A leading American Muslim civil rights group organized a blood donation drive on Friday, June 06, at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City’s mosque, showing their pride in their state and giving back to their community.
“We are excited to partner with the American Red Cross to aid in vital, life-saving blood donation campaigns,” Thomaira Babbit, CAIR-Oklahoma’s development coordinator, said in a news release obtained by OnIslam.net.
“The Oklahoma Muslim community is composed of dedicated members of the broader Sooner community and they care about the well-being, as well as quality of life available to all Oklahomans in our great state.”
The blood drive is part of the Oklahoma Muslims Care campaign designed to offer volunteers an opportunity to show their pride in their state and give back to people and communities in need.
Babbit said CAIR-Oklahoma will continue the Oklahoma Muslims Care campaign throughout the summer with service days at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and food drives with Feed the Children, among other projects.
Though there are no official estimates, the US is home to from 7-8 million Muslims.
An earlier Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans Muslims are loyal to their country and optimistic about their future in the United States.
Two reports by the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies indicate that an evolution has indeed occurred.
In 2009, 40 percent of Muslim Americans ages 18 to 29 said they were thriving, the lowest percentage in that age group. By 2011, 10 years after the terrorist attacks, that number had risen to 65 percent.
Several high-profile Islamic bodies have unanimously agreed it is permissible for a Muslim to donate blood if it would not harm the donor’s health or quality of life, while stating it is impermissible to tamper with human body.
They have also sanctioned donating blood to blood banks as a charitable act to save the lives of human beings, even if non-Muslims.