BLACKBURN – Muslim volunteers at Jaame Mosque in Blackburn, the UK, volunteered on December 9 to package 11,595 meals, stocking up their local food bank in preparation for Christmas, Asian Image reported on December 12.

The Muslim charity drive saw mosques and Muslim organizations from Blackburn coming together to raise as much as they could for the food bank.

In the end, they donated an astonishing 4869.92 kg of food.

The initiative, in association with Al-Imdaad Foundation, was supported by eight mosques; Jaame Mosque, Masjede Hidayah, Masjide Noorul Islam, Masjid Al Momineen, Masjid Saliheen, Masjide Anwaar, Masjide-e-Rizwan, and Masjid Anisul Islam.

Moreover, a sum of other nine British Muslim organizations supported the campaign; Abu Hanifah Foundation, Lancashire Council of Mosques, Olive School, Little Discovers Nursery, Stepping Stones Charity, Sajedeen Youth Group, Bayt Muhammad Academy, the Ummah Welfare Trust, and the Inter Madrassah Organization.

Christmas is the main festival on the Christian calendar.

Muslims believe in Jesus as one of the great prophets of God and that he was born miraculously, conceived with no father, to his mother, Mary, but that doesn’t make him the ‘Son of God’.

As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat or donating and charity 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 a tax or obligatory alms.

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

Islam is the second largest religion in the UK, with results from the United Kingdom 2011 Census giving the UK Muslim population in 2011 as 2,786,635, 4.4% of the total population.