Hundreds of Emirati volunteers to spruce up mosques

Ramadan: Over 200 Emiratis devote 1,000 hours to the Ramadan initiative.

A Takatof volunteer organises books in a mosque as part of the programme. They will clean, renovate and help worshippers at mosques across the UAE. Wam

ABU DHABI // Young Emirati volunteers are cleaning and renovating mosques across the UAE, in keeping with the spirit of Ramadan.

More than 200 volunteers with the Emirates Foundation’s Takatof Programme for Social Volunteering will spend 1,000 hours furnishing mosques, laying carpets, painting walls, providing copies of the Quran and distributing water to worshippers during Taraweeh prayer.

Before Ramadan, volunteers also visited poor families to ask what they needed for the holy month. Since then they have visited labour camps to provide hundreds of iftar meals and cold water.

They also spent time at hospitals and clinics, and organised a blood-donation campaign.

Work has already begun at mosques in most emirates, including Abu Dhabi’s Al Shahama Mosque; the Juvenile Centre Mosque in Al Shamkha; Dubai’s Al Tawheed Mosque; Ali bin Abi Taleb Mosque; Sharjah’s Khaled bin Al Waleed Mosque; Ibn Al Qaiem Al Jawzeyeh Mosque; and Amro bin Al As Mosque.

Volunteers are also set to clean and repair Al Kuwaiti Mosque and the Fish Market Mosque in Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah’s Omar bin Al Khattab and Armed Forces Martyr’s mosques.

Maytha Al Habsi, the Emirates Foundation chief programme officer, said the campaign was inspired by Muslims’ devotion to doing good deeds and charitable work during the holy month.

“Takatof volunteers use this goodwill to keep in touch with worshippers and offer them a comfortable environment,” she added.

The Mosque Renovation Campaign is in its seventh year and aims to “encourage people to volunteer and to mobilise both people and resources in the UAE to deliver creative solutions that meet community needs”.

The mosque campaign will be carried out in coordination with the Islamic Affairs Authority, Awqaf, the Juvenile Care Centre, Injazat Data Systems and Health Authority – Abu Dhabi.

Anyone interested in volunteering can call 800-TAKATOF (8252863) or visit www.takatof.ae