While many of our centers are busy holding lectures and activities, competitions and contests, our fellow human beings are in a severe and extreme disaster. What’s worse is that this famine did not just start last week; it has been going on for a few months this severely, and on a less severe scale for many years now. Why are we not the ones sharing the news? Why does it take an ABC special or a show on TV to bring it to the attention of our Islamic organizations and Muslims around the world? Shouldn’t we be more aware of the conditions of our fellow Muslims, and fellow human beings, no matter where or when?
It’s that time again – time to step back during our busy schedules this month of Ramadan and take a self-critical look at ourselves, and most importantly, these communities we live, breathe, and spend most of our time and energy in everyday.
If you haven’t heard, you must be asleep. Somalia is in need. It’s as simple as that. If the words of “no food or water”, or “this woman had to walk three weeks in order to reach a village with water” cannot bring your heart to sympathize during this month of fasting, then I guarantee the pictures will take care of that. According to some reports, one Somalian child is dying every 100 seconds. The same food we are trashing everyday in our centers with our fancy Iftars is needed to keep another human being alive at least for one more hopeful day.
What are we doing about it? Not to say the funds raised for the Pakistan flood victims was a bad idea, but where is the love now? Where is the care now? Where are the announcements for food or clothing drives at your local center? Where is the urgency to help? Yes, a few Islamic organizations have begun fundraising in some major cities, but what are we doing? A story from Gaza reports that children in Gaza are raising funds for their brothers and sisters in Somalia, because they “feel the pain” of Muslims everywhere. If we cannot give up a few dollars, then we are sad excuses for humanitarians.
While many of our centers are busy holding lectures and activities, competitions and contests, our fellow human beings are in a severe and extreme disaster. What’s worse is that this famine did not just start last week; it has been going on for a few months this severely, and on a less severe scale for many years now. Why are we not the ones sharing the news? Why does it take an ABC special or a show on TV to bring it to the attention of our Islamic organizations and Muslims around the world? Shouldn’t we be more aware of the conditions of our fellow Muslims, and fellow human beings, no matter where or when?
With the many centers around the United States that we so proudly proclaim follow the path of our dear Holy Prophet and his Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them all), it seems not so many things are being done to help those in need. Are we following the footsteps of our dear Imam Ali (peace be upon him) who walked in the nights and gave food to the poor? We don’t even have to get out of bed at night; we just have to start collecting money in a basket. We just have to take some time out, make a few phone calls, and send a few e-mails to find out how to wire some money over. Sure, it might take a few hours to do so and take some research, but if we think that is too big of a hassle, are we really truly doing our part as communities who love and follow the Prophet?
If your center’s organizers are not taking the lead, let us all take it into our own hands – get your closest friends together, and try to gather whatever you can, and hopefully this will lead to a bigger group helping. If people can walk on street corners proudly asking to help for their kids’ camps, church funds, or school organizations, then hopefully we can be just as confident of our religion’s beautiful teachings in order that we move a little out of our comfort zone and on to the streets and other places to show the world with our actions that we care and love all human beings, just as our Prophet has taught us to.
Maybe in turn we can use this blessed month, and this unfortunate circumstance for our brothers and sisters, to help start new routines for us not only in the month of Ramadan but throughout the year, so we begin to live, breathe, and spend energy not only in our centers, but for the sake of Islam wherever it may take us.
