Mercy Mission is a non-profit organization founded by Dr. Tawfique Chowdhury through its first program – AlKauthar Institute in 2005. It focuses on supporting Muslimsaround the world to return to their faith and help them build exemplary Islamic communities in order to fulfill the greater goal of benefiting humanity.
History
Mercy Mission was founded with a motto, “knowledge and action”. It was firstly started in Australia and subsequently spread to the UK, South Africa, India, Canada, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Currently it has over twenty projects worldwide mainly divided into education and social service benefiting thousands of people. Since launching in 2006 Mercy Mission has been working on placing domestic poverty firmly on the agenda of the Muslimcommunity. Reminding Muslims of the Prophetic way to pay their Zakat, since it believes zakat as the divine enabler to challenge poverty. It has raised the largest domestic Zakat fund and helps hundreds of vulnerable Muslims every year in the UK and other places. It has over 3000 volunteers who were mainly recruited through its AlKauthar institute.
Purpose
The organization works with the following objectives:
To increase Piety
To increase Confidence
To increase Self-sufficiency
To increase Selflessness
Every activity which Mercy Mission seeks to undertake, contributes towards achieving one or more of its core objectives which have been selected in order to help Mercy Mission realize its vision.
Charity Right is a not for profit organization under Mercy Mission established in 2013 which focuses on providing food to millions of chronically hungry people worldwide. It feeds thousands of people weekly and aims to prove every dollar with pictures and GPS coordinates. It raises funds through its website, charity dinners and public charity events. Instead of just feeding the poor, charity right also helps them by having job matching and skill and training sessions with the help of government bodies. Mercy Mission's women's shelters cater to homeless Muslim women in Melbourne, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur. The temporary accommodation offered by the charity provides an environment which complies with the Islamic way of life. Mercy Mission also help the new converts to Islam through a dedicated website and buddy system. Every participant in the "New Muslim Care" goes through a cycle which includes components to assist them with various educational, emotional, and social needs. Pure Matrimony is another initiative of Mercy Mission which is world's largest Muslim matrimonial website exclusively catering for practicing single Muslims.
Education
AlKauthar Institute
Ramadan TV
Little Explorers
Just Go Do It
Twins of Faith
Being ME Conference
Students Guild
Revival Tours
Seven Skies International School
Guardian International School
Imam Development Project www.imamdp.org
Tawfique Chowdhury, the founder and CEO of Mercy Mission believes that knowledge is vital before any action and hence the organization offer a number of education programs including Alkauthar institute which offers courses in 25 cities to over 57,000 students since inception. This institute is similar to AlMaghrib Institute. Mercy Mission organizes some of the largest Islamic conferences namely "Annual Islamic Conference", "Twins of Faith" and "Being ME" in the UK, Malaysia, Australia and Canada. It also publishes magazine for children from all walks of life and all age groups. The magazine aims to teach children various topics based on the National Curriculum, as well as helping them learn about Islam in a fun and engaging way. Ramadan TV is designed specifically for the Muslim viewer in the month of Ramadan. It operates to pursue the vision of the Prophet Muhammad which according to mercy mission is “to see, a world where every Muslim is able to live faithfully to their belief, building an exemplary Islamic community that benefits humanity”. The channel is designed to showcase a diverse portfolio of shows, which reach out to a diverse range of Muslims from across the ethnic, social and religious spectrum, and help them increase in god consciousness. The channel claims that in 2010 it had phenomenal success with 8/10* Muslim homes reported having viewed the channel. Fusing quality English language religious programming with fun and interesting live shows ensured a genuine family viewing experience was achieved. It received criticism from a section of people for supporting "Save Maryam" campaign in 2012. Ramadan TV has also helped the Syrian victims and refugees through its TV series during the Syrian civil war in 2013. Ramadan TV was available in the UK on Sky channel 875 from 12 June to 29 July 2014 as Showcase 3. In 2014, Mercy Mission announced its first Umrah tour to the Islamic holy cities of Makka and Medina. The tour will be for 11 days with 15 Muslim scholars teaching tafseer of Quran and the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad. In 2015, Mercy Mission began its first International School program in Malaysia.In 2016, Mercy Mission announced a branch of Seven Skies in Australia. Although once announced in 2014, in 2017 Mercy Mission re-announced its second International School program in Canada.
National Zakat foundation collects zakat which Muslims are required to pay 2.5% of their wealth above a minimum amount to the poor and needy each year. It collects zakat from Muslims in the UK and helps local Muslims. According to Azim Kidwai, Mercy Mission UK general manager "although it hurts us to see what's going on around the world, the Zakat is meant to be given locally. The idea is to reach out to the poor right here. " Zam Zam project deals with the water conservation at mosques and community centres. The project carried out at six mosques have resulted in a significant amount of water being saved, with forecasted annual savings expected to be over 1.5 ML. It was nominated for the 2009 National Savewater Awards, the leading water sustainability awards in Australia. It also deals with clean up projects with municipal corporation of Mumbai to make the neighborhoods clean and livable. The Foundation for the Advancement of Muslim Enterprise is a network dedicated to the advancement of Muslim professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs, academics and those emerging professionals who are engaged in studies with aspirations of entrepreneurship. It offers its members regular forums to network and exchanges ideas with fellow professionals.
Criticism
Through "Save Maryam" campaign Mercy Mission came under criticism for wrongly quoting 2 million Muslims converting to Christianity each year.
