By: Badees Nouiouat, NDG Contributing Writer
On a rainy Friday afternoon, Hasanath Muhammad pulls boxed lunches out of the trunk of his van parked at the intersection of Corsicana and Ervay Street. Nearby homeless individuals recognize the boxes and start to line up for food and water.
Suhaib Khalid started feeding the homeless three years ago in Ramadan of 2016. Restaurants offering Ramadan dinners often had extras, and he found a use for the leftover boxes of food. Filling the trunk of his car, he would drive to downtown Dallas with his family and distribute what he had to whoever wanted a warm dinner.
Fast forward a few weeks and Ramadan was over. By this time, many volunteers had found importance in the work they did and did not want to stop. Seeing the enthusiasm in the volunteers, Khalid set out to sustain the effort. He went knocking door to door in his neighborhood and asked if people could either provide food or volunteer to distribute it once a month.
The response was overwhelming. People provided the food, volunteers provided the time, and a monthly schedule was put in place to provide food to the homeless every day. Three years later, it’s still going strong. So strong, in fact, that more people are wanting to volunteer than the monthly schedule can allow.
I joined Muhammad and his young children recently for his shift on the schedule. We departed the Islamic Center of Irving at 6 p.m. and arrived at a bridge well-known among volunteers from the program. It is a deserted area lined with parking meters where many homeless members of our city reside.
Muhammad’s kids ride their scooters and wave to homeless people while he and I pass out the boxes of spiced rice and meat along with a water bottle. As we hand out the boxes, we see faces light up with smiles, and hear mumbles of appreciation.
I ask Muhammad what motivates him to keep being involved in this program.
“When I am passing out the food, I feel such joy bringing happiness to these people,” Muhammad shared. “Sometimes you can tell that this is the first meal they’ve had all day, and I want to continue to be someone that can provide that to them.”
I can see why the volunteers feel so strongly about keeping the effort alive. Serving others is such a vital part of being a Muslim and a good human being. It humbles you. It shows you others are struggling more than you and reminds you of the blessings God has given you.
It is eye-opening to see how people living close to one another can lead such different lives. Dallas is a large city, and with that size comes a big disconnect between our communities. We have to not only care about ourselves or our families but about people in neighboring communities as well.
“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” -John Bunyan
Badees Nouiouat is the Publisher of The Irving Muslim.
