“I also deployed to the countries I raised money for. I was in Bangladesh after the recent floods and have also been to Pakistan and Lebanon. I went on ten different deployments over the space of 15 months.”
Al Kaatib, who lives in Burnley, Lancashire, has designed wall art for boxer Amir Khan and MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov. He has also made canvasses for footballers such as Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita among others.
“We organized a lot of events where we sold food and held live calligraphy sessions. I would basically write people’s names and whatever money was raised went to charity,” he said.
In addition to auctioning his canvasses, Al Kaatib has been running 5k every day for five months to raise funds for the charity Global Relief Trust.
“My biggest motivation was my late father as I started doing charity work in his name. In my first campaign I raised money really quickly, over £20,000 in a day, so I decided to carry on with fundraising. My motivation now is my family and the victims who I have seen first-hand including orphans,” he said.
“I feel even the £1million I have raised is just a scratch on the surface, compared to what needs to be done.”
Al Kaatib is not the only Muslim who has been making efforts to support people in need worldwide.
Dubbed the “Running Man” of Oldham, Afruz Miah announced last month his plans to work with the charity Global Relief Trust (GRT) on mini campaigns to help the people of Afghanistan.
Naz Vander also raised funds to help spread breast cancer awareness in the BAME community in Halliwell, Bolton
Earlier in July, Milad Sarwar, a 22-year-old British Muslim man managed to raise £20,000 in just two days to support ongoing flood relief efforts in the Asian country.
