Thimaar millionaire pledges $100,000 to charity

Dr. Abdulhannan Abdul Hameed Darwish, a Bahraini father of six, pledged US$100,000 to charity after Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, named him the first ever Thimaar millionaire.

Dr. Darwish won the first grand prize of US$1 million. The second Thimaar millionaire, who will claim the second US$1 million grand prize, will be named following a draw in December. Dr Darwish received his US$1 million cash prize from the Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Abdul Rahim and Deputy Chief Executive Officer - Banking Group, Abdulhakeem Al Mutawa, at a ceremony held at the Avenues Mall, and attended by other Thimaar winners, as well as Ithmaar Bank General Manager - Retail Banking Group, Mohammed Janahi, and other members of the Ithmaar Bank management team as well as a large audience. “I am delighted to win the first grand prize of Thimaar,” said Dr. Darwish.

“I got a call from the Bank informing me that I won a prize and invited me to a ceremony at the Avenues Mall, but didn’t say what I won. When they announced that I won US$1 million I was, honestly, shocked. I really didn’t expect to win the first grand prize but this is truly a blessing from Allah, the Almighty,” he said.

“On behalf of all of us at Ithmaar Bank, we congratulate Dr. Abdulhannan and his family, and all the other Thimaar winners,” said Ahmed Abdul Rahim. “When we told Dr. Abdulhannan that he won the million-dollar prize, he immediately and without any hesitation said that he will give away ten percent of the prize to help the less fortunate,” said Abdul Rahim.

“Ten pc of a million dollars is a hundred thousand dollars. That is a lot of money by any measure, and we were all very touched by his selfless generosity and that the first thing he thought of was helping others,” he said.