How do Muslims show care?

Hafeez: Hi, I’m Hafeez, and I’m a Muslim.

My mosque is a very important part of my community and we do a lot to try and help people.

In Islam, helping each other is one of the most important things you can do.

There are duties that every Muslim should carry out. We call them the Five Pillars of Islam…

One of the Five Pillars is called Zakah, which means everybody who can, should give money to charity to help people in need.

That’s why we raise money for many different charities.

In the spirit of Zakah, we also help out in the community.

We set up and run youth sport programmes, like the cricket club.

And we have many free educational classes for Muslims and non-Muslims.

We’ve worked with local businesses to make food for refugees – they are people who had to leave their homes in other places and come to live here.

Many of them need a home and something to eat. Children need toys and books too.

I helped to deliver the meals to them.

I’m glad our mosque can do so much for the community.

It is a special feeling to be able to help!

In the middle of the most important mosque in Makkah stands a very special building to Muslims. It's called the Kabbah. Once, the Kabbah was damaged by heavy rain, so some of the most well-known families in Makkah worked together to rebuild it. One important piece of the Kabbah that fell out of its place after the rainfall was the Black Stone, a rock that belonged in the corner of the building. It was almost time to place the special Black Stone back in its place in the Kabbah, but who should have the great honour of placing it there? All of the families who had helped to rebuild the Kabbah thought they should be the one to do it. No one could agree and a big argument broke out.

Finally, someone had an idea: "Let's wait until the morning and see who comes into the mosque first. Whoever it is, they can decide who should put the Black Stone in its place." They heard footsteps and held their breath, waiting to see who it was. As they saw who the person was, the family said together, "Here comes the trustworthy one." It was Muhammad. Everyone was happy when they saw him. They all respected Muhammad and trusted him to make a good decision.

Muhammad listened as they told him what they were arguing about. Everyone watched Muhammad nervously whilst he was thinking, hoping he would choose them to do the most important job. Muhammad then asked for a big piece of cloth. He spread the cloth on the floor and carefully put the Black Stone in the middle of it. One person from each family must take a corner of the cloth and lift it together. The people did as Muhammad told them and they worked together to lift the Black Stone. Once everyone helped to lift it up, Muhammad put the Black Stone back in its place in the Kabbah. They knew Muhammad had found a way that was fair, so no one felt left out.