Group provides free meals for over 15,000 Oyo Muslims, non-Muslims in Ramadan
The Bodija Muslim Youth Forum (BOMYOF), has since the beginning of Ramadan fast provided free meals, known to Islam as Iftar, to over 15,000 people as part of its 2017 Ramadan programmes in Ibadan.
Chairman of the Forum, which is the youth wing of Bodija Estates and Environs Muslim Community (BEEMC), Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said this in Ibadan during one of the Iftar programmes.
Balogun said over 500 Islamic faithful and non-Muslims resident in Bodija and its environs of Ibadan benefited daily from the free meal since the commencement of Ramadan fasting on May 27.
He said that by the end of 29th or 30th Ramadan fast on Saturday June 24 or Sunday June 25, more than 15,000 people would have benefited from the free meal of the Forum.
Balogun, a journalism leader, said that the Forum decided to provide free meal to the people in Ibadan when it discovered that many people were unable to provide meal for their families during the fasting period.
He said it was also to cushion the effects on some government workers who have not been able to receive their monthly salaries as well as those encountering financial difficulty in feeding their families.
Also President of the Muslim Media Practitioner in Nigeria (MMPN), Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Balogun said that Islamic religion in its nature implored those who were rich to assist the needy during the month of Ramadan and beyond because of its spiritual benefits.
Balogun stressed that it was more rewarding to assist the needy during the month of Ramadan in line with Islamic dictates.
“This iftar program is organised for Muslims within Bodija Estates and its Environs even though people of other faith also break fast with us here daily’’, he said.
On funding of the programme, Balogun said that some kind- hearted Muslims, as well as corporate bodies, have been contributing to its success both in kind and cash.
The chairman, however, appealed to other well-meaning Muslims to emulate them and contribute to the program so that it could be sustained.
He said that over 2,400 children of below ages eight were being given gifts during every Sunday school when their parents were busy with weekly Ramadan lectures of the parent body, Bodija Estates and Environs Muslim Community (BEEMC).
Balogun said the Forum equally organise daily Tafsir (translation and commentary on Qur’an) at the community Islamic Centre to nurture the soul of the worshipers.
