Athlone community shows solidarity with Palestine through thikr prayer
Some seniors at the prayer service received annual gifts at the thikr
Image: Phiri Cawe
Reach Out founder, Aziza Hendricks at the prayer meeting in Athlone.
Image: Phiri Cawe
The Muslim community gathered at the Dulcie September Civic Hall to pray for Palestine.
Image: Phiri Cawe
The Reach Out Athlone non-profit organisation (NGO) brought together more than 100 Muslim worshippers for a thikr dedicated to the people of Palestine, both the living and the deceased, and called for an end to Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
On Wednesday, 19 November, the prayer service for the ongoing crisis in Palestine was held at the Dulcie September Civic Hall in Athlone. This year, the event replaced the NGO’s annual thanks giving gathering.
Reach Out founder, Aziza Hendricks, said: "We normally pray and give people gifts. However, we had to change our focus due to the ongoing loss of life in Palestine. Today, we are praying for those who have been killed. We cannot sit on our laurels while people in Palestine are suffering and dying,” she said.
She said prayer united the community in devotion and reflected the growing outrage across the Muslim world over Israel’s renewed bombardment of civilians in the besieged enclave.
She added that attempts were made to bring more community members to the annual function, but circumstances had made this difficult.
“We are grateful for the support we received,” she said. “But we are happy that some people came out to support us in our endeavours to seek freedom for the people of Palestine through prayer. We also handed out the annual gifts we usually provide. We are certainly not complaining.”
The prayer event received the blessing from councillor Rashid Adams, who was also in attendance. Community member Rafiek Davids, who spoke to Athlone News about his understanding of the prayer gathering, expressed his support for the initiative, despite this being the first he had heard of it.
“That is one of the best things to have happened. Those people need all our prayers. If we can intervene through prayer or any other means, then so be it. I am sorry, I did not know about it, but they have my support. Palestine should, and will, be free one day,” he said.
Mr Davids encouraged the organisers to hold more such prayer gatherings in the future.