Facing Hardship with the Remembrance of Allah

“We must always thank Allah. Our gratitude towards Allah should not just be shown when everything is going well. But we must also remember to thank Allah when things are challenging, Alhamdulillah.”

These were the words of Safi, a woman whose life was full of challenges. Safi emigrated from Lebanon about three years ago along with her spouse and children, with the hopes of finding peace and providing the proper assistance for her intellectually disabled child. They have been part of the 76,000 people who remained displaced within their own country. Alhamdulillah! Due to the stresses of the abrupt move and the difficulty adapting to their new environment, Safi began to notice her husband’s physical conditions of chronic pain becoming exasperated and ultimately leading him to permanently sink into psychotraumatic disability. Alhamdulillah!

With the realization that she isn’t able to help her family financially because of her role as the children’s main caregiver she begins to develop extreme anxiety due to the awareness that her social assistance benefits will not even cover the bare minimum needed to survive. This meant sticking to a strict fixed income with no room for setbacks for a family of five and not to mention all the demands that come with raising a special needs child, yet she persisted with Alhamdulillah.

While speaking to a member of her community in order to learn about the helpful resources in her community,she was informed of National Zakat Foundation. She decided to reach out and revealed her situation and ordeal to a caseworker at NZF. Her biggest concerns were dealing with her financial setback and her daughter’s need for immediate hearing aides. Safi’s’ anxiety was evident in her initial conversation with her assigned NZF case worker, but more so she was overwhelmed with the continuous trials and tribulations that she encountered which was the ultimate will of Allah, and once again reiterated Alhamdulillah.

It was important for us to identify her challenges and then categorize them to help her understand the issues and then tackle them without feeling more overwhelmed. We worked together to discuss ways of dealing with the issues, and using resources that were already available for her to access.
For example, we advised Safi to find programs that will be vital in aiding her in the proper skills needed to help a child with special needs.

Ultimately she was able to schedule appointments with her Ontario Works’ caseworker in order to get her support for her special needs child for financial assistance, as well as to sign up for parks and recreational programs for all her kids. As Safi started to tackle her obstacles, one obstacle at a time, NZF assisted her with temporary financial assistance to support her family with the purchase of affordable food. NZF also reimbursed her for an extra expense that occurred and was creating more anxiety. Because of Allah’s will first, then NZF’s assistance, Safi is no longer overwhelmed with her situation, and came to her own realization that having gratitude was a key coping mechanism and that she can survive when she is faced with challenges; so long as she is close to Allah, Alhamdulillah.