Our CEO Shadim Hussain will be doing 10k on the bike every day while fasting for the last 10 days of Ramadan!  Can you also help by making a small sacrifice today? 

We urgently need your help to continue our work and support the faith needs of the 4000+ unaccompanied refugee children living in care in the UK. 

Can you help bring Hope this Ramadan to orphans living in our communities?

Launched in 2017, the Muslim Foster Network (MFN) in a unique initiative that supports the needs of Muslim children living in care. Over the last 2 years, MFN has supported over 2,000 Muslims considering fostering and over 1,000 non-muslim carers looking after Muslim children.

Due to the huge shortage of Muslim foster carers, most Muslim children are placed outside of their faith and cultural group. We have a number of important initiatives to support the faith needs of these children.

The purpose of the gift box is to remind children the community cares for them and to commend and recognise the great effort of foster carers as well as supplying supporting material for them to better look after the child.

"The information in the box was really useful and the book was very well written. It’s such a good idea that helps children understand their heritage." Foster Carer

Our events and online resources help educate and support potential Muslim foster carers to better understand the practicalities and process to become a foster carer and also provides an Islamic perspective. Our work has been recognised in a recent government report.

"There are innovative campaigns like the Muslim fostering project, targeting under-represented groups and communities and are breaking down myths and introducing fostering to new communities." Department for Education, Fostering Better Outcomes (2018)

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Above image is of one of our foster carers taking her foster daughter to Umrah in April 2019. The young person could have been placed away from her faith group and most likely not had this amazing blessing alhamdulillah. 

Our mentor program and retreats ensure young refugees and the families looking after them have the support needed and direct access to the local community. 

Here’s what one of our mentees had to say about it:

“I learnt how to be more confident at school and decided to never give up”.

Our team has visited camps in Europe and seen first-hand the awful journeys unaccompanied refugee children make to try to get to the UK. Many arrive traumatised and need the support of professionals and those who understand their faith and culture. 

Our mentor program and retreats have been designed by professionals and are delivered by trained mentors. They help develop a sense of belonging and build confidence in young people to become active and successful British citizens while being confident about their faith and identity.

Sh Haitham Al-Haddad said:

“Looking after orphans is one of the most virtuous acts. It would suffice us to mention the hadīth of the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam), wherein he said that he and the guardian of an orphan would be “like this” in paradise—raising his index and middle fingers.

In reality, we can say it is obligatory upon the Muslim community to do something to foster those children in order to preserve their ʿAqīdah. There is an important Usūli principle:

“What is needed to fulfil an obligation, in of itself, becomes an obligation.” So, to preserve the ʿAqīdah of those orphans, we need to work hard to facilitate for Muslim parents to foster them. This is one key issue.

May Allāh enable us to fulfil this obligation, and to help more Muslims to come forward to foster more of our Muslim orphans, and orphans in general. Amīn.”

We supported them in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan Sudan and Somalia. Now they are our neighbours, we have a greater obligation and responsibility to support these children insha'Allah. 

“Worship Allah and join none with Him in worship, and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, Al-Masakin (the poor), the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess. Verily, Allah does not like such as are proud and boastful”

[an-Nisa’ 4:36].

Jazak'Allah'kher

Muslim Foster Network Team

www.muslimfosternetwork.org.uk

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