Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Council, has built a block of nine flats with modern facilities for its missioners to enhance their religious focus and empowered 100 vulnerable people with N100,000 each as part of its centenary celebration.
Speaking during the centenary N10million empowerment, commissioning of missionaries house and honours, the president of the society, Aare (Dr.) Abdulrafiu Sanni said the project is to show gratitude to Allah (SWT) who preserved the society for good 100 years. “We are grateful to God for allowing the existence of this society up to this moment and in an effort to show gratitude to Almighty Allah we decided to empower 100 people with N10 million naira, as a startup programme for people who are less privileged in society to sustain them.”
He said that Islam enjoined giving charity to the less privileged and it is crucial to help the needy at a time when the cost of living is extremely high. “We all know the situation of this country today, especially with the removal of petrol subsidy, things have been extremely difficult for people and we believe that it is our responsibility as a religious organisation to assist members,” he said.
He added that the provision of shelters for the missioners is to make life comfortable and lessen their burdens to have utmost concentration on their job to lead members on the spiritual part.
“It is our belief that our missioner must be comfortable because this is a religious organisation and all activities centre on them. The missioners are the ones teaching us the words of the holy Quran, the purpose of creation and how best to serve Allah well. They are vast in the Quran and hadith of the Holy Prophet (saw) and consequently, we believe strongly that we must make them comfortable in terms of their remuneration, accommodation and peace of mind. It is incumbent on us to ensure that we give them all the best to meet their life aspirations and that is why we have built this mission house for their comfort.”
He however advised the government to ensure empowerment through religious organisations as they were the ones familiar with the downtrodden in society. “I must commend the Lagos State Government, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, about two weeks ago he sent some palliative to the society and we were able to distribute the little that was given. But the fact remains that it is too little and a little bit too late. We believe that Ansar-ud-deen’s strength in Lagos state alone is close to a million and we are given just 40 bags, though it shows the good intentions of the government. We believe that the best way to go about ensuring this sort of palliative gets to the right people is to do it through religious organisations both Muslim and Christian. We know these people, they are our members, we know their problems and we are very close to them, we can identify them easily.
Also speaking, Chairman, Ansar-ud-deen, Lagos State Council, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Olabode Salaudeen who revealed that the society would be 100 years old on December 21, 2023 said, “the idea behind building a missionary home and empowering 100 vulnerable members with N10 million is to show gratitude to Almighty Allah. Also, we looked out for members who have worked hard to ensure the society is on the move and we honour them with awards, most especially the elders.”
He also encouraged the missioners to make good use of the facility and those empowered to reciprocate the gesture by ensuring the money are used towards enhancing their ways of living.
