Assalam-O-Alaikum!
Hope
everyone is hale and hearty.
It is a
common sight to see beggars strolling through out streets,
roads, public parks, hospitals, colleges, offices, mosques;
in short they are seen in every nook and corner. They might
be professional beggars but there are many, who are victims
of poverty. Poverty alleviation has become a matter of
increasing concern in modern times. The gap between haves
and have-nots is widening and that is really alarming
because it can call for a disaster. The existing clash in
our modern day societies is due to lack of following the
eternal rules of humanity so beautifully laid by in Islam
and in all other religions as well. Had the charity system
being effective and all of us duly paying our zakat, the
existing conflicts between the capitalists and poor; money
lender and debtor; landlord and tenant; mitigated and
charity might not have existed. Charity nurtures the
feelings of fraternity and homogeneity. It maintains
economic equilibrium thus diminishing the idea of greed.
My cousin
is a teacher in a secondary school abroad. During past
summer holidays, her group of pupils started on a project to
raise charity to help the poor. They called upon the
community for support, asking people to drop off their
no-longer in-use clothing, mattresses, blankets, canned
goods and other non perishable food items. Then the group
would sort these items and pack them to be handed over to
poor families. One day, as they were sorting the canned
foods, one of the boys said to his teacher, “I am amazed to
see how many people donated canned goods that had an expired
date on it.” My cousin replied to her pupil that though such
food wasn't good enough for the ones who had dropped it
there, but it will be good enough for the poor.” The boy
replied, “But that shows that if one can afford to let food
expire on one’s shelf, one can afford to help feed people
regularly." What a thought! How right he is.
I leave
you with this to ponder over and see for yourself what you
can do.
Till next
time,
Allah
Hafiz
Ms. Amna Tariq-UK |