We completed meat deliveries and headed for Prizren to join the team in Kosovo. We recited prayers for our ancestors while crossing the area where the Battle of Kosovo was fought. It was almost midnight when we reached Orphan Castle guesthouse on the outskirts of Sar Mountains. It was freezing outside. Iron heater inside the guesthouse was burning with a gurgling sound. The IHH team leader, two instructors from Çınar College and six students were sitting at the table and were about to have dinner. They invited us to eat together. On the fourth day of Eid we delivered meat packs and gifts prepared especially for orphans in Prizren.
Bahattin Yıldız-Sandzak
We met curious and surprised eyes as we entered the mosque. Since almost all white people in the country are non-Muslim, it is hard to believe a white man could be Muslim. Smiling faces replaced surprised expressions as they were convinced we are Muslims. We went to the venue where sacrifices would be slaughtered following Eid prayers. In Tanzania, 504 shares of sacrifices were slaughtered in the capital Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Pemba islands. We distributed meat packs in cooperation with the partner organization of the IHH in the country. We realized during deliveries how impoverished Zanzibar is.
Veysel Tepeli-Tanzania
Muslims and Islam have a bright future in Ethiopia, which has experienced periods of kingdom, colonialism, and military junta. Although it is fighting droughts and poverty, Ethiopia is unlikely to remain condemned to famines and chronic poverty as depicted in documentaries. Islam and Muslims are gradually gaining influence in social life; they are advancing in creating projects in universities, commerce, education, farming and livestock breeding. They are becoming politically and economically better equipped and are gaining experience in science and societal issues. In the interviews and talks we had with people involved in aid deliveries and those who received aid we observed that there is a growing turn to the Koran.
Kenan Alpay – Ethiopia
Believers of many nations exchange Eid greetings outside the mosque. Tatar, Uzbek, Kazakh, Turkish, Yemeni, African, Russian, Tajik, Pakistani Muslims are embracing each other. “This is the first time I have seen people who have never met before greet each other so lively,” says my trip companion Talha.
Hamdi Arslan - Kazan
Each door we knocked on in the camp opened to a new drama. Life in camps is crammed into one-room houses and each house has several families. Instead of candy, people offer cookies and hard coffee here at Eid. Despite all the hardships they are living through, their eyes are smiling and they embrace us wholeheartedly. Following house visits we started distributing meat packs to every house in the camp.
Elif Girgin-Syria
We went to visit Darul Aman Orphanage. It is a make-shift building made from sheet irons. Orphanage officials told us the orphans are negatively affected by bad conditions of the building. We decided to spend donations of benevolent people on these orphans and went to the market with our guide. We bought clothes for the orphans, gave them Eid allowances and offered cash donations to the orphanage. The room was brightened with smiles of the orphans. I am sure the smiles of these orphans on the eve of Eid have increased the blessing of donors’ charity.
Cemal Demir-Bangladeş
At the end of the six-day trip we left Kazakhstan with the joy of having met these beautiful people. Students of Ahmet Yesevi had hit the roads 1000 years ago to enlighten Anatolia. They brought us a lot from Kazakhstan ten centuries ago. It is our turn now.
Yusuf Bülbül-Kazakhstan
We met a people so desperate, impoverished, grieved but so dignified. We were quite impressed by their noble attitude despite all the pains they suffered, being alienated in camps for years and being devoid of every social opportunity. No stealing, ransacking or stampede took place during our deliveries. The Palestinian people continue to impress us and the whole world with their noble resistance. Palestinian women thanked us in an ashamed voice as they received meat packs we handed, and left silently. The children, however, are happy and smiling like children everywhere. A few candies and IHH balloons were adequate to please them.
Süleyman Kurt-Jordan (Palestinian refugee camps)
We went to slaughter the sacrifices after breakfast. They were slaughtered by Mr. Baskim through delegation. The meat was cut into smaller pieces. Our first destination was a village where Roma people were living. Among the families we gave meat packs to a family with six children living in a single room at the train station touched me the most. There were only a few mattresses on the floor. They had lit a candle they found to greet us. We gave them their share of meat and left.
Mehmet Tarık Oruç - Kosovo
Muftis and imams of Rwandan Muslims have been trained in Arab countries. The Arab influence is seen in many fields such as in cooking and eating habits, dressing, speech, and title using. University graduates are called sheikh, those who have not attended university muallem (teacher), and masjid staff as imam. We had to pass through mountains in the rain to reach Ruhengeri. Beans and corn fields lie along roads. We had a wonderful organization in Ruhengeri and distributed meat packs.
Kaan Hafızoğlu- Rwanda
After completing meat distributions we visited a number of poor families in Tangier and gave them cash donations. Tangier is a touristic city and is a major commercial hub thanks to its large port. Migrants who could not afford a living in the city live in makeshift houses made from sheet iron in suburbs. They were worst affected in last year’s floods. Our partner organization in the country is constructing concrete houses for the families of orphans.
Abdullah Bayrak-Morocco
We were in Sanbale Shala region on the second day of Eid al-Adha. The region is 10-15 km away from the highway and has an unpaved and damaged road. Totally 150 animals would be sacrificed here. We sat at the table set up for us in the middle of the crowd, with hundreds of local residents staring at us. I was capturing the scene as Ömer was giving a speech. A group of 4 to 5 persons started reciting prayers after a cheerful greeting. They told us not to forget them. One of them called us guardian angels. The beneficiaries of the Qurban meat recited prayers for the donors. The region needs a mosque and a madrasah. They already have a name for the mosque: Ayasofya
Hüseyin Oruç, Ethiopia, 2004
Peasants here live in poverty, but they kept offering us snacks throughout our stay at their homes. We went to visit an elderly man after performing evening prayers at the house of the village head. The man recited parts from Mawlud in Turkish. Praying in Turkish is a sign of piety in Adjara. Speakers of other languages also tell each other after prayers “May Allah accept it.” Muslims recite certain prayers and wishes in Turkish and start prayers with Turkish.
(…)
The number of young Christians here is growing, because Islamic awareness is limited and being a Christian is a means of privileged status and prestige. Degeneration is particularly widespread in cities. The eight decades of communist rule and systematic Christianization efforts of the Georgian government have had profound effects.
Cemalettin Esgin, Adjara, 2008
“Salamat hari raya, aid al edha!” we say as we kiss them on the cheek, imagining that up until three years ago most of them used to spend Eid with their parents. The courtyard of the orphanage was very crowded and lively. We were touched, but the joy of spending Eid al-Adha with Acehnese orphans who lost their parents to the most devastating tsunami of the century engulfed us and took away blues…
Ayşe Olgun, Aceh, 2007
Almost the entire population of Adygea is Muslim. There are also Muslims that emigrated to Adygea from other parts of the Caucasus. Some Muslims perform Islamic rituals such as prayers and fasting regularly. The rest are not observant, except for pronouncing that they are Muslim, greeting as Salam Alaykum and occasionally using the expressions “Bismillah” and “Amen.” There is only one mosque in Maykop that was built by a foreign Muslim. However, Adygea villages have mosques. The mosques only get crowded during Friday and Eid prayers. President of the Republic of Adygea, mufti, and representatives of the Christian community attend the mosque to exchange Eid greetings.
Yusuf Taş, Adygea, 2007
We had a quick conversation with the congregation on foot after the prayers. They were surprised when we told them we were there for the IHH Qurban campaign. When they said, “We always send our donations to the IHH,” it was my turn to be surprised as much as happy.
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I was reminded about the Eid and the aim of our trip there when we went to visit Uncle Ismail. He hugged me and looked at me in the eye, saying “I visited Turkey many times. I do not know whether I will be able to visit it again at this age, but it is enough happiness that you remembered us and came here at this Eid.” We were quite moved by his talk.
Hüseyin Oruç, Western Thrace, 2008
We are all thankful to the IHH. The distance means nothing when it comes to solidarity. This Eid al-Adha made me believe that we as Muslims should always be in contact and solidarity. People who donate and those who deliver Qurban sacrifices to needy Muslims may not be aware of the significance of their deeds, but they are contributing to a sacred goal. They remember needy people living in far regions and try to help them. Just as Allah wants… It should be known that organizations such as the IHH help non-Muslims learn about Islam, contribute to the expansion of Islam and empowerment of Muslims. We are living this here in Bolivia, and Muslims of diverse races in different parts of the world are experiencing the same thing in the same intensity.
Sümeyye Troche, Bolivia
The first thing here in Sarajevo that touched me was the fountain in the entrance of the main bazaar. It seemed as if the fountain, with doves all over it, was welcoming visitors, inviting them to listen to a harmony stretching from past to future. Walking through side streets of the bazaar reminded me my walks through Arasta of Safranbolu. The streets were dressed in banners reading “Have a blessed Eid” to celebrate Eid al-Adha. The resigned passion of the congregation overflowing the Begova Mosque to side streets despite the freezing cold was engulfing us, combined with the spirit of the main bazaar, like notes from a divine harmony.
Yusuf Şahin, Bosnia, 2007
The orphans were quite happy as we gave them new clothes to wear at Eid. A balloon or a candy makes them so happy. I wanted to talk to a woman who was watching us from a distance. “Is her child here?” I enquired in sign language. She does not have a child. Who knows, maybe she once had a child and lost it. She was very sad and was wearing dark clothes. I tried to explain to her that I wanted to talk to her but could not speak her language. She nodded, meaning she understood what I said and pointed to the sky. I understood. She was pointing to our common point, Allah Almighty. He was uniting us.
Yıldız Ramazanoğlu, Djibouti, 2007
We as representatives of the IHH received their calls for help and assumed it a duty to help them. We took Qurban donations and greetings of Turkey to our Muslim brothers and sisters in Dagestan. They know us as much as we know them. Sacrificial slaughters are carried out in as many regions as possible and their meat is distributed to many needy people. People here are pleased more by greetings and the hand of help than by meat. Qurban donations return as prayers to Turkey through the IHH.
Şamhal Dağıstanlı, Dagestan, 2007
We completed meat deliveries and headed for Prizren to join the team in Kosovo. We recited prayers for our ancestors while crossing the area where the Battle of Kosovo was fought. It was almost midnight when we reached Orphan Castle guesthouse on the outskirts of Sar Mountains. It was freezing outside. Iron heater inside the guesthouse was burning with a gurgling sound. The IHH team leader, two instructors from Çınar College and six students were sitting at the table and were about to have dinner. They invited us to eat together. On the fourth day of Eid we delivered meat packs and gifts prepared especially for orphans in Prizren.
Bahattin Yıldız-Sandzak
