"Those who spend their wealth in Allah's way by night and by day, secretly and publicly — they will have their reward with their Lord." — Quran 2:274

Muhammad Azhar Alam is a 40-year-old father of two young boys who lives in a semi urban area of Lahore. Although, Azhar knew that surviving in a big city like Lahore was always going to be tough, he started his small general store 2 years ago with minimal funds available with him at that time. Even after setting up his business, he could never really escape his impoverished life and did not earn what he had expected. Since Azhar had only a handful of items to sell, his earnings always remained limited. Major part of his income was spent on paying bills, house rent and commuting within the city and with the remaining amount, he purchased stock for his store. Things got difficult for Azhar when his child came of school going age. His locality did not have any government schools so he had to send his son to a private school where the fee was high. For the past 13 years, he has lived in a small 2-bedroom home where hygiene and sanitation is a problem as clean water is unavailable most of the time. Azhar goes through constant struggle each day just to make ends meet. Azhar has requested a loan of $245 to expand his general store by adding more products and also increasing the variety of products available to the customers which will lead to more sales and increased income. Azhar is hopeful that his business will flourish. He will be able to provide quality education to his children in Lahore. With increased income, he hopes to move to a new house with better hygiene and sanitation facilities. Tags