Hyderabad (Rahnuma) Every year on the eve of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi as a force of habit, I amble across the length and breadth of Hyderabad to take note of the preparations that are underway for Milad.
During one such promenade of mine, I visited Shahi Masjid Bagh e Aama housed inside the Public garden complex. I offered my prayer, as I was about to leave the premises of the sanctum, a banner hung on the wall was staring straight at me. I darted towards it, as I ran my eyes across the banner reading the message printed on the canvas, it made me feel culpable for my negligence.
I pulled myself out of the flood of thoughts I was drowning in. Inscribed on the canvas was the most heartwarming message I read in a while. The banner carried a sincere message for the Muslim brethren, appealing the community to volunteer for blood donation on the day of Milad encompassing the greater good of mankind.
Inquisitive I am by nature, curiosity took the better of me. I dashed towards Khateeb of the Shahi Masjid, Maulana Ahsan bin Mohammed Alhamoomi requesting his company to gather further information on the origins of the event, the force behind the occurrence.
According to Maulana Ahsan, the event is organized every year on the day of Milad and since its commencement, it has gathering momentum. The movement that relies on goodwill, seeks blood donation from volunteers. He is glad, it is going from strength to strength with each passing year. He is one of the founding fathers, a trailblazer of the renowned organization in Hyderabad which is his brainchild and the very first of its kind in the city of pearls.
To make me understand the very foundations of the campaign better, he took me down the memory lane, sometime in the year 2009, he was witness to the difficulties he had faced on his quest at procuring blood for the ailing father of a dear friend.
As he further narrated the incident, helter-skelter he approached the nearest blood bank seeking blood but was scoffed at by the administrator of the blood bank when he requested blood of a Muslim person for the ailing. The administrator remarked scathingly, not many from the Muslim community volunteer to donate blood, how can one expect to find blood of a particular community during the times of dismay?
Maulana Ahsan took this to his heart and he divulged to me gracefully that it was a red letter day for him, as it dawned on him further, he realized the bitter and harsh reality underlying the state of affairs of the society.
He grew heart broken, thus he resolved to spread awareness about the benefits of blood donation and also on the other hand made efforts to eradicate the misconceptions and misbeliefs that are propagated in the Muslim community on donating blood.
He emphasized the gravity of organizing such events so that the awareness of volunteering for blood donation encompasses the panache with which Muslims celebrate the day of Milad.
He sounded sprightly whilst expressing the number of volunteers who are actively taking part in this event of magnanimity and is quite bashful. He proudly claimed that more than 2000 units of blood was collected in the first ever camp that was organized a decade ago.
This year too, several camps are being setup in Hyderabad, prominent of which are Asifia State Library, Afzal Gunj in Hyderabad and Eidgah Balamrai behind Masjid e Sufi in Secunderabad.
The event will span from 7AM in the morning to 5PM in the evening, people aged 18 to 50 (who are hale) can donate blood. The blood donation will be conducted under complete medical supervision. All are cordially invited to volunteer in this cause of pure kindness.
Riding on the popularity of the event, Maulana Ahsan accentuates, that he wants to set this event as an example to the nation that Muslims are peace loving and a harmonious community.
We are good Samaritans and we are doing our part for the greater good for the populous. He earnestly requests especially the youngsters to donate blood irrespective of religion, sect, caste, creed and beliefs.
As we parted ways after a thought-provoking discourse, he quoted a message from the Holy Quran. “A person who aids in the longevity of another person’s life will be rewarded by Almighty Allah for his good deed that is equivalent to aiding the longevity of all mankind.”
