For most Muslims in the West, Eid al-Adha is a celebration defined by an abundance of family gathered around a table, prayer offered in gratitude, the ritual of Qurbani observed as an act of faith. For a family living through active conflict in Gaza, in Sudan, in Yemen the meaning of Eid al-Adha is far more fundamental: it is the one day each year when fresh meat might reach the table.
That gap between what Eid means for those with enough and what it means for those with almost nothing is precisely what Qurbani in crisis zones is designed to close. And for MATW Project Muslims Around the World closing that gap has been the operational reality for ten years.
What Is Qurbani, and Why Does It Matter in Crisis Zones?
Qurbani, also known as Udhiyah, is the ritual sacrifice of a livestock animal performed during the days of Eid al-Adha the 10th, 11th, and 12th of Dhul Hijjah. It commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) to sacrifice his son Ismail (AS) in obedience to Allah, who replaced the boy with a ram. The word itself means “nearness” through this act, Muslims draw closer to their Lord.
Islamic jurisprudence is clear on who must give: the Hanafi madhab considers Qurbani wajib (obligatory) for every sane adult Muslim who possesses wealth equal to or above the Nisab threshold. The Maliki and Hanbali schools classify it as sunnah mu’akkadah, a strongly confirmed recommended act. Across all schools of thought, the spirit is identical: those who have must give to those who do not.
The meat from every Qurbani sacrifice is divided into thirds: one for family, one for friends and neighbours, one for those in need. It is this final third, the third destined for the most vulnerable that Qurbani in crisis zones is built around. For communities in stable countries, that portion is meaningful. For families in active conflict zones, it can be transformative in a way that no other act of giving quite replicates.
The Food Security Reality in Conflict Zones
In Gaza, the collapse of supply chains, movement restrictions, and the destruction of local food systems have created one of the most acute food emergencies in the world. Fresh animal protein is, for most families, entirely out of reach. Conflict has eliminated the markets, the livestock, and the economic capacity needed to access meat through normal channels. Children go months sometimes the better part of a year without it.
In Sudan, where the civil conflict that began in April 2023 has produced one of the world’s largest displacement crises over 10 million people internally displaced, surpassing even Syria the food security situation is catastrophic. Families who have fled their homes are living in informal settlements and overcrowded refugee camps, with no reliable access to basic nutrition, let alone protein.
In Yemen, more than a decade of conflict has dismantled food systems so comprehensively that acute malnutrition is widespread, particularly among children under five. Nursing mothers face critical nutritional deficits. The elderly cannot access markets. Qurbani meat fresh, halal, and delivered directly to the door represents not a supplement to a family’s diet, but a singular nutritional event in an otherwise protein-depleted year.
This is the reality that Qurbani in crisis zones respond to. It is not symbolic giving. It is clinically significant nutrition delivered inside one of Islam’s most spiritually meaningful obligations.
How MATW Project Delivers Qurbani in Crisis Zones
MATW Project operates in 16 countries, including some of the world’s most logistically difficult conflict zones. The organisation was founded in 2015 by Ali Banat, an Australian Muslim entrepreneur who, upon receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, gave away his estate and dedicated his remaining years to humanitarian infrastructure across Africa and the Muslim world. When he passed away in 2018, he left behind an organisation built on a single standard: giving must be total, visible, and accountable.
That standard governs MATW’s Qurbani operations. Animals are sourced in compliance with strict Islamic requirements — the right species, the right age, the right health status, and the correct method of halal slaughter. Local scholars and qualified butchers oversee the process. Distribution is not dropped from a truck into a crowd. It is coordinated, documented, and delivered to verified families.
In Ramadan 2026, MATW’s teams were already on the ground in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, Togo, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and beyond — distributing over 1.4 million iftar meals, 112,455 food packs, and 72,000 rice bags across 16 countries. The same infrastructure, the same verified local teams, and the same accountability frameworks are now being deployed for Qurbani distributions. Donors are not funding a new operation. They are extending one that is already running, already trusted, and already proven.
“Compliance and accountability are not administrative checkboxes for us — they are the foundation of trust. Every Qurbani we deliver is documented, distributed to a verified family, and carried out in full accordance with Islamic requirements. When someone gives through MATW, they can know, with confidence, that the sacrifice reached the person it was meant for.”
— Chase Alley, Chief Operations Officer (USA), MATW Project
Qurbani in Gaza: Delivering Into a Live Crisis
Delivering Qurbani into Gaza requires a logistics chain that accounts for access restrictions, movement limitations, and the absence of functioning local livestock markets. MATW’s teams coordinate sacrifice outside the immediate conflict zone where necessary, with meat preserved, packaged, and transported through available crossings. The goal is not logistical convenience — it is ensuring that the obligation reaches the family it is meant for, regardless of the obstacles between donor and recipient.
During Ramadan 2026, MATW delivered over 1.1 million iftar meals to families in Gaza — one of the largest single-country distributions in the organisation’s history. The groundwater well project, completed during this same period, now serves over 15,000 people with clean water daily. Qurbani distributions in Gaza build on this foundation: the same teams, the same verified beneficiary lists, the same commitment to documentation.
Qurbani in Sudan: Reaching the Displaced
Sudan presents a different logistical challenge: a dispersed population of displaced people across a geography that has been fractured by conflict. MATW’s presence in Sudan is established and active — the organisation distributed food packs and emergency relief through Ramadan 2026 — and its Qurbani operations extend that reach to families who have been separated from their homes, their communities, and their usual means of observing Eid al-Adha.
For a family living in a displacement camp in Sudan, the arrival of Qurbani meat is not merely food. It is a signal that the global Muslim community has not forgotten them — that their Eid still matters, that they are still held within the bonds of the ummah. That psychological dimension is something no food pack fully delivers. Qurbani does.
Why Giving Qurbani Through an Established Organisation Matters
The Islamic humanitarian sector has faced legitimate scrutiny over accountability. Donors asking “how do I know my Qurbani actually reached someone?” are asking the right question. The answer requires more than a promise — it requires an organisation with verified presence in the destination country, documented distribution processes, and compliance infrastructure robust enough to be audited.
MATW Project holds full compliance registrations across Australia, the UK, the US, and France. Its impact data is published — not summarised, not estimated, but logged and verified by field teams including Head of Operations Samuel Harris. The Ramadan 2026 impact report is a public document, not a marketing summary. It is this standard of accountability that converts a donor’s act of worship into a recipient family’s Eid meal with confidence intact on both sides.
The Theological Case for Giving Where Need Is Greatest
Islamic jurisprudence encourages — and in some schools requires — that Qurbani be distributed where need is most acute. Giving locally in countries where the donor already lives is valid. But giving to a family in a crisis zone who has no other means of observing Eid carries a weight that extends beyond the obligation itself. The prophetic tradition of performing a second Qurbani on behalf of those in the ummah who cannot afford one points to exactly this logic: that those with means are entrusted not only with their own obligations, but with the dignity of those who have nothing.
Give your Qurbani in a crisis zone through MATW Project this Eid al-Adha 2026.
Visit matwproject.org to donate online. Every Qurbani is documented, Sharia-compliant, and delivered to a verified family in need.