Sadaqah Jariyah on behalf of Behbood Ashraf

Our mom, Behbood Ashraf, believed very deeply in leaving the world better than she found it.  She was constantly doing good deeds and teaching us to do the same. She put a special emphasis on “Sadaqah-Jariyah,” which is a kind of good deed that keeps on giving.  For example:

• Building institutions of learning/teaching
• Digging wells
• Planting trees
• Donating to/building institutions of caring such as hospitals and orphanages
• Raising socially conscious children

All of the above have lasting impacts on people and planet. 

Mom passed away on April 18, 2015.  She left us with the description of a project she very much wanted to start in India, her native land.  She wanted to combine two major Sadaqah-Jariyah efforts – planting trees and supporting orphanages.  Her goals were to plant fruit-bearing trees near an orphanage and sell the fruit to establish an ethical and sustainable revenue source for the orphanage.  Additionally, she hoped for the children to be involved in the nurturing of the trees and for them to enjoy their shade and fruit for years to come.

Mom wanted to raise funds for this project – not because it was too expensive to do on her own, but because she wanted everyone to take part in and benefit from Sadaqah-Jariyah. She wanted everyone to collect good deeds. She was a truly selfless woman who cared about everyone’s purpose in this life and status in the next.

Fulfilling Her Dream: Supporting an Orphanage

We, her daughters, Fatima, Maryam, and Zainab along with our father, husbands, children, and extended family members are working with Launch Good to raise $10,000 for “Trees for Tots.”  This project will:

• Identify an orphanage with (or near) land ripe for tree planting in the subcontinent
• Build an irrigation system and secure a supply of fertilizer
• Train the faculty, staff, and children at the orphanage on taking care of the trees
• Manage the marketing and sale of the fruit to pay for the orphanage’s maintenance and the children’s room, board, education, and healthcare

We will partner with Muslim Hands and the Givelight Foundation, international aid organizations with solid track records of building and aiding orphanages around the world to implement this project in South Asia. 

Trees for Tots: Ethical and Sustainable Revenue

First and foremost, this project seeks to improve the ability of an orphanage to care for its children by establishing an additional source of revenue.  Next, the trees will bring beauty, shade, and nourishment to the land and to the people near it.  Then, all of us who give to this project will benefit from the Sadaqah-Jariyah. Finally, we all get to pitch in and start something our mom dreamed to do. 

Please Donate

Please give what you wish, in honor of mom and with the intention of helping people and planet, in a long-term, sustainable and ethical way.  We estimate the cost of 1 tree to be $50, all inclusive from planting, to maintenance (soil, water, fertilizer), to training caretakers and managing fruit sales. The Ashraf Family will provide time and energy in-kind and additional funds and work with our partner organizations to implement this project over the course of the next eighteen months.  We will provide everyone with updates on all phases of the project from reaching the fundraising goal to the actual planting of trees.  We will fund raise until June 17, the first (likely) day of Ramadan.  In Ramadan, we encourage everyone to give their zakat to other people, projects, and organizations to ensure that our resources benefit as many people and as many causes as possible.  

More Information

About The Ashraf Family

Iqbal and Behbood Ashraf immigrated to the United States from India in 1973 and 1979 respectively.  They laid roots in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised 3 daughters, Fatima, Maryam, and Zainab. 

Iqbal, an electronics engineer has worked for General Motors and Rockwell Automation.  Behbood, a Master of Islamic Studies, committed her life to raising children – hers and others – working at a day care and teaching at Islamic schools for several years. 

Fatima has a Master’s in Public Health and works at the Open Society Foundations in New York City. She is married to author and activist, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin. They have 2 sons, Ismael and Yousuf. 

Maryam is a doctoral student in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.  She is married to Minhaj Khaja, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan and they have one son, Musa. 

Zainab has a Bachelor’s in Biology and spent the last 4 years taking care of her mom as she battled cancer.  Zainab married Ravi Theja Yada, a rising star at Microsoft in May, 2014.  They now live in Seattle. 

The family maintains strong ties to the land and the people of India.

About Muslim Hands

Established in 1993, Muslim Hands is an international aid agency and NGO working in over 50 countries worldwide to help those affected by natural disasters, conflict and poverty.

 

One of our focuses is education which we believe helps to break the cycle of poverty and gives people the opportunity to educate themselves and work their own way to independence and success.

 

Since 1993, Muslim Hands has operated schools in 15 countries around the world, employed over 1,000 teachers and taught 40,000 students, globally. 

 

 We take many different approaches to education, providing schooling which is appropriate, relevant and most valuable for a student's long term needs.

- See more at: Coconuts for Classrooms, our Launch Good project. 

About Givelight Foundation 

GiveLight Foundation is a non-profit humanitarian relief organization, established in Sunnyvale, California, USA in January 2005 by a group of young professionals. The foundation seeks to create durable orphanages and provide orphan care in response to natural disasters and extreme condition, like poverty and war. Since inception, GiveLight has been able to operate primarily using volunteer talents in the US to generate awareness and funds for our global projects. Inspired by Islamic values we strive to help orphans across the globe regardless of nationality, race or religion.