At the burial site

Can you imagine finding yourself at a burial site, doing the paper work to bury your wife who passed away unexpectedly, and finding out that you don't have sufficient funds to cover the cost of the burial?

That is exactly the situation Ahmed found himself in subhan Allah. Ahmed's wife passed away unexpectedly due to medical complications and before he knew it, her Janaza and burial needed to be performed. Ahmed assumed his savings would cover the cost of the burial, he found the total exceeding $14k. After using up his savings, he found himself short of nearly $7k on the day of burial, at the burial site!

The burial company refused to proceed with the burial until payment was sorted and Ahmed broke down in tears. He was exhausted and was drawing a blank with no idea what to do. A friend gave NZF a call and explained the situation. Our case worker spoke to the burial company and advised hat NZF will cover the difference in the cost of the burial, based upon which they proceeded with the burial Alhamdulillah.

While we have a robust process to ensure people who reach out for assistance are eligible through income verification, bank statements and other aspects of an application - in some instances such as Ahmed's, an exception process is followed to deal with the emergency at hand. Our priority in such instances is to fulfil the rights those in need in such circumstances. After Ahmed had settled down after a few days, we reached out to him to complete our due dilligence in verifying his eligibility for Zakat.

It is situations like this that Zakat has been designed for. Burial costs are surprisingly expensive and most people do not have the funds lying around when a sudden death occurs in the family. Alhamdulillah through your local Zakat, we were able to assist Ahmed during this time of critical need, reinforcing to him and others in need that their community is there to look after them. Jazaak Allah Khair for paying your Zakat locally.