Fitrah Volunteer Appreciation Ceremony & Family Day 2025

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, and a very good morning.

2. Firstly, a very good morning to all of you and I am pleased to join you today to acknowledge and celebrate the meaningful work FITRAH has carried out since its inception in 2019. FITRAH began with 54 asatizah and no community befrienders.

3. The mission was clear to provide holistic, spiritually grounded and community centred support for Muslim brothers, and sisters impacted by incarceration. So, it was very clear, even at its concept. So that is actually hard enough because the work that you do is not easy. To sustain such efforts over the years, demands passion, resilience, and deep desires to serve others. In fact, among us, there are people who have contributed many years, way beyond 2019. They will tell you, while meaningful, it's not easy.

4. But what is key is that we created a platform for us to work together. So, everyone gathered here today embodies these qualities of what I share with you earlier - a very deep desire to serve others. And you have shown that this commitment is not temporary, but for the long haul.

5. In fact, recently I visited the wake of one of our very long-time serving volunteers and I met his family members. Even in the last days of his life - not so easy to move, but the fire, the passion, and the desire to serve was so strong and so deep, because of the meaningful journey, as well as that passion is wanting to contribute to the life of others.

6. I heard the stories, I saw the body, and I told myself we are blessed to have such an individual and I'm also happy with that they are a number of you have been this together for many years so today FITRAH will recognise volunteers will have journey, will be organisation for the past two and four years. More importantly, we celebrate every volunteer who forms, part of the wider FITRAH family. You have served in various platforms, but today we are honouring with regards to the involvement with FITRAH.

Milestones

7. With the strong support of our volunteers, FITRAH has achieved many important milestones. I am deeply grateful to our mosque community for sending Asatizah to serve in our prisons. Beyond teaching the fundamentals of faith, these Asatizah help inmates rediscover hope and work towards better lives. They offer spiritual guidance with rahmah — mercy and compassion. Today, FITRAH works with close to 120 Asatizah, nearly half of whom come from our mosques.

8. We are also thankful to mosques such as Masjid Assyafaah, Masjid Assyakirin, Masjid Darul Ghufran, and Masjid Al-Khair, among others, and many more who have stepped forward to adopt the Throughcare Volunteer Framework. I am confident that many more mosques will come onboard in time.

9. Alongside our asatizah, I would also like to recognise the vital role played by our community befrienders. Today, FITRAH is supported by almost 200 community befrienders, who collectively respond to close to 100 befriending requests each year. Some of these volunteers provide consistent social and emotional support to individuals upon release.

10. Beyond befriending, our community befrienders also support FITRAH's beneficiary outreach programmes, such as the Pre-Ramadan food pack distribution and the Korban meat distribution. These initiatives provide practical assistance to families during significant occasions, reinforcing the message that they remain part of our community.

11. Our desistors have also made a significant impact. Years ago, a structured Malay/Muslim desistor group was uncommon. Very hard to find. Today, FITRAH now works closely with four strong and active groups doing commendable work; Agents of Change, Goal Aspiration, HUFI, and Nisa Hope Network. Join me to give them a big round of applause. This is a commendable progress. Desistors provide support not only individuals in recovery, but also the families affected by incarceration.

12. One clear example is the Food From The Heart programme. Since its launch in December 2021, this initiative has been led by Goal Aspiration and Agents of Change, with FITRAH providing oversight and logistical support. Now in its fourth year, the programme has grown from serving 50 beneficiaries to supporting 185 families. To our desistors, we are very proud of your progress and contribution. Well done!

13. The Insan Mukmin programme is another strong example of asatizah, community befrienders, and desistors working together, each contributing their expertise to support reintegration. Although I was unable to attend the recent graduation, I was heartened to receive commitments on the strong care and commitment shown to all of us, because I know quite a number of you sent videos and photos through my IG and FB messages and I am very thankful for that.

14. While we are grateful for these achievements, we must not become complacent. There is still a lot of work to be done.

Launch of the Back-to-FITRAH Guidebook

15. On this note, I am pleased to officially announce the the launch of the Back-to-FITRAH Guidebook.

16. So, this is the new kid on the block. A new platform resource for us as part of our journey. This guidebook was developed with several clear objectives.

17. First, it provides spiritual guidance through selected duas by our beloved prophet s.a.w.

18. Second, the guidebook offers concise foundational guidance on prayer, fasting, and Quranic tafsir and serving as a reference for those reconnecting with Islam.

19. Third, it addresses commonly asked questions, sincerity, and fulfilling responsibilities as parents, sons, or daughters while being incarcerated.

20. The content draws from the lived experiences of inmates, desistors, asatizah, and prison officers. The guidebook is intentionally designed to be accessible and manageable with practices that are realistic and can be incorporated into daily lives.

21. In fact, I gave guidance to the team that it has to be something that whoever takes it, or have it, can easily refer to it and it can help to develop routines. Because no matter your background, routines are very important. It will help us be disciplined, guided, and be on track.

22. So, on behalf of FITRAH, I'd like to extend my sincere appreciation to Masjid Al-Khair for the close collaboration. Beginning in 2026, just a few days to go, the guidebook will be integrated into weekly religious counselling sessions as a core component on the Back-to-FITRAH curriculum further strengthening the role of asatizah in spiritual rehabilitation.

23. I also want to thank MUIS for giving this very strong support. You know, if you look at the setting ten years ago and you look today, I must say – MUIS has done a lot. When I say MUIS, this involves the management and staff, and all of volunteers at the mosque for opening up their doors, providing the support, and making it happen. Without such a support and walking-the-talk, I don't think we will be able to achieve what we have done all this while. Not easy, but we have done it.

24. I remember, the first few visits to the prison when I spoke to some of friends there, I asked them, “What will you do when you finish your programme?” They were very uncertain. Then I asked them, “If you need help you can go to the mosque”. There were a lot of doubts. As I was driving back, I was quite puzzled why they were holding back. Then I went on deeper to understand better. I was very fortunate, as I spoke to the leadership of MUIS and brought mosque chairmen to the prison. I was so happy to see the outpouring of support and commitment from them to be part of this mission. With the formation of FITRAH, it certainly helped out.

25. So, it galvanised this. And today, we have the Malay rehabilitation network. That further strengthened the whole process. So, we have organisations that work together and the leadership of MUIS and FITRAH have played a very important role in this.

26. But we must continue this journey because it is tough work. Not only that you have to roll up the sleeves, but you also have to dirty your hands and feel okay about it because you want to meaningfully contribute to the lives of others. And sometimes when I meet the asatizah playing different roles, they said it is worthwhile and meaningful.

27. So, the ecosystem has been strengthened over these years. Together with the support groups, the recipe has enhanced and it gets better. I am confident, we will get better. We will support and help many more of our desistors to rebuild their lives so that they feel that they are a part of the community and society.

28. So, congratulations once again to MUIS and FITRAH for this significant progress and thank you very much. Before I end, allow me to saw a few words in Malay.

29. Hadirin dan hadirat yang saya hormati, saya ingin merakamkan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan kepada anda semua kerana memilih untuk menabur bakti bersama FITRAH.

30. Pada hari ini FITRAH amat bersyukur dengan sokongan golongan asatizah, pendampingan masyarakat dan desistor yang sentiasa bersedia membantu anggota masyarakat yang terkesan akibat pemenjaraan.

31. Sepanjang perjalanan FITRAH, kita telah melalui pelbagai ujian dan cabaran. Dengan izin Allah s.w.t serta berkat doa dan usaha anda semua, kita telah berjaya mengharungi cabaran.

32. Saya amat berterima kasih atas segala jasa, tenaga, dan pengorbanan yang telah dicurahkan. Semoga segala pencapaian ini menjadi pembakar semangat untuk kita terus berbakti kepada masyarakat.

33. Pada kesempatan ini juga, marilah kita mengenang para sukarelawan daripada kalangan asatizah yang telah kembali ke rahmatullah.

34. Mereka adalah Ustaz Amat Easan bin Jaafar, Ustaz Abdul Kahar bin Senian, Ustaz Khamsani bin Mohd Yasir, Ustazah Noorsiah binti Othman, dan Ustaz Abdul Rapol bin Haron. Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh mereka dan menempatkan mereka bersama orang-orang yang soleh. Amin.

35. Dan hari ini kita ada landasan yang baru, iaitu dengan pelancaran buku panduan ‘Kembali Kepada FITRAH’. Buku panduan ini Adalah suatu detik yang penting kerana dengan adanya buku ini, ia akan berikan laluan yang lebih mendorong dan lebih menyokong kepada para banduan dan juga masyarakat kita yang mungkin dapat pelajari dari proses ini. Ia sekaligus memberi ruang bagi kita untuk terus memperbaiki diri masing-masing untuk membangunkan masyarakat yang lebih kukuh dan mantap.

36. Ini adalah suatu detik yang penting, dan saya rasa gembira dapat bersama-sama anda pada pagi ini. Walaupun banyak pencapaian yang telah dinyatakan, penting juga untuk kita tanyakan bagaimana kita boleh meneruskan usaha ini, dan lestarikan sumber dan usaha kita bersama supaya sama-sama kita boleh datangkan kebaikan kepada diri masing-masing, terutama kepada mereka yang memerlukan.

37. Sebelum saya akhiri ucapan ini, izinkan saya menutup dengan pantun penghargaan:
    
    Pergi ke hulu memetik kenanga,
    Kenanga gugur di tepi laman;
    Budi yang luhur tidak dilupa,
    Menjadi kenangan sepanjang zaman.
    
    Kalau hidup ada berbaki,
    Amal baik jangan disia.
    Jasa tersimpan di sisi Ilahi,
    Menjadi bekal ke alam baka.

38. Wa billahi taufiq wal hidayah, wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Terima kasih.