CAIRO, January 5 (IslamOnline.net) – The International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS) called on all Muslims and Muslim countries to offer more aid to the survivors of the tsunami-hit Asian peoples to help alleviate the tragic consequences of the unprecedented catastrophe.

“The IAMS calls on the Islamic world, governments, peoples and individuals, to offer more aid to the tsunami-hit Asian peoples,” the international Muslim body said in a statement, a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net Tuesday, January 4.

The IAMS, which brings together 200 Muslim scholars from around the world, also pressed for putting together all possible kinds of help, be that financial, psychological help, or medical convoys to aid the tsunami-stricken peoples, with the cooperation and coordination of regional and international Islamic relief agencies.

The world body’s call for humanitarian aid highlights the tenets of Islam which necessitates helping peoples in distress, regardless of their faith, color or race, the statement added.

Around 150,000 people have been confirmed killed and thousands have been missing in walls of tidal waves triggered by a 9.0 magnitude underwater earthquake – the world’s biggest earthquake in 40 years – which struck deep in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island on December 26.

Within the context of the Muslim drive to offer help to devastated Asians, a cohort of Islamic relief figures highlighted the importance of having collective efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the tsunami-hit peoples, regardless of faith or nationality.

"The International Islamic Council for Daw'a and Relief extended invitations to all aid organizations to swiftly offer emergency aid to the victims till holding a meeting of all relief groups to coordinate stances on offering collective aid to the tsunami-stricken areas,” Kamel Al-Sherif, the Council's Secretary General told IOL Tuesday.

He, however, said bad weather and the scale of destruction in the tsunami-hit areas constituted an obstacle to relief efforts in the hit areas.

“There was swift response from many relief groups which already arrived in the hit areas, but the problem is the difficulty of reaching to the hit areas due to the scale of destruction there.”

Al-Sherif noted that the Muslim council would keep calling on all Muslim peoples to bring help to the tsunami-hit peoples to alleviate the consequences of such a large-scale catastrophe on the Asian citizens.

“The council has already launched an intensive campaign in the Arab and Islamic countries to urge all relief groups to offer help to the tsunami-hit peoples,” he added.

Al-Sherif further added the Arab aid to the Asian countries constitute up to 50% of the international humanitarian aid to the tsunami-stricken nations.

Humanitarian aid flow to the tsunami-hit Sri Lankans.

The Arab Doctors Union also joined efforts to provide help to the tsunami-stricken peoples.

“The union held a meeting in Bahrain on January 2, attended by representatives of the Arab doctors syndicates, and agreed to draw up a program to offer emergency medical aid to the worst hit areas such as Indonesia,” the Union's Secretary General Abdul Mone'm Abul Futouh told IOL.

The union also held contacts with embassies of the tsunami-hit countries to get acquainted with their needs as well as bringing some of the injured to receive medical care in the Arab medical centers, he added.