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Muslim
Relief Activities: Urgency and Obstacles
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By
Mostafa Alkhateeb **
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Nov
2, 2005
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Many
successive disasters have made the role of Muslim relief
activities a very urgent issue. In the last two years, the death
toll surpassed 26,000 in the Bam earthquake in Iran; 1,800 in
Typhoon Nanmadol in the Philippines; 3,000 by torrential rains
in the Dominican Republic and Haiti; 2,500 in tropical storm
Jeanne in Haiti; 300 in Cyclone Gafilo in Madagascar’ 300,000
in the Asian
tsunami; 230 in
Pakistan’s torrential rains; thousands in the Niger famine;
700 in Hurricane
Katrina in the
United States; and 79,000 in the recent Indian
Subcontinent earthquake. Such frightening numbers
do not begin to tell the need of the survivors for clean water,
food, clothing, and shelter.
Islam’s
Stance
Islam
calls for the protection of human life, for mankind generally
and Muslims in particular. Allah says in the Qur’an:
[Whoever
saved a life it shall be as if he had saved the life of all
mankind.] (Al-Ma’idah 5:32)
[And
if one of the idolaters seek protection from you, grant him
protection till he hears the word of Allah, then make him
attain his place of safety; this is because they are a people
who do not know.] (At-Tawbah 9:6)
Islam
urges Muslims to do good acts and motivates them by mentioning
the rewards of such acts. Prophet Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever meets the
needs of his brother, Allah will meet his needs” (Al-Bukhari
and Muslim).
This
Islamic stance toward disasters and people in need becomes clear
when a number of Muslim scholars stated that although zakah
has a special status in Islam, it
is permissible to give it to non-Muslims.
The Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“Sadaqah (charity) is prescribed for every person every
day the sun rises” (Ahmad and Abu Dhar Al-Ghafari).
Repercussions
A
serious question is raised here: What are the consequences of
deactivating Muslim relief activities?
Deactivating
these activities would have a great impact on both Muslims and
non-Muslims.
Some
Muslims affected by the disasters may lose the feeling of
belonging to the Muslim Ummah. Strengthening the concept of the
Ummah is extremely important nowadays, as a great deal of
Muslims are aware of international politics; therefore, we need
a unified Ummah.
A
more dangerous result is that some Muslims may be affected by
missionaries who are active after such disasters. For example, a
missionary group planned to place 300
Muslim tsunami orphans
into a Christian children’s home. A news story entitled
“Catholics growing fast worldwide” is sufficient to let us
be aware of that danger.
As
for non-Muslims, if Muslim relief activities are neglected,
non-Muslims will not be in touch with genuine Islamic morals and
values. When observing the apathy of some Muslims toward their
needy brothers and sisters, a bad image will be formed about
Islam itself, especially when Muslim efforts are compared to
those done by many non-Muslim nations and organizations.
Obstacles
Facing Muslims
Thanks
to Allah, many Muslim organizations and individuals react
sincerely at times of disaster. But there are many factors that
prevent us from achieving that great mission. It is known that
the media is selective and belittles and marginalizes the
contributions of Muslim organizations, focusing on, if not
exaggerating, Western aid and support. After the attacks of
9/11, the United States made many restrictions on influential
Muslim monetary resources, claiming that a lot of this money is
being directed to “terrorist organizations.” Another factor
is the difficulties facing Muslim activists moving from one
place to another, or working in groups lest they be accused of
working against the “stability and security” of the
countries they live in, or of Western “targets” in those
countries.
A
very important factor that hinders the procedure of relief
activities is that many Muslims think wrongly or ignorantly that
it is not permissible to help non-Muslims. This claim has been
proved false. The greatest factor, in my opinion, is that
Muslims in some countries are very passive and indifferent or
may be busy inside their own countries for many reasons.
The
following is a good quote from a participant in the Discussion
Forum page. His
nickname is “Selam lover” (peace lover):
"Humanitarian
by Muslims? This is a good Idea but as we all know many Muslim
organizations are closing under western pressure for the reason
they are aiding terrorists in other words the spread of Islam in
the world. The US wants to be the only organization for
humanitarian reason so it can be used as bread & stick for
implementing its polices and stop the ever fast growing religion
of Allah (Islam)".
Steps
to Act and React
Here
are some ideas to act against future disasters:
-
Donate
to the stricken countries
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Spread
information about Islamic relief organizations
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Contact
other Muslims in stricken areas to show solidarity and to
learn about first-hand experiences
**
Mostafa Alkhateeb is
a moderator on IslamOnline’s Discussion Forum.
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