Muslim
generosity in the age of the Pandemic and Panic buying. Crescent International 6 April 2020 SMY1R221
;The corona virus pandemic has led many people in the West to rush and buy food items, disinfectants and toilet paper—yes toilet paper—for fear that these will run out.Why this obsession with the toilet paper? True, people want to clean themselves but it is a lot more hygienic to wash after using the toilet.
Muslims have been washing themselves for more than 1500 years. By
all means use the toilet paper but then wash yourself as well. And
washing hands thoroughly with warm water and soap is important for good health.
Again, this is a long-established
Muslim practice that the West is just beginning to learn because of
the pandemic.
But
let us move on from the toilet paper. Fearing
that they will run out of food, many people rushed to buy huge amounts of food,
stacking their trolleys sky high, especially of dry food items and canned
vegetables. There are others—the Muslims—that have done
the exact opposite. Both in the West and in
societies where they are a majority, Muslims have gone out of their way to help
the needy and poor.
Through
mosques and other outlets including restaurants, individual Muslims as well as
Muslim charities have organized food distribution and food baskets handing them
to families that are facing economic hardship in these difficult times. In
the US, Canada, UK and Europe, the much-vilified Muslims have also stepped
forward to help others without distinction of religion or race. Muslim
youth in parts of Canada have set up volunteer groups to help the vulnerable
and the elderly to purchase groceries or get medicines.
In
the U.S. Americans have been buying guns. Even
before the pandemic, there were already more than 393 million guns owned by
individuals in the US. Gun owners have made clear they intend
to use their weapons to get what they want if there is a run on food items. Muslims are not buying weapons.
Instead of fighting to get food for themselves, they have gone about
preparing food packages to distribute among the needy. In
Spain where the country is under complete lock down,Muslim taxi drivers have
volunteered to take people to hospital. without charging them. In
Muslim majority countries, especially in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Iran,
commendable efforts are underway to help the needy.
Even
in India where Muslim persecution is part of the ruling party agenda and
many have been hacked to death, Muslims have gone into poor neighbor
hoods and provided food to needy families. They make no distinction between
Muslims and Hindus. The food distribution campaigns are
organized through mosques in each locality .
Pakistan
and Iran also face serious economic challenges. Pakistan’s
economy has been ruined by successive governments in the past pilfering
billions out of the country. Iran has been under severe US-imposed
sanctions that have seriously undermined its economy. Sanctions have also
prevented other countries from doing business with Tehran for fear of being
punished by the US. Iran is even prevented from importing
desperately needed medicines.The pandemic has further strained Iran’s economic
resources. Despite these challenges both Muslim
countries and others have come through to help the needy and poor. The
Iranian government announced plans to give one-time cash payment of
10 million rials (nearly
$240 at official currency rate) to more than 23 million households in the
country. This is part of government efforts to
help people cope with the economic impact of the pandemic. There
are also private foundations in Iran that provide help to the poor. Among
"Shia" Muslims, the concept of Khums is well established. They
give their Khums (one-fifth of income) to their Marja (religious leader they
follow, and there are many maraje in Iran and Iraq) whose office in turn
distributes this money among the deserving.
Lock
downs imposed as part of containing the pandemic have put daily wage
earners at serious risk. In the absence of governmental safety
nets like those in the West, individuals have stepped forward as part of their
responsibility, to fill the vacuum. The
Qur’an emphasizes this repeatedly both through giving Zakat as well as other
charitable donations (2:03; 2:177; 9:60 and other ayat in the noble Qur'an).
Most
Muslims give Zakat donations in the month of Ramadan. There
are nearly 25 million people living below the poverty line in Pakistan. They
are helped by the generous donations of other people in Pakistan that give
Zakat either directly to the poor or through institutional arrangements.The
people of Pakistan are among the most charitable in the world. A
government-sponsored volunteer effort is also underway in Pakistan to mitigate
the disastrous impact of the pandemic. Led
by concerned citizens that have organized food drives, and protective
gear donations, the effort has been recognized even internationally. Similarly,
on March 27, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the creation of a
special fund for laborers and daily wage earners that would provide Rs. 3,000
to each person per month for four months. More
than 12 million vulnerable people have already been registered and
another 3.5 million are being added to the list.There are similar databases
available at the provincial level to help track the most vulnerable. The
public-private sector combination may just allow Pakistan to weather the
pandemic without leaving the most vulnerable to fall through the
cracks as is happening in neighboring India. Prime
Minister Khan has also opened a new bank account named ‘Prime Minister’s
COVID-19 Relief Fund’ at the National Bank of Pakistan in Karachi. He
has appealed to overseas Pakistanis to deposit funds directly into the account
to boost the country’s foreign currency reserves hit hard by the cancellation
of orders for Pakistani goods, mainly textiles from abroad. In
these troubled times, most Muslims have shown a remarkable sense of compassion
to help others.
This is the true spirit of
Islam.
