Scholar Recommends Muslims to Help Quake Victims Instead of Making Umrah Pilgrimage
Ali al-Qaradaghi urged those who seek to perform Umrah pilgrimage for someone else or those who seek to make the pilgrimage multiple times to donate the costs of their pilgrimage to those who have been affected by the deadly earthquake in Syria and Turkey.
Two strong earthquakes shook southern Turkish regions last Monday, killing at least 37,000 people in both countries and affecting millions of others.
This help, Al-Qaradaghi maintained, has more thawab (reward) and priority as it can alleviate the pains and save lives, Arabi21 reported.
Saving victims is a religious duty for Muslim countries, he said, referring to verse 32 of Surah al-Maidah which reads “to save a life would be as great a virtue as to save all of mankind.”
The UN estimates up to 5.3 million people in Syria may be homeless after the earthquakes. Nearly 900,000 people are in urgent need of hot food in Turkey and Syria.
