My Visit to the Baitul Quran Care Center

I seldom have the chance to meet someone who devotes and sacrifices much or all of his/her time towards taking care of orphans and needy children. So when I found out that my friend Ismail Jusoff and his wife, Rosminah Atan owned and managed two (2) teenage homes known as "Pusat Penjagaan Baitul Quran" (Baitul Quran Care Center), I did not hesitate to contact them to visit the care center to find out more about it.

It was at about 9.30am on Wednesday, 17th June 2009 that my eldest son, Johan and I left our home at Taman Kosas in Ampang to go to Masjid Mu'az Jabal at Taman Setiawangsa to meet Ismail. My other friend, Johari Amat, who was staying near the mosque, was there to greet us. Together with him, we proceeded in my car to a "mamak" restaurant which was located a few minutes' drive away. Even though Johan and I already had a hearty breakfast that morning, we nevertheless joined Johari and Ismail for a brief "teh tarek" session there. Johari was kind enough to pay for the bill, citing the area as being his "territory" and he has therefore, the "full right" to pay for the bill.:-)

After having a short discussion and a light meal, we proceeded to the teenage boys' home at Jalan Setiawangsa 2A, which was not far from the restaurant. After reaching the home, Johari had to excuse himself for another appointment and Ismail then took us into the home. According to him. there were 20 boys in the home and that was the maximum number that it could accomodate. Located at a corner lot, the house was rented at RM3,000 per month. The house had plenty of land area, which according to Ismail, was convenient for the boys to play mini football or other games during their free time.

We observed that there was a group of four (4) boys at the car porch taking lessons in reading and writing from a tuition teacher, who was specially employed by the Care Center to provide the lessons. Inside the house, the other boys were occupied with reciting verses from the Al-Quran with an Ustaz to teach and guide them along.

I left my car at the boys' home and went into Ismail's car to visit the girls' home located a few minutes' drive away at Taman Keramat. There we met Ismail's wife, Rosminah and we sat together to listen and find out about their purpose of setting up the homes and their experience in running it.

According to her, there were 36 girls in the home and that was about the maximum number that the house could accomodate. The blessed couple explained why they started the homes. According to them, Muslim parents play a very important role to ensure that their children are raised in accordance with the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The status of the teenagers nowadays are that normally they have working parents who are always too busy that the teenagers have nobody to talk to or receive advice when they encounter problems. Their actions are not supervised and therefore, they are prone to be negatively influenced by their surroundings. They are exposed to bad elements from watching TV (television) and other media. They have no positive role model, except for artistes and sport personalities. They are badly influenced by the "lepak" culture which wastes their precious time away. As a result, many teenagers got themselves involved in crimes and immoral activities. Many of these teenagers are orphans or come from less fortunate families or financialy disadvantaged working parents, especially single working parents.

In view of the above, the couple came up with the idea of providing a "home" with Islamic environment to assist parents in bringing up their children according to the teachings of the AL-Quran and Sunnah. Their objectives are to instill a love of the Quran and abide by the Sunnah of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) for guidance during the tumultous period of a teenager's life, to instill Islamic values, inner strength and a sense of self-worthiness within themselves, to teach and guide them through love and awareness of their purpose in life.

In 2002, the couple started to set up the home modestly with eight (8) "totally loss" teenagers from parents who could not afford to care for them the Islamic way. The parents were more than pleased to have their teenaged daughters and sons being brought up by the couple in the Islamic way. These teenagers were at first accomodated at a double-storey linked house but as their numbers increased, due to the effectiveness of the programme that the couple implemented at the Care Center, the teenagers had to be moved to the existing bigger house, which is more spacious and can accomodate more people. Soon after, this bungalow house became over-crowded too and the couple had to rent a corner-lot house at Jalan Setiawangsa 2A to accomodate the boys only, whereas the girls remained at the bungalow. They now have a total of 20 boys + 36 girls = 56 teenagers under their care.

Due to the big demand by other parents to request to accommodate their own teenagers into the home, the couple had to look for another place to accommodate them. They soon found a house at Taman Permata for this purpose. This house had been recently renovated and they said that as soon as they had found suitable and reliable staffs to assist them in running this new place, they would take in new inmates. In the meantime, they allow the place to be temporarily used to accommodate single mothers who were in desperate need of shelters.

When asked how they educate and bring up the teenagers in the home and ensure that the teenagers become good Muslims one day, the couple said that they implement the following programme :-

1. There is 24-hour counselling - a place to turn to in times of trouble and provide guidance towards becoming a good Muslim.

2. Teach them to read, memorise and understand the meaning of the Al-Quran and the Sunnah. They also provide advice and support to other Islamic schools - for example, when the Care Center receives bags and bags of rice from generous donors, they give some of the bags of rice away to them.

3. They also fill the teenagers' time with healthy activities and get them involved in charity work, such as visiting the less fortunate people to instill the spirit of sacrifice and volunteerism in them.

4. Provide training skills such as cooking, sewing, hair styling, facial and body care, massage and personal grooming.

5. Provide "Tarbiah" (education and training) through love and good examples and use the Quran and Hadith to develop a good "Akhlak" (character, moral) and "Akidah" (belief, faith) in them.

When asked how they managed to run their organisation successfully without financial support from the Government or even the Baitul Mal, they said that they survived on donations from friends and friends of friends. They say Allah is Great, Who always ensures that there is a source of financial support from the public, either in cash or in kind. For example, they were paying rental for the present bungalow house and a few months later, the owner decided to let them stay there for free. We were told that as a result of this good deeds, the owner's business also subsequently improved.

The couple said that their average monthly expenses was about RM13,000.00 and most of it go towards paying salaries to the staffs, teachers and ustazs. They said it was difficult to look for staffs who are dedicated and yet prepared to work for lesser salaries, but Alhamdulillah they still managed to find them.

We were served a plate of delicious meehun goreng, cooked by one of the inmates, and a glass of cool thirst-quenching drink while we were there. Not wanting to take up more of their precious time, we finally bid farewell to Ismail and his wife. On the way back to Taman Kosas, Johan and I were mostly silent in the car, each immersed in our own deep thoughts about the meeting with this fantastic couple, who sacrifice their time and money to take care of these teenagers and to train them to become better persons one day.

In an effort to acquire as much wealth as possible to improve their lives in this world, most modern-day parents not only tend to neglect the affairs of their own children but also neglect to do something about their own lives in the next world (Hereafter). Life in this world is just a transition, in anticipation of another life in the next world, which is more secure and permanent. The accumulated wealth in this world will not help us in guaranteeing a better life in the next world, but the accumulated good deeds and sacrifices that we do in this world in the path of Allah SWT, will certainly help us to have a better permanent life in the next world, insyaAllah.

It's not easy to find a dedicated couple like Ismail and Rosminah, doing what they are doing now. We pray that Allah repays Ismail and his wife tremendously for the great efforts and sacrifice that they have done and are doing taking care of the orphans and the other less-fortunate teenagers. Ameen... As related by Sahl bin Saad, that the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) had said, "The orphan's custodian and me are like 'this' in Heavens." He said it while showing his two fingers, one was the index finger and the other was the middle finger."

However, Ismail and Rosminah could not have done what they have achieved if there are no generous and charitable contribution from people like you and me. And for people who contribute generously towards a good cause, Allah has promised a good return, as said by Him in Surah Al Baqarah : 261 of the Al-Quran, "The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as the likeness of a grain of corn; it grows 7 ears and each ear has a 100 grains. Allah gives multifold increase to whom He will. And Allah is All Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All Knower".

The Baitul Quran Care Center is run by the couple on volunteer basis and therefore welcomes any contributions if any, be it in monetary form or in kind. There is also a scheme where if anyone is interested to sponsor a student, his/her "investment for the Hereafter" is only RM250 per month for the student's food and lodging.

You can contact the Baitul Quran Care Center by calling Rosminah at 013-3460580/012-640 5008 or Ismail at 019-2511792 and if you wish to contribute directly into their account, you can do so to Account No: 14030004456713 at Bank Muamalat Berhad, Taman Melawati. May Allah blesses you for your contribution.