Revert sister who survived domestic violence twice, but at what cost

Fiona is a sister who grew up her whole life in Australia, but she hasn’t had it easy since the day she converted to Islam. As a new Muslim, she wanted to start afresh, settle down and marry a good Muslim.

However, after almost a decade of being Muslim, she has already gone through two abusive relationships with her most recent divorce being almost 6 months ago. Fiona had been a victim of Domestic Violence to her first husband for years despite having a child together. After years of enduring his abuse, she left with her first child to find a better life and held on to Islam.

She then married another man hoping that he would be a better husband and father to her child. Their marriage was beautiful and going well for a few years through which Allah blessed Fiona and her husband with two children and a good home.

But unfortunately, this happy ending didn’t last forever. After years of having escaped her first abusive marriage, she was plunged into another right after. Her husband threatened her with divorce, kicking her out of their house and gaining custody of the younger children. All of which he finally acted on without any regard for Fiona or the children. The father of the younger children gained complete custody and didn’t even let Fiona see the children. This was an injustice that she could not bear and so she decided to place an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) against her ex-husband.

Homeless and abandoned, Fiona had no where else to go. She decided to reach out to her friends about her problems and gain some support for herself until she could get back on her feet. In this process of healing, she was recommended to visit a psychologist and learnt that she was suffering with schizophrenia amongst other mental health disorders.

With her support system and her faith depleting, she decided to reach out to NZF for support. After hearing Fiona’s story, we knew she needed immediate assistance in various areas. We started with helping her pay her debts and connecting her to financial support schemes, we then reconnected her to Islamic counselling to help her manage her mental health conditions and recover her faith. We’re still working on providing Fiona the help she needs in other areas of her daily life.

This is the valuable impact you Zakat is making locally, right here in Australia for Muslims in need. Support locally because your Zakat today can truly change someone’s tomorrow.