US: Muslim-run free clinics gaining popularity

Hundreds of Christian hospitals and clinics run across the United States named after Christ and crosses and mercy, but joining them now are about 25 free clinics nationwide run primarily by Muslims.

Some of these hospitals and clinics, like the Al-Shifa Clinic in San Bernardino, Calif, or the Muslim Community Center Medical Clinic in Silver Spring, Md, have been around for years and there a few others which have opened within the past year at a time when the Muslim religion is under siege, a report in Washington Post said.

According to the American Muslim Health Professionals’ task force on health affordability, these hospitals and clinics, mainly run by Muslims, do not get any government funding and treat anyone regarding of their religion.

The report mentioned a mosque in Northern Virginia, which was bustling at the weekend with people, including women, old men and children, including those from countries whose citizens have been banned from travelling to the United States in a move President Trump says is aimed at keeping the potential terrorists away.

“When you walk into the mosque’s offices, you see a large mural with Arabic writing translated into English: “Peace Be Upon You,” the report said. As with other Muslim-run hospitals and clinics, medical service at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society’s branch in Virginia’s city of Chantilly is free.

The ADAMS Compassionate Healthcare Network has been open for nearly three years and has treated hundreds of patients, including refugees, day laborers and military veterans, the report said.

The report mentioned ADAMS, Northern Virginia’s largest mosque, which has been operating its clinic for three years. “It’s for anyone There is so much need, and we have people who want to give,” the report quoted Bazigha Hasan, one of the founders as telling the Washington Post.

Many of the patients at the clinic can’t afford medical care in Virginia which is one of the states that refused to expand a medical program called Medicaid, because of which about 423,000 residents do not have health insurance coverage.

The Mosque in Dulles donates only space, and all the medical services is provided free of cost funded by volunteers. “Although the clinicians don’t keep track of patients’ religions, it’s easy to see they care for people from all sorts of backgrounds. Since the clinic opened in 2014, they’ve treated nearly 2,400 patients, 62 percent of them women,” the report said.

As, people from different countries visit the clinic, the common language spoken at the clinic is “Sign language”, said one of the volunteers at the clinic.

“The thank yous are what make the clinic run.”

Source : https://muslimvillage.com