Why Should I Help?

Tsunami vs. Palestine

By Tarek A Ghanem

04/01/2005

These are difficult times, but still it is easy to hide away and continue with self-involvement. This is such a powerful tool. One could really dismiss the whole world around us and even create a different one in his/her own mind.

Still, does that write off reality?

Even worse, to limit one's interest (only) to his own clan, nation, race, religion, or whatever identity that exists, is no less than an extreme case of self-betrayal. A human being is a son of humanity, regardless of any association whatsoever that comes under that.

"Be overlooking (of others' faults); enjoin the good; and turn away from the ignorant." (Qu'ran 7:199)

The truth is that people often use these words as related to a mediocre half-idea that "some" Muslims have that priority in supporting other Muslims. This conviction sometimes even goes to a fanatical (fascist?) extent where a Muslim is to be supported whether right or wrong: the anti-thesis of the cardinal foundation of Islam in frowning upon tribalism—even from Islam's early dawn.

The upshot of the matter is that to reduce Islam—with its transcendental moral essence which is based on commitment to 'enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong’—is universal. (Qu'ran 3:103) Those who reduce Islam to an ideological agenda, under the socio-political reality, to deliver Muslims, and with all the Muslim triumphalism that this brings, simply have not understood the message of Islam comprehensively.

Palestine , Iraq , Chechnya , Afghanistan are areas that urge us to be involved. Still, they are not all there is. And their needs are not as pressing as the victims of the Tsunami existential tragedy. Self-determination and fighting oppression is, no doubt, second to actual survival. Fighting immanent death is more serious than fighting oppression.

That is not to say that this is how the majority of Muslims feel, or should. Our sense of humanity sometimes is eclipsed by the conditions Muslims are in today, but sometimes an assessment of both our doctrine and reality is needed. Along with that, our essential ''humanity' is where it all starts and where it all ends.

"Allah is in the aide of His servant as long as His servant is in the aide of their brethren." (Narrated by Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others). Scholars never made that brotherhood conditional, did they? All they do is to apply a realistic prioritization.  The "Hereafter" is dependent on the "Here-now".   

There is no time to emphasize the difference between "humanity" and "humanism".

Now is the time to give, donate, aid, support, and call for all that.  Take it or leave it, Islam is as innocent of any relation to contemporary ideas of fascism, nationalism, and xenophobia as it is innocent of polytheism.

A beautiful and equally insightful fatwa on the issue of relief to Tsunami victims tells us:

The locus of faith is the heart, and it entails seeing everything as it relates to Allah Most High. In this sense, we see many wisdoms, lessons, and warnings in such events, at the individual and societal levels. The locus of practice is one's actions, and it entails responding to events by acting in accordance with the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him, his family, companions, and followers), as explained in the previous answer. (SunniPath.com by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani).  

If someone asks me what this means to the author of these words, it simply and straightforwardly means to donate. Words are not enough, they never were.