Muslims in London hold fundraising campaign for quake victims in Turkiye, Syria

The Muslim community, on Friday, launched a fundraising campaign at a London mosque to help victims of powerful earthquakes that hit Turkiye and Syria earlier this week, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Following one of the most powerful earthquakes in the region that caused widespread destruction, many people, as well as countries and organisations around the world, continue to extend a helping hand to the victims.

Islamic Relief, a leading Muslim charity in the UK, is one of them, as the organisation held a fundraising campaign at the Finsbury Park Mosque in North London after the Friday prayer.

During the prayer, the special Friday khutbah, or sermon, was read out by one of the mosque’s imams, featuring the earthquakes that hit Turkiye.

Muslims were urged to donate money generously as “Muslims are like one body,” said the imam, citing a hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad).

After the prayer, long queues were seen outside of the mosque, where Muslims were standing to donate money.

Hamza, one of the Islamic Relief staff at the mosque, told Anadolu about their campaign over the devastating quakes.

He said it is “shocking what is happening” in Syria and Turkiye, adding that they are trying to do as much as they can “to help our brothers and sisters”.

More than 19,300 people have died and over 77,700 others are injured since Monday’s powerful earthquakes in southern Turkiye, according to the latest official figures.

The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes, centred in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, have impacted some 13 million people across 10 Turkish provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

In neighbouring Syria, the death toll has climbed above 3,300, with more than 5,200 people wounded.

;READ: Ongoing Saudi donations exceed $51m for quake victims in Turkiye, Syria