Appeal

When Allah Made Our Hearts…

The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said : Allah said: “ I am so self sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he does an action for someone else’s sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me”. So read this story only for Allah’s Sake!

By Nigar Ataulla

Shabanna is just 14 years, a 10th Std student and resident of Pogak Street, Kondakamarla (P), O.D.Cheruvu (M) of Anantapur District. Losing her mother was enough trauma for her. Thanks to Allah for the moral support she gets from her two sisters and her father Nazeer Khan who toils hard to earn for the family. Imagine the family has to manage life with an annual income of Rs 7000 only. Shabanna would have been the happy-go-lucky giggly young girl, but her heart skipped few beats when she was diagnosed with Rheumatic Heart Disease, Severe Mitral Regurgitaiton disease. Shabanna has to undergo Mitral Valve Replacement, an Open Heart Surgery. Mending hearts is no easy task. It costs a fortune and for Shabanna, Rs 1,30,000 which will be the cost of the surgery is simply out-of-reach. Heart Diseases come in various phases and forms. And there is 12 year-old Rizwana Banu, daughter of Irshad Ahmad from Bangalore. She has Congenital Heart Disease which requires total correction and surgery. Just another Rs 75,000 would help her a lot as she will soon bounce back to normal life. What’s common between Shabanna and Rizwana? They are both young girls, will soon see the world much more and make their contribution as mothers, daughters, sisters and wives to the community.

Life comes in various hues and it all depends on how we look at it. For 48 year-old Mehmood Sultan and his wife Abida, life is not about sulking. It means to accept life as it comes and take each day as it comes. One has to learn lessons of grit and courage from them. He lived a contented life polishing furniture for his living and each of his nine children are a source of peace and comfort to him. But then there came a day when his heart broke. He was diagnosed as suffering from Coronary Heart Disease and this could be rectified only through a Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting. Allah has clearly said that “ he will not burden a person more than what he can bear.” The surgery would cost Rs 1,04, 500. Mehmood had to give up his job as the illness exhausted him. So his wife took over charge and this brave lady brings home Rs 50 per day she earns in an agarbathi firm. So how does the family manage? “ We eat once instead of thrice,” says Abida with a smile. It is amazing to see the couple’s unflinching courage against all odds. Mehmood’s 18 year old daughter had to discontinue studies to take care of her ailing father. The surgery has to be performed immediately to prevent any damage to the other vital organs of the body. “ Allah gives ailments and He shall cure this too. I have lived an honest life and earned honestly,” says Mehmood.

Summer is here, so kids seem excited planning their vacations. But little Basavaraj is not so lucky to splash around in a swimming pool or laze around the house with a comic book. This 13 year-old boy is living life on the edge. At sunset each day, his parents Ramachandra and Kanaka, thank God that their son has seen another day. It all started with a simple cough for Basavaraj which grew worse and investigations revealed that he was suffering from Rheumatic Heart Disease, Severe Mitral Regurgitation and an n emergency Mitral Valve Replacement (Open Heart Surgery) has to be performed immediately. While his father Ramachandra, working as a coolie in Tumkur on a meagre daily wage of Rs 70 saves this money for his bus tickets to Bangalore, his mother Kanaka slogs as a housemaid again for a tiny amount of Rs 250 which goes towards cooking frugal meals for the family that includes 3 little boys apart from Basavaraj. The surgery for Basavaraj would cost them Rs 1,30,000.