Serving Kindness
PC: Aasil Ahmad
Article originally appeared in Zariya: Women’s Alliance for Dignity and Equality
Kazi Mannan, an immigrant to the United States from Pakistan, owns a restaurant called Sakina Halal Grill, a few blocks from the White House in Washington DC. The menu is typical Indian-Pakistani cuisine, with biryani, chicken tikka masala and seekh kebab; the décor includes traditional cane chairs and hand-carved wooden tables imported from Pakistan. But Sakina Halal Grill is anything but typical; in fact, it’s unlike any restaurant in the Washington DC area, perhaps even in the country. Mannan serves food for free to anyone who’s struggling, alongside his regular paying customers. Homeless men and women from nearby parks and street corners walk in, and are greeted and served with dignity. No one is turned away; no questions asked.
When Mannan first started, people told him that he couldn’t run a business this way, that paying customers from prestigious nearby law firms and consulting firms would not dine next to homeless people.
He didn’t take their advice. For him, it was personal. He knew the sting of hunger.
When he first arrived in the US almost 25 years ago, there were days he couldn’t afford to eat. He saw homeless people rifling through trash to find food; he committed then to doing something to change that indignity.
When Mannan first opened his restaurant in 2013, he walked to the nearby parks where homeless men and women slept on benches, and invited them to eat at his restaurant; they couldn’t believe it. People donate food to the homeless but no one had ever invited them to eat at a restaurant. He served 6,000 free meals the first year. He estimates he’s given away about 80,000 meals since.
When it comes to kindness, there’s no one better than us [Muslims]. This is our core value. We’re not doing this to show off, this is something we really believe in,” he tells me. He recounts a story about the time when Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sitting with his Sahabas (Companions). They asked him, what was the best way to worship Allah, to get the highest rewards. “The Sahabas thought he would say do more prayers, but the he said, go feed the poor, feed the hungry, take care of the orphans, take care of the widows. This is the supreme worship to Allah.
Kazi Mannan grew up in poverty in a small village in Pakistan, without electricity or running water, one of 10 siblings; he went to school under a tree. When it rained, the roof of his house, made of wood and covered with mud, would leak. “If it rained fast, it was ok, but when it rained slowly, over days, we would have to move our bed from one side of the room to the other to avoid getting wet.”
I don’t remember having meat growing up,” he tells me, “even when we had meat, it was mostly just gravy.” But his mother was a wonderful soul, he says; whenever she cooked something good, she would say ‘go give it to that neighbour, take it for that neighbour’. “We would get angry and say ‘but mom we don’t have enough’. But she would always share. I didn’t understand it then, but now I understand how important it is to share.”
It’s through giving that you get your connection to Allah. That’s how my mother got her connection to God, through loving other people.
When Mannan first arrived in the US, he worked at a gas station, double shifts, 16 hour days. Then he found out from a friend that driving people around in a limousine was lucrative; as soon as he could afford it, he bought a limo. One day he dropped someone off at a wedding and was waiting outside when he was invited in to join the party. He sat next to an older woman; they started a conversation and soon she was charmed by Mannan’s respectful manner and hard working ethic. She held his hand and said, “you’re like my son”. Mannan became part of her family, and became her full-time limousine driver. Through her son, a very successful executive, Mannan was introduced to other businesspeople who needed limo drivers. Soon his limousine business flourished. From a single car he went to have a fleet of 31 cars. When an opportunity to buy a restaurant surfaced, he jumped at it; that was his American dream. He later renamed it Sakina, after his mother; and decided to honour his mother’s legacy in more than just name.
Mannan grew up in a religious home. His father was an Imam, as was his grandfather. He said his prayers and kept his fasts, but faith was more a duty and a ritual, he says. “As a kid you don’t understand the philosophy behind religion, what it really means.” He developed a much deeper understanding of faith after the age of 40. “What I had learned, what I had read, what I had experienced, everything aligned and the vision for my life became much clearer.”
His grandfather was also a poet and his poetry continues to inspire Mannan. He wrote about the love of Allah and the love of the Prophet, Mannan says, about the difference between love and ishq. With love, you’re still seeking something in return, but ishq is one way, it’s your love of the divine, he explains. “Where the love ends, that’s where the ishq starts.”
Everything I do now is because of my faith,” Mannan says. He recites a verse in Arabic from Surah Al-Insan, chapter 29. It says, “We feed you only for the sake of Allah; we have no intention of receiving either a return from you or thanks.” And another that says, “And they give food, out of their love for Him, to the needy, and the orphan, and the captive.
If you want to get closer to Allah, the easiest ladder is to feed the hungry, to take care of those Allah has mentioned. It’s not our part to judge them, our part is to help them.
Last year, Mannan hosted a Pakistani cooking class for KindWorks, a nonprofit organisation that I help lead. A dozen of us gathered in his restaurant’s kitchen and learned his mother’s recipes. During Ramadan, I took my mom and son to meet Mannan. There was a homeless couple taking up a full table outside during a particularly busy time when tables were at a premium; Mannan said paying guests can leave, but he will not ask them to leave. “We have to respect everyone the same way,” he said.
In March, when the Covid pandemic hit, Mannan had to shut down his restaurant, especially as most of his business was based on foot traffic from nearby offices. When he reopened four months later, offices were still closed; his business declined by 80 per cent. Unable to pay rent, suppliers, employees, he considered shutting down the restaurant. Then, a friend suggested setting up a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign; Mannan reluctantly agreed. Within 24 hours the campaign had raised $100,000. The campaign went viral, was shared by nearly 4,000 people, received local and national news coverage, was tweeted by influential twitterers – and raised over $300,000.
Mannan is back in business; he’s been able to hire back a few of his employees; he’s able to feed the homeless again. With any extra funds he plans to set up a foundation to support other restaurants that want to feed the homeless.
When you do good in the community, people remember you,” Mannan says overwhelmed with all the support, “they appreciate you, and pray for you, even after you die.
This is not about me; it’s about a much bigger mission,” he says. He feels that the tremendous publicity and attention he’s received and the outpouring of goodwill from around the country and the world is because God has a bigger purpose for him, and he’s grateful for that. “This too was a test for me, to stay humble and not to lose focus. I’ll try my best.
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(The views expressed in this article are the author’s own. Content can be used with due credit to the author and to Zariya: Women’s Alliance for Dignity and Equality)
Author
Salma Hasan Ali
Salma Hasan Ali is a writer, storyteller, nonprofit leader, and storytelling consultant, focusing on personal essays and how stories can help us understand each other better. She is the founder of the '30 days 30 deeds' Ramadan blog, where she shares personal stories on gratitude, traditions, wisdom and compassion. Her newest blog 'humanKIND' shares everyday stories on humanity and kindness. Salma is also the Chief Inspiration Officer and Board Vice President of KindWorks, an award winning nonprofit organisation that promotes volunteerism. She is a 2019 Finalist for the March of Dimes 'Heroines of Washington' award and twice nominated for the El Hibri Foundation Community Builder Award. Previously, Salma worked as a writer, editor, and press and information leader for international organisations in Geneva, Paris, Stockholm, Bahrain and New York. You can read Salma’s writing and see her '30 days 30 deeds' blog at: http://www.salmahasanali.com; follow her 'humanKIND' blog on her Instagram @salma.hasan.ali