The touching story of a millionaire who used all his assets for charity
After being diagnosed with cancer, the millionaire decided to sell all his assets from supercars to watches, clothes, and give up his business to devote himself to charity work.
If you had only a few months left to live, what would you do? Spend all your time with your family and loved ones, or travel the world and enjoy life?
It was different for millionaire Ali Banat. After learning he had terminal cancer, he donated his entire life’s fortune to charity. He said: “The disease was like a ‘gift’ that gave me the opportunity to change my life.”
Before that, in 2015, Ali Banat had a happy and successful life in the south-west of Sydney, owning an electrical and security company. However, everything suddenly changed when Banat was diagnosed with stage four cancer. From that moment, his life took a different direction and he made an unexpected decision: he would donate most of his assets to charity.
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| Banat accepted the unexpected event with optimism. |
Banat decided to sell all his assets from supercars to watches, clothes, and give up his business… to devote himself to charity work. He wanted to leave without taking anything with him except peace. For him, now, pursuing a material life in the end could not bring the simplest meaningful thing that he really needed.
During a charity trip to Togo (Africa) - where the majority of the population is Muslim and lives below the poverty line, Ali Banat had the opportunity to meet and interact with many people in difficult circumstances. Here, he built an Islamic mosque and a school for local children.
Banat confided that the trip made him think a lot, and after returning, he decided to establish a charity fund called MATW Project (Muslims Around The World) to help Muslims around the world, including some countries such as Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso... GoFundMe.com is the official website that accepts donations from everyone.
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| When asked why he donated all his assets to charity, Banat said: "I realized that nothing in the world is more useful than charity. Seeing the smiles on the faces of children, I consider what I leave behind to be useful." |
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| Photos of Ali Banat during his community service days. The photos left many people in mourning and also inspired everyone to contribute to spreading his passionate projects. |
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The charity fund founded by Ali Banat himself is called MATW (Muslims Around The World) to help the Muslim community around the world. In the future, he hopes MATW can help all those in need, not just Muslims. |
All donations will support issues of workers’ salaries, food and health. Ali Banat has used the proceeds to carry out charity projects such as clean water projects, orphanage sponsorship projects, cemetery construction projects, village construction projects, etc.
Some of the typical projects that have been completed include building houses for more than 200 widows, schools for 600 orphans and a small hospital. The goal of MATW Project is to provide relief to places in need all over the world, not just in Africa.
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| While in the hospital, many strangers came to visit Ali Banat, some even having to fly 24 hours to get there. He shared: ''If you really need someone's help, don't worry because you will receive help from unexpected people. These are people you don't know but they become a part of your life.'' |
At the end of May, Ali Banat passed away after nearly three years of fighting the disease. Before he passed away, he left a thoughtful message:
“Throughout your life, find a purpose, a plan, a project, something that helps you orient your life. You can even contribute to someone else’s project. Just do it! When you can help someone, spread a good message, or participate in charity work, that is already a good ‘legacy’. Don’t keep chasing after external material things and forget what really makes you who you are.”
