Running Charitable Dispensaries

Food for thought

 

RELIGION has made a comeback the world over. Whatever may be the reason — the collapse of communism, suicides and broken homes in affluent societies and the possession in human hands of weapons of mass destruction large sections of people are turning to religion to find solace. This has not been without its disagreeable side, for extremism in religion is now posing a new threat to the world. These extremists are not to be found among Muslims alone — fundamentalist Christians, Jews and Hindus have not refrained from attacking verbally, and even physically, the followers   of   other   faiths. Among Muslims, the rise of militant Islam is a story unto itself. But of greater concern, in Pakistan especially, is the proliferation of religious organizations on a scale and in a manner that is often alarming and does not seem to benefit society.

The commendable point about most of these organizations is that they are nonpolitical and are apparently wedded to preaching their doctrine and underpinning it with social work. Some of the Islamic trusts, for instance, are doing an excellent job by way of running charitable dispensaries, financing poor girls' marriages and digging wells in thirsty villages. But that is not true of all religious bodies where some, though not all, ulema and 'managers' have created what Ayatollah Aqeel al-Gharavi, a visiting scholar, has called a "religion industry". Traditionally, religion has thrived among the poor, and Muslim preachers have kept away from kings and rulers and dwelled among the people to spread the message of peace and brotherhood. In Pakistan, however, we are witnessing a phenomenon in which the mushrooming of religious organizations seems bewildering and counterproductive. The fabulous vehicles they ride and the armed guards the religious divines keep have the trappings of power and symbolize pride rather than humility and self-abnegation. The money, of course, is legally available, for the Pakistani people donate generously to religious causes. But the end result is anything but the peace which the people want, and which should be the first priority of any religious organization or movement. More regrettably, those who run these bodies often seem to be working in a spirit of competition and rivalry rather than of concord and harmony, and many have developed vested interests in keeping things as they are. Coming from an Islamic scholar, the originality of the remarks must provide food for thought for all Muslims.