Yumna Moosa – yumna@radioislam.co.za

22 September 2022 | 3 minute read | 19:00pm CAT

Torrential monsoon rains triggered the most severe flooding in Pakistan, which has washed away villages and left millions of people in urgent need of assistance. This week the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa relief team has been in Dadu in the Sindh province of Pakistan to aid in what is seen as the worst flood the country has experienced in its modern history. Moulana Asad Pandor joined Radio Islam on Thursday to explain the situation further.

He said:

Today was a very staining experience for us. According to local authorities about 800km’s of land is covered in water so we boarded speed boats with supplies such as food hampers and we went out looking for people who haven’t received any assistance before. [We] drove past roofs and masjids that were completely filled with water, people were stranded on small islands- this was the general view.

The Moulana explained that from the time they landed in Pakistan they have been on the road constantly often with very little sleep. He explained :

On the first day we went out we drove four hours out of Karachi, and did a normal distribution of food hampers. We’ve been to a previously farming area where the flood waters emerged overnight which caused the locals to have lost everything. We distributed hampers to them too. We left early this morning we left to this area, which we need speedboats to access. When we docked the conditions were something that I can’t explain. Everything was disrupted [by this flood] the animals were gone, the crops were gone, the houses were damaged. It brought diseases and mosquitos. Simple things like sewage systems were overflowing. There’s sickness all around, we could feel that the people were not well.

Each of the relief hampers contains mainly food items and medication. Moulana Asad stressed the greater need for medication and mosquito nets which have become inaccessible due to inflation because of the disaster. Inflation has also caused regular food prices to go up, which makes it harder for those affected as they either have no way to get to the items or the items are not readily available.

The Jamiatul Ulama has partnered with a group local to Pakistan to secure and source items for the relief packs. Once packaged, they are transported to different locations to be distributed to those who require aid.

The banking details of the Jamiatul Ulama can be found on their social media sites. Molana Asad also conveyed that the people [of Pakistan] also need duas.

Listen to the full story with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie and Moulana Asad on the Radio Islam International SoundCloud