BERN, July 31 (IslamOnline.net) - Muslim citizens of Switzerland have embarked on a nationwide campaign of voluntary work to meet the needs of their society and sizable community.

Working in tandem with different NGOs across the country, Swiss Muslim activists have proved that they form an integral part of Switzerland and do really feel for the requirements of fellow citizens.

“Though they are counting on limited resources, Muslim volunteers take it as a real vocation and are moved by a pressing sense of duty,” leader of the Swiss Muslims League Suliman Abdul Kadir told IslamOnline.net Saturday, July 31.

“In doing so, they help clear any stereotypes about Islam,” he added.

Voluntary activities include raising funds for orphans and presenting patients in different hospitals with gifts.

The volunteers are also keen on making life easier for Muslim newcomers and new generations.

They hold language classes, provide free-charge funeral and burial services and organize conferences for the community.

The elderly, whether Muslim or not, are also high on their agenda.

“We feel it incumbent upon us to undertake these voluntary activities, hoping to be rewarded by God,” activist Mahdi Bin Hamida told IOL.

The Muslim voluntary work in Switzerland set itself as a paradigm during the 1992 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At the time, Muslims raised funds for Muslims in the war-torn region and dispatched aid and medical convoys.

Muslim volunteers also sent aid convoys laden with food, tents and blankets to Turkey after the 1999 killer quake.

Islam is the second religion in Switzerland after Christianity. Muslims make up a sizable 4.3 percent of the country’s eight million population, namely some 311,000, according to a 2000 census.