Al-Hayat Relief Foundation is an interest-free cooperative society, which started in 1997 in Ijebu-Ode (Ogun State). It was formed to rescue our Muslim brothers who were often forced to take loans from Shylock lenders, who charged exorbitant interests. More so, we observed that the practice was that when they took the loans, the lenders would not want the loans to be paid back. Rather, they preferred the interest to accumulate. We felt that it would be proper to come together and create an interest-free cooperative. We wanted to live and have all the necessities of life without unnecessarily getting them in the wrong way. Islam abhors ill-gotten and accumulated wealth; it believes that whatever you own, it must be in a halal way as opposed to haram. Six of us sat down and started talking to people about it. Still, unfortunately, the first set of people that we invited thought it would not be possible to float an interest-free cooperative in this environment and so backed out. But we were resilient and we continued with our membership drive and by the time we were about to do our annual general meeting after a year, we encouraged each member to come with friends and by the time we finished, the membership had risen. Right now, we have over 90 branches in about six states of South West Nigeria.
What Makes Us Unique
Al-Hayat holds meetings once a month in all the branches. This is how we operate: we pay a development levy of N100 per month and this is what we use as running cost. Most of those who work there are members who carry out selfless services; they are not paid. We have provision for shares; once you become a member, the minimum shares you can have is 2,500 and you can save as much as you have. For you to take a loan, you must have been a member for six months and we give you double of what you save. For example, a member that has N50,000 gets a loan of N100,000, but the shares we have are what we use to run legitimate businesses. If you take a loan of say N200,000, the payable tenure is 20 months, and you are not going to pay a dime as interest.
Business is the life wire of Al-Hayat. The society relies solely on business since it does not take interest.
OUR BRIEF HISTORY
Assalam Alaykum Wa rahmatullahi Wa barakatuhu
We give thanks to Almighty Allah for His blessings, guidance and protection over us. May He continue to shower His blessings on the noble Prophet Muhammad (SAW), his household and his Companions until the Day of al-Qiyamah. May He also continue to guide us to His right path and protect us from the evils of Shaytan.
Al – Hayat Relief Foundation is a non- governmental, interest free cooperative organization registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja, Nigeria with registration no CAC/IT/NO 18559.The foundation presently has branches spreading across the south-western states of Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Kwara, in Nigeria. With this number of branches and the various requests for more branches, al hayat has grown into a household name in Sharīʿah principled and microfinance activities.
The branches of the foundation meet ones in a month. The meeting affords the members the opportunity of interacting with each other, fulfilling their financial obligations and offering prayers. Strategically, the meeting is also a forum for daʿwah. The Missioners of branches are expected to give sermon and lectures on very topical issues. This is expected to rejuvenate the mind and build characters.
Business is the life wire of Al-Hayat. The foundation engages in halal businesses since it does not take interests. The business activities of all the branches conform with the principles laid down in fiqh Muʿamalah.
The foundation also manages Group Life Micro Takaful Scheme (GLTS). It is a pool created to cater for the immediate next of kin of any deceased member of the foundation.
The National Executive Council (NEC) constitutes the statutory NEC officials, which meets on regular basis as issues unfold, and the extended NEC which constitutes all branches Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, Secretaries and Treasurers. The ENEC, which is the policy formulating body of the foundation, meets on a quarterly basis.
Presently, the foundation has established a Yatwater factory, a Micro-finance Bank with the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a Medical Centre to cater for the health needs of the people generally i.e. muslims and non-muslims alike. There is no doubt that with a solid financial base and committed membership, the foundation has taken a number of steps towards achieving its vision and corporate mission.
We pray to Almighty Allah to strengthen the foundation and give us more opportunities as Muslims to serve Islam.
Dr. Salako, Taofiki Ajani
For the foundation