The Legacy- Three Decades of Silent Revolution

The Scenario of Destitute Care

The Scenario of Destitute Care The spirit of the Indian independence struggle of Keralites too in the early twenties of the twentieth century reached the pinnacle, and the unconditional participation of the Muslim community had a great socio-economic impact on their society. The 1921 Malabar freedom struggle left hundreds of widows and orphans in the community, particularly in the Malabar region which resulted in an imbalance in the socio-economic-cultural setup.

The deprived orphans and homeless were growing concerns of the society, particularly for the socio-religious leaders which paved the way for the creation of orphanages across the state. The prime concern of those institutions was to meet the basic needs of those children like food and shelter. Since then, the community had been investing heavily in orphan and destitute care for almost a century and it has changed the lives of thousands of downtrodden in the community.

Since then, the community had been investing heavily in orphan and destitute care for the last century and it has changed the lives of thousands of downtrodden in the community. Many orphanages and alike institutes mushroomed which invested heavily in infrastructure and strived to increase the number of institutions under their banner to claim fame and popularity but failed to nurture orphans to become sensible, successful human beings. The children’s need for ‘quality education, social security, and emotional well being was continuously overlooked. Hence hundreds of thousands of orphans and destitute children just survived for years with poor quality of life and humility.

That was the time when Chennamangallur Islahiya Association under the able leadership of Marhoom K.C.Abdullah Moulavi spearheaded the destitute care of the Muslim community in a new direction giving importance to the holistic development of orphan children. It was a brave initiative that categorically challenged the so-called orphan and destitute care and set a new benchmark in the field, and Wadi Rahma Al Islah Orphanage was in place.

The state of the art infrastructure befitting a home, nutritious diet, and humanitarian care for the essential nurturing of children ensured proper upbringing for the inmates of the orphanage. Arts, sports, aesthetic education, etc., were indispensable components of the process. The productivity of the institution took similar organizations by surprise and officers and administrators began to ponder over the development. In fact, the orphans began to enjoy a life they deserved.

Al Islah Orphanage let free a storm of surprises to all those who were in destitute care because of its holistic development and productivity of its inmates, and their accomplishments. The children unfailingly received health care, emotional balancing and support from qualified scholars, early interventions in problems of any kind, and remediation. The occupants possessed unmatched caliber and were in no way inferior to any normal children in schools and colleges then. Thus they created a heritage of excellence in Madrasa and Orphanage competitions in Kerala which none, so far, has broken in the past 25 years.

The organization specifically focused on investing in human resource development, and not on infrastructure and pompous popularity.