How are you spending
your Zakat/Charity dollars this year?

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq

For Muslims who cherish the guidance and pleasure of Allah, charity should be their second nature and many among us have responded to this nature in various capacity. However, how many of us have spent $150 to permanently touch a person's, rather a family's life, to help bring them out of the curse of poverty? We are used to offering a meal to the hungry, a piece of garment to the needy, a dime or a dollar to various worthy causes, but we usually do not harness our abilities together in a systematic way to think about solving the problems of poverty, even if it is one person or family at a time. Many of us do not even know that it doesn't take a fortune to bring about a sustained, long-term change in many poor family's life.

It shouldn't have been new to us because our noble Prophet (s) has taught us not just to be charitable to meet momentary needs of others, but also to help people find sustainable solutions as he guided a needy person to secure an axe - a capital - to seek out means of sustenance. We are routinely giving out fish to the needy, rather than giving them a fishing net or a rod. And, even if we sometimes provide a fishing net or a rod, we do not have essential networking and effective supervisory support infrastructure.

In the last decade we have seen the emergence of a concept and institution, the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, that has revolutionized worldwide the way we approach the problem of poverty. Even though the concept and the institution are a contribution of a Muslim, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank is a humanistic approach that does not draw on the balanced and comprehensive framework of Islam. Grameen Bank has opened eyes of so many, including of Muslims, who could have found the solutions from within Islam. Grameen Bank, despite its limitations, deserve deep appreciation for its revolutionary contribution. However, Muslims, within a coherent Islamic framework, can take this seed concept much further and permanently touch lives of many. The concept is there. We now need caring attitude and effective networking among Muslims as well as others to confront the curse of poverty head-on. We can leave this effort for the developed world, the missionaries, the secularists, the uncaring governments. Or, we as Muslims, duty-bound by our Benevolent Creator, can come together to improve human conditions in general.

 

Have you ever thought of:

 

Yes, $150 can become the seed capital for an individual from a family to help it change the trajectory of life. People do not become rich, and quickly so, in this process. But the trajectory of their life and potential for their children and future generations change permanently with benefits that do not take years to observe. In this framework, people find as part of a network the essential capital credit to seek out productive income-earning opportunities for themselves. They are offered literacy training and all the essential support and supervision to make the transition. They learn and be able to save; however, meager that amount is. They become capable of offering their precious children minimal food and other necessities of their life from their own earnings. They learn the secrets of their poverty and the way out of it. Once they have made the transition, they are on their way to rebuild their life for themselves and for their future generations. Furthermore, as part of a network, they team up to help others. All this with the sublime touch of Islam.

But, if this sounds to good to be true to come out of $150, actually it is better than this. This $150 is not a one-time charity. It is part of a capital credit package, and thus recyclable. Even if the recovery rate is 50% - Grameen Bank has a recovery rate of 87%+, think now how far the same $150 can go, and then ask yourself: How have you been allocating your zakat dollars and dollars for charities?

North American Bangladeshi Islamic Community (NABIC) is currently involved in a support network with specific projects in Bangladesh that should interest you as a Muslim. NUSRA is one such project, and it is currently NABIC's focus project (see the next page). There are other few projects NABIC is trying to support that in turn could be complementary to each other and become part of a larger network.

If you would like to facilitate NUSRA and/or other NABIC-supported projects, send your zakat and/or tax-deductible dollars to: NABIC, (specify: for NABIC-supported projects) P.O. Box 6631, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. For more information contact, nabic-info@globalfront.com or visit http://www.nabic.org and read under activities of NABIC.

 

Allah invites us to:

"spend out of what We have provided for them" [al-Baqarah: 2],

and expects from us that we:

"... race in all good deeds..." [ale Imran: 114],

and He solicits:

"Who is he that will loan to Allah a beautiful loan, which Allah will double unto his credit and multiply many times?..." [al-Baqarah: 245]

Hit Counter

HOME
Index of my writings
Have you visited my site on Kazi Nazrul Islam?
Genocide 1971 Page?
 Hadith Humor Page?