After the dawn of Islam Masjid assumed a very important role in the society. It was not only used as a place to offer prayers but also became center of many other activities like a meeting place of the elders, as a teaching place - Schools or Madrassahs, a place to settle disputes or to make community announcements. Some Masjids had large libraries and even had offices of the local municipal administration or ruler.

Due to the central role of the Masjid it can be used to fulfill many community needs. Thinking on these lines MMRF is attempting to make community clinics at the Masjids. We are trying to create a model that is sustainable and can be replicated. For this purpose we launched the first such clinic in a Mosque in Islamabad in February 2007.

This clinic is open seven days a week from Asar (5 pm) to Maghrib (7 pm) prayers. Its a free clinic and patients are also given free medicines. Initially to start the project one of our member organization IHS has provided all the furniture, equipment, medicines and staff. However, the IHS staff will gradually withdraw and doctors / medical professionals from the local community will take over.

In 2 months of operations we already have two local doctors (including a lady doctor) who are giving their time to the clinic on designated days. The local population is also contributing towards buying medicines and those who can afford to pay give fee that is used to buy medicines and other consumables.

At the moment 10-12 patients are daily getting treatment from this Masjid Clinic.

We plan to open more such clinics at other Masjids within Islamabad as well as other cities. We have made standardized forms and system that can be implemented at any place. This standardization will ensure smooth operations and sustainability of the clinic through participation of the local community. Initially on one time basis  MMRF is willing to provide all the equipment, medicines and equipment required to start the clinic, later the community will have to sustain it themselves.

We foresee that if such clinics are established at local level even in 5-10% of the Masjids of an area it can be a great source of relief and help for the poor and needy.

We welcome any suggestions or donations to extend these clinics to every part of the Muslim world.