Seeking Compassion and Unity
The estimated global value of annual Zakat calculated as
2.5% of a Muslim’s surplus wealth would amount to at least 15 times more than
global humanitarian aid states IRIN Global. In addition to Zakat, which is one of the five
pillars of Islam, Muslims are encouraged to offer charity whenever they can
which can be a small or large amount of money or as simple as a smile or kind
word.
Despite being a financially strapped country, 98% of Pakistanis
give some form of charity totalling an average of Rs 800 billion. Yet the
poverty index in Muslim countries does not improve. Tariq Cheema president of
the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, says there is a need to shift
from generous giving to strategic giving so that the distribution of collected
funds would result in none left to receive charity as in the time of the
Khalifa Umar (RA). The success of
Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen bank offering microfinancing led to its adoption
by 100 other countries.
There is considerable protest in Europe over hosting war
refugees, although a country like UK hosts only 1% of the World’s refugees. 76%
of refugees are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. The world’s largest
refugee camp is in Bangladesh for the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Pakistan
took in four million refugees from Afghanistan. Jordan hosts the largest number
of Palestinian refugees. Lebanon has the largest number of refugees per capita
and per square kilometre in the world. In 2023, UNHCR received record amount of
Zakat contributions to assist refugees.
Not limited to helping fellow Muslims, a number of Muslim
countries helped save Jewish people from the Holocaust during the Nazi era,
including Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco and Albania. Abdol Hossein Sardari, an
Iranian diplomat based in Paris during the Holocaust, saved 2,000 to 3,000
Jewish lives.
The sharing of knowledge is a cornerstone of Islam. The
Golden Age of Islam is known for spearheading intellectual growth. In our time
the online portal, Khan Academy established by Salman Khan, offers free video
lessons to students around the world. It has 8.17 million subscribers, and its
videos have been viewed more than two billion times.
With a world population of 1.4 billion, it is estimated that
77 million Muslims have a college or university education with the highest
numbers in Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan and India and a respectable number
in Malaysia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, Nigeria, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Way below the world average, but
nevertheless a substantial number to establish an intellectual presence.
This presence has been held back for many complex reasons
and Muslims are quick to attribute it to western colonial history, self-satisfied
with the scholarly contributions of the Golden Age of Islam. However, Muslims
themselves are also responsible for the fragmentation and a reluctance to unite
the Ummah. The 57 Muslim nations are spread across Africa, Asia and the Middle
East. The diversity of languages alone is evidence of this with the translation
of the Quran in 114 languages. Yet, there is a dismissal of Muslim communities
the further away they lie from the holy places of Islam in Arabia and the Near
East. This despite the transnational character of the Islamic Empires of the
past.
Allama Iqbal reminds us that the Muslim ummah is universal,
and that the boundaries of states were only for administrative convenience.
Ummah should not be conflated with pan-Islamism. Ummah or people, linked with
the word Umm or mother, aims to promote the welfare and spiritual values of all
Muslims. Pan-Islamism is a more recent
incendiary term promoted to depict Islam as an aggressive expansionist force.
Muslims today are defensive and protectionist against what
has become a self-fulfilling hostility. There is a sense that Muslim countries
are tolerated only because they own 75% of the total global oil reserves of the
world and nearly half of the world's gas reserves along with mineral wealth and
strategic importance.
Muslims today are more likely to follow individual religious
obligations, fard ain, rather than fard kifayah or communal obligations. Harnessing
the strength of human capital across nations is as important if not more so
than harnessing lucrative natural resources.
The best of times and the best of solutions emerge through
intercultural and interdisciplinary communities and by collectively addressing
common challenges. Ummah does not only apply to Muslims but all gatherings of
people working for the benefit of humanity.
Durriya Kazi
Karachi
October 6, 2024
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