Idea No 10: Reconnect with and share the message of Hussain (as) with the neighbours of our Islamic Centres!
One of the ideazz during the ten days of Muharram was to share the message of Hussain (as) with our neighbours. In line with the ideazz during these ten days of ‘group’ activities, this is a phenomenal initiative to now reach out to our local centre’s neighbours.
Just before the commencement of Ashra-e-Zainabiyya, the Hyderi Centre in South London, UK and Stanmore Centre in North West London, UK did exactly that!
In Stanmore, a group of 11 people (including two children) got together and knocked on 200 doors to give them a gift bag including:
1. A Who is Hussain Card (www.whoishussain.org)
2. A Buzz Christmas Card
3. A special message inserted inside the card to apologise for any inconvenience we may cause them throughout the year
4. A small box of chocolates
Although mixed feedback was received, overall the neighbours deeply deeply appreciated the gesture and even gave a gift back in some instances 🙂
Some of the mixed feedback included:
1. You have been great neighbours.
2. The foot flow makes us feel safe.
3. Haven’t really noticed any inconvenience.
4. Please be more considerate when parking and don’t damage the grass area.
5. Next morning, there is a lot of litter of Styrofoam cups left lying around 🙁
Overall – it was a very positive fulfilling experience for those involved.
If any other centres have done something similar, please do share!
For those centres that want to reach out, this can still be done by replacing the Interfaith Christmas card with a New Year’s card and putting an additional insert that was used for Stanmore (this can be emailed to you – please feel free to get in touch).