At the Lakemba Travel Centre, in Sydney’s west, a sign on the door reads ‘Closed until further notice’.
The centre has been in business for 30 years and says it has arranged more than 100,000 tourism packages to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
“First time in our lives, we feel so sad. Everybody is shocked,” its owner Omar Yassine tells SBS News.
The impact of coronavirus is made all the more difficult as Muslims prepare to mark the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in Australia on Friday.
“We cannot pray together we cannot do anything. We are sociable people, especially during Ramadan, so we are very disappointed," Mr Yassine says.
"We can only pray and ask God to help us all around the world."
As businesses continue to suffer a decline in customers and more and more workers lose their jobs, charitable organisation the National Zakat Foundation Australia (NZF), which supports Australian Muslims in need, has told SBS News it is fielding a huge increase in requests for help.
Omar Yassine has has to close the doors at his travel agents. Source: SBS News
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Lakemba-based charity says it has seen a 56 per cent increase in the number of requests for assistance and CEO Ismail Davids says he expects that to only increase.
“I expect that this Ramadan there will be a 200 to 300 per cent increase in requests for financial assistance. Ramadan is the month that we fundraise, but no one knows how this Ramadan is going to be.”
The NZF collects Zakat, a charitable payment Muslims are expected to make as part of one of the five pillars of Islam. Those who are able, are expected to donate two-and-a-half per cent of their total savings and wealth each year to those in need.
The funds used by the NZF to assist others amount to $150,000 to $200,000 per month, Mr Davids says, and requests for support are mounting.
The National Zakat Foundation has received a surge in calls. Source: Essam Al-Ghalib/SBS News
This month the NZF received a request for aid from one Muslim man who had his passport confiscated by his landlord for being three months behind in his rent.
“We verified his story with his landlord and paid off his rent so he could get his passport back,” Mr Davids says.
“Also, a few days ago there was a Muslim brother who had died and his family did not have the funds to bury him and he stayed in the morgue for two weeks. When his family contacted the NZF, they were in a lot of pain, so we paid for his funeral and burial.”
A statement released this week by the Australian National Imams Council acknowledged Ramadan would be a difficult one this year.
“It will be a time when the traditional extended family Iftars and congregational prayers will not be occurring as usual; ANIC acknowledges how difficult this is,” it read.
“Despite these challenges, we ask the Muslim community to navigate through the holy month of Ramadan with patience and strength and to always keep in mind, the spiritual purpose of this holy time.”
“We ask Allah to allow us to witness this great month and to grant us wisdom and forbearance in these difficult times.”
For Mr Yassine at the travel agents, who is caught between his clients and the airlines and hotels, he wants to assure his customers he is here to help, but his hands are tied.
“A lot of money was paid to travel agencies that was paid to airlines and hotels before the pandemic. Now that money is being held by them,” he says.
“Many people have lost their jobs and want that money back before Ramadan so they can survive, but I do not have it. The airlines and hotels do.”
“People need to talk to the hotels and airlines, and we are happy to assist with that.”
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