whom were sincerely touched by the generosity and kindness of all the volunteers on-duty that day. This reminds us to also be grateful for everything that we have in our lives as the challenges that we face are really not as harsh as what some of the beneficiaries have had to endure and overcome.

Photos of the lovely day captured by various AN@S supporters can be viewed below: