By Aaron Cordy
THE Shepparton Albanian Islamic Centre and the greater Muslim community of the Mosque made a generous donation of 650kg of lamb to Shepparton Foodshare as part of the Eid al Adha celebration and the tradition of Qurban.
Qurban has significant meaning in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and comes from the test of the Prophet Abraham when he was commanded to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, but once his faith was proven he was saved that sacrifice and asked to give up a lamb instead.
“This is part of our religion. Once a year we celebrate Eid al-Adha, and how we celebrate it is by sacrificing an animal, and we divide this animal into three parts. One-third is donated to people in need. This year our mosque organised this for our community, and everyone who ordered an animal donated part of it here to Foodshare. It is a pleasure actually to be collaborating with Foodshare, so we know that they’re doing a big job, a great job, and the donation is going to the right place. To the people in need,” said the Imam of the Shepparton Mosque, Hysni Merja
In Islam, the meat is distributed equally to the donor, the family of the donor and the poor, which inspired the generous donation to Shepparton Foodshare.
“This means a lot, it helps us to provide food, especially meat. We don’t get a lot of meat, so we can provide healthy meals and healthy products that can be turned into meals for schools and cooking programs. We are hoping to give some of this to the Muslim community because it’s halal. So it’s a real benefit to the community, especially at a time when people are really struggling with the impact of the cost of living for families at the moment. So, to have something like this that they can have access to good quality nutritious food is really important,” said CEO of Shepparton Foodshare Glenn Peric.
The donation will be greatly received and distributed to the wider community, which Imam Hysni was adamant it goes to not only Muslims but the greater community as Foodshare sees fit.
