Students, staff help sponsor bus drivers’ Umrah trip
The students and staff of a Dubai school have helped four of its bus drivers go for Umrah.
The Gems Modern Academy’s (GMA) drivers visited Makkah and Madinah during Ramadan, making it the first trip since the start of Covid.
This is the fifth group of GMA staff who have been helped by staff and students to make the holy pilgrimage. So far, 56 members of the school’s ancillary staff and drivers have visited the Grand Mosque (Holy Kaaba).
GMA teaching staff, non-teaching staff, students, and parents collaborated for the special trip.
Ibrahim Ali, who has been working as a driver for GMA for more than 10 years, said it was a dream come true. “The initiative of my school is a positive and inspiring message. It is amazing to see a group of staff from different nationalities performing Umrah together. This unique initiative demonstrates diversity and tolerance in the UAE.”
Pakistani driver Irfan Farid, says he felt like ‘a life-time achievement award’. “We will be indebted to the staff and the leadership of the school for this opportunity. Our families back home are praying for our well-being while we pray for the school and the group, its leaders and the staff who have been so supportive and caring’.
Driver Fiaz Ali said: ‘This initiative just goes to show the care and compassion of our fellow staff; we have prayed for everyone in this wonderful organisation; may Allah bless them and their families abundantly.”
Teachers say they look forward to bringing smiles on the faces of the ancillary staff and lending a hand to help them go on Umrah in the month of Shawwal, is something they cherish.
Mohammed Meera, an Islamic studies teacher at GMA said: “Making someone happy is considered one of the greatest deeds. By fulfilling the wish of a Muslim to perform a holy pilgrimage not only brings us closer to Allah, but is also a source of repentance.”
Meanwhile, Saudi authorities have announced that they have lifted the maximum age limit for overseas pilgrims travelling to the country to perform Umrah.