Mission Mani: Doing Good on his behalf
“Mani!”
How many times had I called my little brother by his nickname? Hundreds? Thousands?
Each time he would grumble but dutifully reply, “Ugh what, Appy (big sister)?”
He never used my name. He respected me as an elder maternal figure, often turning to me for guidance or to vent.
I had imagined he would call me “Appy” until we grew old and wrinkled.
I never imagined that we would pray his janazah (Islamic funeral prayer) and help carry him to his final resting place. It was something that could never cross my mind, even in my most horrific nightmares.
Yet, that’s the nightmare that we lived, my parents, sister, and I. We prayed his final funeral prayer at the mosque we had played at when we were kids and we buried the youngest member of our family surrounded by the community that had seen him grow up to be the kind and respectful young man that he was.
As we laid him to rest, I thought, “What will we do without you?”
Mission Mani Motto
“Doing Good On His Behalf, Until We Reunite in Jannah.”
Today, on his birthday, we as a family embark on our next worldly journey, establishing Mani’s legacy, Mission Mani.
Mission Mani started as an attempt to do good on behalf of my late brother. We intend to travel around the world, much as my brother did, praying at mosques all over for him. On our travels, we hope to donate to local charities, orphanages, food banks, and more on Mani’s behalf. This year we donated sizable donations to our local mosques, but we want to do more.
