Social Projects and Muslims
By:
Dr. Ahmad Shafaat
(June
2003)
Islam can be described as a spiritual,
social, and educational project at the grandest of scales. The
project is spiritual because the Qur`an describes the mission of the
Prophet Muhammad as calling humanity to the one true transcendent
God, purifying them and leading them from darkness to light (33:46,
57:9, 62:2). It is social because along with a relationship with the
one true transcendent God, the social obligation to help one another
is the corner stone of Islam (2:177, 2:261-274, 98:5). It is
educational because teaching the book and the wisdom is also part of
the Prophet’s mission (2:129, 151, 3:164, 62:2) and because
knowledge is given such importance in the Qur`an (2:30-33, 20:114,
39:9, 96:3-5). The project is at the grandest of scales because the
Prophet is “mercy to all peoples” (21:107) and “seal or last of the
prophets” (33:40) that is, the project is directed to all of
humanity for all times till the judgment day.
Islam and Social Projects
The social obligation that Islam places
on believers requires not only helping one another with material
assistance when needed but also with psychological assistance, e.g.
by honoring weaker and poorer members of the society such as the
orphans and by saying a kind word (2:263, 89:17)1.
Furthermore, the Qur`an expects believers not only to perform such
acts of charity themselves but also to exhort others to do the same
(69:34, 89:15-18, 90:13-17, 107:3). In other words, the Qur`an
expects believers to involve one another in collective efforts to
alleviate want and suffering in the society. This value attached to
collectivity leads to the recognition of the value of political,
legal, and economic instruments for the pursuit of the social
project. Various aspects of human individual and collective life,
including political, legal, and economic aspects, are closely linked
together and a balanced approach to them is considered a key to the
success of the social project.
Yet Islam’s focus on the social project
is not dependent on control of legal, political and economic
instruments; for, such a control is not guaranteed to Muslims. For
most of his life the Prophet Muhammad did not have such control in
his society to any adequate degree and yet the social project was
always at work.
The Muslim World
Now once again Muslims are without any
significant control over political, legal or economic instruments,
not only in non-Muslim countries but also in Muslim countries, where
tyrannical dictators are almost at war with them. Yet the social
project continues and is becoming more and more the focus of Islamic
groups. Under the dictatorial regimes, who have almost abandoned
their basic responsibilities in favor of the priorities determined
by their need to stay in power, the infrastructure of many Muslim
countries is in decay and bureaucracy is corrupt and ossified,
incapable of providing significant services. Under such conditions,
the Islamic groups have been obliged to step in and provide support
and assistance wherever it is needed. The best example of this is
provided by the Egyptian Islamic group, Ikhwan al-Muslimin. This
group champions the rights of the socially marginalized, vehemently
denounces the excesses of the ruling class and global imperialism,
and has built a vast network of social projects. They can respond to
social needs far more effectively than the regime in Egypt, as was
demonstrated during the earthquake in Cairo in 1992. For two days, a
totally paralysed government with its dictatorial head out of the
country did absolutely nothing. Within hours, however, the Ikhwan
and other Islamic groups were on the streets – with tents, blankets,
food, and alternative housing.
For the progress of Islam and Muslims it
is of vital importance that such focus on social services is
increased by Islamic groups both in scope and professionalism.
North America
Although Muslims might have come to
North America even before Columbus2,
the continent has not been very hospitable to them3.
Probably the first significant Muslim
immigration to North America occurred when some Andalusian Muslims
came here to escape persecution following the fall of Granada in
1492. But in 1543 Charles V, king of Spain ordered their expulsion.
Later, there was another migration of
Muslims to North America, albeit a forced one. Enslaved Africans
brought to North America included Muslims, but their miserable
status as slaves made it difficult for them to survive as Muslims.
Next signs of Muslim immigration appear
in the later part of the nineteenth century. Estimates of Muslim
population are easier for Canada than the USA, since the Canadian
census has a question about religion. A very rough estimate about
the population in the USA may be obtained by multiplying the
Canadian estimate by 10.
It is estimated that in 1901 there were
about 300 Muslims in Canada and the number increased to about 1500
by 1911. This growth was arrested by the First World War when
Muslims were considered enemy aliens. Still there was some organized
Muslim activity by 1938 when the first Canadian mosque was built in
Edmonton. In the USA such activity naturally started earlier.
Albanian Muslims built a mosque in 1915 in Maine, while
Polish-speaking Tatars built one in 1928 in Brooklyn, which still
remains in use.
It was only after 1962 when the “White
Canada” policy, in force since 1891, was officially abandoned that
levels of Muslim population began to show a healthy growth.
According to 1981 census there were 98160 Muslims in Canada, 1991
census registered 253260, and the most recent census of 2001 showed
579600, about 2% of the population.
Organized Muslim activity in the 1960’s
and 1970’s focused largely on establishing prayer facilities in
universities or in mosques and Islamic centers. In addition to
providing facilities for daily and/or weekly Friday prayers, these
organizations provided some religious education to children during
the weekends and some social services such as financial help or
counseling. Indeed, providing social services and education is part
of the declared objective of many of these mosques and centers. For
example, the Islamic Centre of Quebec, established in 1965 as the
first mosque or center in Quebec, is “dedicated to meeting the
spiritual, social and educational needs of Muslims in Quebec”. By
the 1980’s full-time schools began to be established, numbering
about two dozen schools in Canada by the end of the century. Many
specialized social services organizations also began to be
established. In 1999 Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA) of
the USA and Canada was founded that was subsequently split into two
separate non-profit corporations, one for the USA and one for
Canada. ISSA describes its mission as linking “Muslim social service
providers in the United States and Canada” and supporting them
“through education, training and services”. “ISSA offers training to
Muslim communities enabling them to meet a range of social service
needs. These trainings are taught from an Islamic perspective” and
concern pre- and post-marital counseling, Islamic parenting,
spiritual counseling, hospice and palliative care, imam training,
domestic abuse, substance abuse, grief counseling, fundraising etc.
Including non-Muslims in social projects
Islam encourages Muslims to extend
social projects to include non-Muslims. The Qur`an states: “God does
not forbid you, with regard to those who do not fight you for your
Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and
justly with them: for God loves those who are just". Some of the
very early Muslims used to distribute part of their zakat al fitr
(the charity paid at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan) to
Christian monks, based on their understanding of this verse. Caliph
‘Umar instructed the Muslim administrator in Basrah to “seek out any
People of the Book (Jews and Christians) in your area who have grown
old and weak, and are unable to earn money, and establish stipends
for them from the treasury to provide for their needs.”
Collaboration with non-Muslims
The Qur`an commands Muslims to
collaborate among themselves and with non-Muslims for just ends:
"Collaborate in virtue and righteousness and do not collaborate in
sin and transgression” (5:2). The context shows that the command is
not restricted to collaboration among Muslims only.
One of the good consequences of the evil
Anglo-American military aggression against Iraq was that it brought
Muslims and non-Muslims in Canada together. Christian churches such
as the Catholic Church and socialist groups joined with Muslims in
voicing opposition to the illegal war. The channels of communication
thus opened could be further used in the interest of a just world
order. In addition, Muslims and non-Muslims can collaborate to
tackle such problems as homelessness, poverty, and drug abuse. At
the very least they can learn from one another. Some non-Muslim
groups have much longer experience for social work in Canada and so
Muslims can learn from them. Likewise, as many clergymen and
chaplains have noted, Muslims have been remarkably successful in
programs of drug and prison rehabilitation, and so non-Muslims can
learn from them.
Notes
1The
Prophet is reported to have said: "Charity is due on every joint of
a person’s body, every day the sun rises. Administering justice
between two persons is charity. Assisting a man ride his beast, or
helping him load his luggage upon it, is charity. A good word is
charity. Every step that you take towards prayer is charity. And
removing a harmful thing from the pathway is charity.” (Bukhari and
Muslim).
2It is
reported that among the belongings of Columbus was a book by the
Arab geographer al-Idrisi which mentions that eight Arabs sailed
from Lisbon and landed in South America, long before 1492.
3This has
changed in recent decades, although some of the earlier lack of
hospitability seems to have returned once again in the form of
racial and ethnic profiling of Muslims, especially in the USA.
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