A Muslim organisation called Who is Hussain? donated 30,000 bottles of water to the Flint, Michigan chapter of Red Cross to help local residents with the city's persisting water contamination crisis.
The organisation, Who is Hussain?, held a local charity drive for the city of Flint where they collected cases of water bottles as well as online donations to purchases further bottles of water.
“We saw what needed to be done and we decided to do it.
"We reached out to schools, neighbors, friends, mosques, anyone and everyone to help us by donating a case of water, or money towards a case,” Dr Aziza Askari, a Michigan representative of Who is Hussain?, told The Washington Times.
The water crisis in Flint hits home to the organisation, since the origins of the philanthropic group's name relate to a story of drought and famine.
Many of us take drinking water for granted. But for the people of Flint, Michigan who face water contamination issues, it's been a tough few months. (Source: Netflix) Source: Netflix
Who is Hussain? is named after Imam Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of Islam's founding prophet, Muhammad.
Hussain ibn Ali, a proponent of non-violence and an early admonisher of Muslim extremism, was brutally murderer by being denied water and dying of thirst.
For the followers of Hussain's teachings, denial of water is considered an unforgivable sin, which is why the crisis in Flint touches the core of the organisation's founding principles.
The followers of Hussain also annually commemorate his death through penance by fasting and denying themselves water for the day.
Michigan is home to the US city with the highest population of Muslims by percentage - Dearborn, Michigan, which is only an hour's drive from Flint.
The Flint river and surrounding catchments have faced issues of lead poisioning for months now, after the Michigan Department for Environmental Quality allegedly ignored reports showing contimination in local water sources.
CORRECTION:
Imam Hussain ibn Ali was slaughtered by his enemies after three day of being deprived of water.
On Ashura, the day of remembrance for Hussain ibn Al, Shia Muslims instead give away food and drink water to commemorate him.
