98: Caring for the Less Fortunate ~ an Essential Part of Faith
A person enquired from the Prophet اي الاسلام خير ؟ what is the best thing a person can do in Islam, and the Prophet responded by saying
تطعم الطعام و تقرأ السلام على من عرفت و من لم تعرف
the best expression of Islam is to feed the hungry and be cordial to
people, irrespective of whether you know them or not.
Life ~ A Test of Faith and an Opportunity for Goodwill.
How many times have we recited
Surah Al-Maun [Quran: 107]? It is short, easy, and we've probably had it memorized since we were children. But we often miss its message of
feeding the hungry as an expression of our faith in God.
Reality of the World We Live In
Hunger, poverty, and homelessness are sources of desperation in all parts of the world. Consider these statistics from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP):
- Worldwide:
- nearly 800 million people do not get enough food
- half a billion people suffer from some form of malnutrition, 250 million of these are children of preschool age
- The United Nations reports that each year, 15 to 20 million people die of
hunger-related causes, including diseases brought on by lowered
resistance due to malnutrition. Of every four of these, three are children.
- Over 40% of all deaths in poor countries occur among children under five years of age. The United Nations (UNICEF) states that 17 million children died last year from preventable diseases; one dies every two seconds, 40 000 die each day.
- Local Situation:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the number of Americans who don't know where their next meal will come from--categorized as "food insecure"--jumped from 31 million to 35 million between 1999 and 2002. Even more disturbing is that about 13 million American children live under the poverty line, according to AmeriStat.
- Children make up 39 percent of the poor and 26 percent of the total
population. In the U.S.A. we have so much food that we have millions of people who are trying to eat less, so they can lose weight. Dieting is almost a national obsession and is sometimes a health hazard. {Dieting is $40 Billion Industry in USA}
Constructive Engagement for Elimination of Poverty
People are possessed by their possessions. They think that they are worth more than others, not by what they are, but by what they own.
كَلَّا بَل لَّا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ وَلَا تَحَاضُّونَ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ
وَتَأْكُلُونَ التُّرَاثَ أَكْلًا لَّمًّا وَتُحِبُّونَ الْمَالَ حُبًّا جَمًّا
No! But you show no kindness to the orphan, nor do you vie with each other in the feeding the destitute. Greedily you lay your hands on the inheritance of the weak, and you love riches with all your hearts. [Q 89:20]
Many become selfish and heedless, losing the sense of altruism. The Prophetic directive explaining the manifestation of faith that
ان تحبَ للناس ما تحبُ لنفسك
you love for others what you love for yourself is the essence of altruism.
- We need to evolve our consciousness to the level where we wish for others what we desire most for ourselves
لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ
"None of you can attain unto righteousness until you avail for others of that which you yourself love most." [Qur'an 3:92]
- The biggest disease today is not leprosy nor tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody. The greatest evil is the lack of love and charity, the terrible indifference toward one's neighbor, who lives at the roadside, assaulted by exploitation, corruption, poverty, and disease. (Mother Teresa)
- In 1977, the National Academy of Sciences' Study on Food and Nutrition, involving some 1, 500 scientists, made this statement:
“If there is the political will in this country and abroad... It should be possible to overcome the worst aspects of widespread hunger and malnutrition within one generation.”
- In 1981, 52 Nobel laureates issued "The Manifesto Against Hunger." They said: “If only people are told what is happening, then the world's dark future, which now seems to threaten everyone in it, may be changed; but only if we take action. Now is the time to act, now is the time to create, now is the time for us to live in a way that will give life to others.”
- We want to see a world in which the fruits of works will belong to all. We want to see a world in which people will work, not in order to get rich, but in order that all should possess the necessities of life: enough to eat for their health, education, clothes, shoes, water, and light. We want to see a world in which money is placed at the service of human beings, and not human beings at the service of money. We want to see a world in which all will be able to work for all, not a divided world in which all persons work only for themselves. Therefore, we want to see a world in which there will be only one people with no division between rich and poor. Brazilian Bishops - The Marginalization of a People
Indifference and Prejudice are always Detrimental
- If the hunger of others is not my own, if the anguish of my neighbor in all its form touches me not, if the nakedness of my brother does not torment me, then I have no reason to go to Church and to live. Life is this: to love one's neighbor as oneself; this is the commandment of God. Love means deeds, not good wishes. For this reason I commit myself to working for the necessities of my brothers. Javier B. Torres, "The Hunger of Others"
- In a saying inspired by Allah, attributed to the Prophet (pbuh) …
كم من مصلى و ليس له من صلا ته الا التعب و النصب
انما اتقبل الصلاة ممن تواضع لعظمتي و كف شهواتهي عن محارمي
و اطعم الجائع و كسى العريان
How many are there who pray yet achieve nothing by their prayers except tiredness and fooling others; Allah only accepts the prayers of those who humble themselves to His Majesty, who restrain their inclinations from that which He has forbidden; those who feed the hungry and those who clothe the naked.