For Muslims, fasting during Ramadan is as much an exercise of self-discipline and sacrifice as it is a reminder to be generous and compassionate to the less fortunate.
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. The term signifies payments made annually for charitable and religious purposes.
From the UAE’s One Billion Meals campaign to a zakat fund set up by the UNHCR, here are five charity initiatives to donate to this Ramadan.
One Billion Meals
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, launched a campaign that aims to donate one billion meals to the poor and hungry around the world.
The campaign began on Saturday, the first day of Ramadan, and will run until the goal of raising enough money to fund one billion meals has been achieved.
“During Ramadan, we will be able to feel the suffering of 800 million people going to sleep hungry every day,” Sheikh Mohammed wrote on Twitter. “We have one billion humane and noble messages to send out from the UAE to the world.”
To donate, visit www.1billionmeals.ae.
Emirates Red Crescent
The Emirates Red Crescent has a number of charity funds related to Ramadan, including Zakat Al-Fitr and providing food to those fasting.
There are also charities dedicated to providing food, clothing, education or medical attention to the needy around the world.
You can donate to Emirates Red Crescent through their website www.emiratesrc.ae.
UNHCR Zakat Fund
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has a dedicated charity for Ramadan called the Zakat Fund.
The charity aims to help eligible families in 14 countries with their immediate needs, such as food, water, shelter and medicine.
According to the UNHCR website, the fund ensures transparency at every step, “from donation to distribution of zakat funds to eligible families”.
The organisation said they have adopted a “100 per cent zakat distribution policy”, and will ensure that monetary contributions are delivered in full directly to eligible families.
Information on how to donate to the fund is at zakat.unhcr.org.
UAE Suqia
The UAE Water Aid Foundation, or UAE Suqia, was founded in 2015 as an organisation under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation.
The non-profit organisation is dedicated to providing humanitarian aid and helping communities around the world who have trouble accessing clean water.
According to its website, the foundation has influenced the lives of more than 13 million people in 36 countries.
The foundation’s mission is to not only provide potable water to those in need. “We also work to identify how innovative and sustainable technologies can be part of the solution to the global water crisis,” the website reads.
To donate, visit suqia.ae.
International Charity Organisation
The International Charity Organisation was established in 1984 in Ajman by Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman.
The organisation has created several charity initiatives for the holy month.
A Ramadan 2022 section on its website shows the list of its funds — dedicated to helping people locally and internationally. Initiatives within the UAE include paying for Eid gifts or clothes for a child, helping those imprisoned for minor financial issues, donating a meal or providing support to cancer patients.
Funds dedicated to helping those abroad include providing clothing to a family of refugees, building mosques and distributing drinking water.
You can browse through the full list of funds at ico.org.ae.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
More on Quran memorisation:
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Pakhtoons 137-6 (10 ov)
Fletcher 68 not out; Cutting 2-14
Sindhis 129-8 (10 ov)
Perera 47; Sohail 2-18
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
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BRIEF SCORES:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
