The Food Bank That Saved Dubai
When the factory closed, our converted shop became the only institution that stayed — Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
The the Islamic centre on High Street was barely a youth centre — a converted shop. But when the factory closed, it became the only institution that stayed.
Hajia Khadijah started it with fifty packed lunches. 'The Prophet fed people. He didn't check their religion first,' he said.
A white man named Tony came every week. One day he asked to join the cleanup crew. He said, 'You fed me when my own church didn't know I was hungry.'
Tony isn't Muslim. But he comes every Saturday, teaches kids after school, and tells everyone about 'his youth centre.'
We've fed the neighbourhood for three years and counting. The local council noticed. A journalist from the local paper visited. But the real story isn't the numbers. It's the quiet dignity of service.
The Prophet (SAW) said the best of people are those who are most beneficial to others. He didn't add conditions. He didn't say 'beneficial to other Muslims.' He said people. All people.
That's what we do on High Street. We serve. We don't ask questions. And somehow, in the serving, we find the faith we'd been looking for all along.