On October 6th Children from WLIC’s Jannah Youth Club paid a special visit to Ealing Hospitals Charlie Chaplin Ward for sick children to deliver gifts on behalf of the club and local families.
Charlie Chaplin ward a leading child medical centre in London, provides residential care for children, many of whom are fighting serious illness and a variety of conditions such as asthma, pneumonia, diabetes, cancer, surgical problems and recovery from accidents.
The open-hearted initiative was organised as a practical example of recent tutorials to the children on the importance of caring for those who are unwell and sharing with our community, in light of various Islamic traditions and in particular where the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stated:
Allah the Almighty will say on the Day of Judgment, ‘Son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit Me.’ He will respond, ‘My Lord, How could I visit You when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ Allah will reply, ‘Did you not know that one of My servants was sick and you didn’t visit him? If you had visited him you would have found Me there…’ [Al-Bukhari]
Sr Cristina Pons from Jannah Youth Club who helped organise the visit said, ‘Faith encourages the cultivation of a charitable nature as part of a person’s social development, a sense of belonging and real learning can take place when children go through a process of sacrificing something for the benefit of others. We asked the children to purchase one favourite toy each with a view to delivering them personally to our local hospital, it was clear that the whole, excitable experience left a strong, positive impression on them all.’
Wishing all the children at Charlie Chaplin a speedy recovery and good health the Chair of WLIC Tariq Usmani commented, ‘Our congratulations to all those involved, to the families and special thanks to Carol Dinsley, Paediatric Matron and her staff at Ealing Hospital for the welcome and appreciation extended to Jannah Youth Club.’