Muslims’
Role in Katrina Rescue Operations
By Dr Shahid Athar
Indianapolis
While it was sad to see the
devastation caused by Tsunami and now by hurricane
Katrina, I am heartened to see that in both natural
disasters people discarded their religious garbs
and came together in helping fellow humans irrespective
of faith. Last weekend I was in Chicago attending
the 38th Annual Convention of the Islamic Medical
Association of North America (IMANA) and 42nd
Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North
America (ISNA).
There were over 40,000 Muslims present. They all
felt that whatever affects America, whether pollution,
gas prices, terrorism or natural disaster such
as Katrina, is their concern too. IMANA immediately
donated $ 10, 000 from its relief fund and advised
Muslim physicians in the south to offer medical
relief. ISNA donated initially $ 20,000 and Islamic
Relief $2 million. Then several other Muslim relief
organizations joined in and formed a national
task force and pledged $ 10 million. Muslims in
the South have opened their mosques and houses
for the affected and displaced victims of the
disaster.
Muslims are inspired by the Qur’an to do
so. "Let a party of believers rise which
enjoins what is good and forbids what is wrong".
We are also told to cooperate with others in goodness,
but not in wrong doing".
In one of my lectures at IMANA, I talked about
Spirituality which is nothing but the awareness
of the presence of God within our spirit. When
we recognize this and then express it in our positive
actions through our prayer or social work, we
become instruments of God. We then see through
His eyes, hear through His ears, work with His
hands and speak in His tongue. When we take one
step toward Him, He takes giant leaps toward us.
When we walk toward Him, He runs toward us to
the extent that the children of God in His image
merge in His cause.
We go to the house of worship - be it a mosque,
church, or temple - not just to get the attention
of its Owner, but also to pray to Him that He
will have mercy on us and guide us through our
journey on this planet. In return, He expects
us to carry His message to the whole of mankind.
Thus taking care of fellow human beings and all
other creations of God becomes our collective
responsibility whether we like it or not. The
suffering of human beings whether in the form
of homelessness or poverty is nothing but a test
from Him of how we patiently persevere and how
we do our best to relieve those who are suffering.
The social obligation of believers includes taking
care of those are suffering, irrespective of their
faith. There are 50 million Americans below the
poverty level.
The responsibility of the people of faith includes
establishment of shelters, halfway houses for
runaway teenagers, rehabilitation for drug addicts,
combating violence on the streets, and fighting
discrimination and racism. We cannot leave this
only to the city, state, or Federal Government
officials.
The responsibility of those who leave houses of
worship after their prayer is to go on the street
and introduce love within families, within neighborhoods,
within the community, and among the religions.
We must forget and forgive our differences and
give gifts of love to our fellow human beings
out of our love for our common God. God bless
America and God bless the world. Amen.
(Dr. Shahid Athar is the past Chair of Interfaith
Alliance of Indianapolis and author of several
books including ‘Healing the Wounds of Sept.11,
2001’ and ‘Reflections of an American
Muslims’. He can be reached at sathar3624@aol.com
, webpage www.islam-usa.com)
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