MUI Invites Galang People To Humane Funds To Help Victims Of The Syrian Tukri Earthquake

Deputy Chairperson of MUI Dr. Anwar Abbas (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) invites Muslims in Indonesia to lend their hand through raising donations to help those who are victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

"Inviting and urging all of us to jointly lend hand to provide assistance for them," said MUI Deputy General Chair Dr Anwar Abbas as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, February 9.

Anwar said the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria had destroyed thousands of buildings and hundreds of thousands of people died in the two countries.

According to him, the helping hand of the Indonesian people can ease the burden of the suffering of the victims. He appealed to use domestic philanthropic institutions to distribute a number of aids.

"We convey it through Baznas and the Amil Zakat Institution in this country so that it can be conveyed to the mustahik," said Anwar Abbas.

Previously, the Ministry of Religion also appealed to Muslims in Indonesia to hold a hidden prayer and pray for victims who died due to the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria.

"Noted to Muslims throughout Indonesia, as a form of concern for victims who died at earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, they are advised to perform other prayers to pray for the victims who died," said Director of Islamic Religious Affairs and Sharia Guidance at the Directorate General of Islamic Community Guidance at the Ministry of Religion Adib.

Adib said that congregational unconscious prayers could be carried out after Friday prayers. In Jakarta, the Istiqlal Mosque will also perform unseen prayers for victims of the Turkish and Syrian earthquakes.

According to a Turkish government agency, the number of people who died from a large earthquake in southern Turkey has passed 12,000.

Turkey's disaster management agency, AFAD, said 12,391 people were killed and 62,914 others injured in the February 6 earthquake centered in Kahramanmaras Province.

Other provinces in southern and eastern Turkey affected by the earthquake were Gaziantep, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir, and Kilis.

More than 6,000 buildings collapsed due to earthquakes scaled 7.7 and 7.6 Richter, which occurred in less than 10 hours.