As Christmas approaches, a local Birmingham Muslim charity has organized a festive lunch to feed the city’s homeless and rough sleepers, Birmingham Mail reported.

“I set the charity up years ago to help people,” Purpose of Life founder Saj Hussain said at Sunday’s event.

“Prophet Mohammed said, ‘He is not a Muslim who eats his fill when his neighbor is hungry.’

“That doesn’t mean my Muslim neighbor, that means anyone. No matter who they are or what they believe in,” he added.

Served by 20 volunteers, from the age of 8 to 40, a hundred homeless people received a festive lunch with gifts, games, and makeovers on December 8.

It was held at Kind Aid International on Camden Street where the homeless were provided with hot food and free hair cuts.

Purpose of Life

Hussain believes it is his mission in life to take care of the desperate and the needy, regardless of their believes.

“I don’t want to be turned away at the gates when my time comes because I only looked after myself,” he said.

“It was once said that there are two most important days in our lives: the day we are born and the day we find out why. None of this happened by chance.

“I suggest that everyone should work on their purpose because this is mine. This project is my way of saying thank you to God.

“We had a really successful dinner in August and this was our second one.

“Our goal is to eventually be able to do this every month.”‘

Charity

As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat or alms giving is a religious obligation for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth.

It’s a mandatory charitable contribution, the right of the poor to find relief from the rich, and is considered to be tax or obligatory alms.

Islamic Shari’ah also has another type of optional donation called Sadaqah. This term is as well used in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah for both zakat and charity.