The Sri Lankan Muslim Diaspora Dilemma

This past week, incidents in Sri Lanka and abroad have illustrated the dilemmas facing the Sri Lankan Muslim community and its Diaspora constituents.  These incidents though isolated in occurrence have the hallmarks of being related to a wider malaise afflicting the community and the challenges they face

In London on the 5th of May, a bank holiday, a protest was held in front of the Sri Lankan High Commission and number 10 Downing Street by one of the many Sri Lankan Muslim Diaspora organisations.    However, don’t be fooled by the photos that are doing the rounds on social media or on some news sites.  It wasn’t the whole of the Sri Lankan Muslims in UK protesting as one article poorly intimated that it was.  It was one organisation out of 20 or so organisations that exist in the UK, coming from one specific part of the UK (and comprising of members largely from around the same geographical area in Sri Lanka) and around 650 out of a potential 25,000 + (exact figure is not known) Sri Lankan Muslims living in the UK.  Hence it was a minority out of a minority.  Why am I emphasising this?   Because poor journalism is creating much more problems than there exists.   It is also because it is necessary to show that there was not only no widespread support for this from within the UK and even actually from Sri Lanka.  In fact the majority of the Sri Lankan Muslim organisations and individuals in the UK did not support the protest.

I am one of those that was against the protest not because I dislike protesting.  Far from it, I was one of the active members and organisers of the Stop the War protests at the height of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and I have supported protests against the invasion of Gaza and so on.  Yet for me, this particular protest was ill timed, ill conceived, inopportune and simply inappropriate.  Frankly how does standing outside Number 10 Downing Street shouting largely in Tamil achieve anything apart from causing an annoyance to inhabitants, especially when they don’t understand what is being shouted out?  What help does it offer to the people on the ground, when we give more reason to those already critical of Sri Lanka to be more critical?

The organisers of the demonstration have been described as having ‘Political Myopia’, which I agree with especially when you take the term myopia to mean narrow-mindedness.  I would also add the description of ‘self-centred insensitivity’ to the list.  This is because despite all the opposition and counselling against it, both within the UK and from Sri Lanka, the organisation (and its supporters)  in question went ahead with the protest.  Hence there was an insensitivity to not understand the ramifications of this on the ground in Sri Lanka especially given opposition or a failure to actually understand its effect. As one person asked me ‘How is protesting in the UK going to help us in Sri Lanka?’  And that is precisely the point.  When much more is needed from a political and diplomatic side to put pressure on those elements inside and out of the government and the wider society to stop these types of hate filled incidents, how can we build the trust?  How can we engage with all those concerned and provide a common platform to challenge these bigots and their ideology?

Therefore if these people really wanted to protest or do something to vent out their frustration, then something more positive e should have been done as a coalition of all communities (including Sinhala Buddhists) upset by the way societal coexistence is slowly eroding in Sri Lanka and for me, we should have done something outside Buddhist temples in London.  My reasoning is that whilst the Government’s complicity is there, in its lax approach to enforcing the rule of law and bringing to justice those perpetrating hate speech and crimes, a large part of the responsibility has to be also laid on the shoulders of sections of the Sinhala Buddhist community who are culpable in this either through their silence in not speaking out when crimes are committed in the name of preserving Buddhism; or in their tacit and overt support. In particular, we have to hold a mirror to those who are living in the Diaspora.  After all it is notable  by their ‘silence’ how many in the Diaspora especially from the Sinhala Buddhist community have publicly spoken out against what is happening in the country to the Muslim and other minorities.  Despite many attempts just asking even through personal contacts, it has been disappointing not to get a response or that people skirt around this discussion.  One also has to look at comments on sites like the Colombo Telegraph, which is banned to the average reader in Sri Lanka, to ascertain the deep hate and antipathy felt towards the Muslim community (and other minorities).  Whether this is justified or not is another article that needs to be written.  However the mere fact is that one only needs to engage with the average Sinhala in the UK for example and you will find that there is deep seated prejudice which needs to be addressed. Hence if anything, the protest should have been to tell Sinhalese Buddhists to not allow their religion to be hijacked by extremists.  It should have been an opportunity to engage with sympathetic elements in the UK amongst the other communities in order to build a bigger alliance.   Ultimately it would have helped those who perceive diaspora protests as being linked to one extreme element of a community to change the lens with which they viewed this protest. This is what was learnt from the Stop the War coalition that planned all the Anti War protests.  It was not that we stopped anything but we were able to build networks and alliances of people concerned about a common cause so that they could champion together and no one could be labelled for belonging to one group or another.

Yet this is the big problem.  The diaspora amongst all communities in the UK are not united and are still very disparate.  There is still a reluctance to engage in meaningful discussion and any dialogue takes place under emotive circumstances.  This shows the increasing dilemma of the diaspora generations removed and time bound from the country of heritage.  Unfortunately it fits into the criticism levelled against us as the Diaspora.  We are generally not aware of the dynamics of the country or the evolving nature on the ground.  We are also largely oblivious of the repercussions of our actions in the UK in Sri Lanka.  We as the Diaspora have this intellectual arrogance that just because we live out of Sri Lanka, we know better.  Thus we only listen to what we want to listen to.  Hence whilst we largely remain untouched from the results on the ground we replicate differences in the UK.    We project our inherited differences from Sri Lanka onto internal political struggles and intra-community disputes in the UK which doesn’t help any matter related to Sri Lanka.

On analysis, the protest ultimately was not done primarily with the interest of the Muslim community in Sri Lanka at heart, but for some cheap attempt to score political brownie points.  This sounds very strong, but the question that has to be asked is if there was so much opposition from community leaders, representatives and organisations both in the UK and Sri Lanka, why did the organisation proceed with the protest?  It is either due to an arrogance that this group knows better or that there was some other reason not the interests.  Being intimately involved in the goings on of the Sri Lankan Muslim organisations, I am well aware that this particular organisation and some of its supporters has always been one to work by itself if it felt it was not on the leadership role.    Right from the word go, it has chosen not to be part of the umbrella body for the Sri Lankan Muslim organisations in UK, COSMOS, which has quietly been working in front and behind the scenes with all sorts of stakeholders to put pressure on the government and more importantly to support the quiet actions of the leadership back home who have reacted calmly and wisely, and been praised for this.   It has chosen to work not only in opposition but sometimes in parallel to COSMOS, criticising it for its ‘ineffectiveness’.  Criticism for COSMOS is also unfounded.  It has been working to build support from the community in order to come up with a dignified and unified response to the crisis and somehow avoid falling into the same trap of emotive responses that has affected other diaspora organisations.  It has chosen to consult with Sri Lanka in order to ensure that what is done in the UK has no repercussions for people in Sri Lanka.  The quiet diplomacy has meant that COSMOS has reached out to the High Commission, other community and faith organisations and others in order to ensure that the true ground reality is shared.   The High Commission in particular has always reciprocated this engagement policy by COSMOS by not only opening its doors to hear the concerns, but in its limited capacity to try and do something about it despite it not being able to really influence things back in Sri Lanka.   True at certain times COSMOS has appeared slow and lethargic and I have been one to criticise some of its actions and statements.  However the incentive by COSMOS to build coalitions to take this from an ethnic to a national problem that is felt by all sides is one that has to be supported.  This is ultimately where the discussion has to move towards.  The concern of the decline of religious freedoms and the overt radicalisation and extremist rhetoric spouted by one group is detrimental to the whole country.  It thus needs collective responses.

We should not forget that this is the need of the hour.  The recent incidents in Aluthgama shows the challenges facing the community and the country as a whole.  With perpetrators of hate speech and violence allowed to roam freely and the law seemingly unable or unwilling to rein them in, it is only a matter of time before frustrations reach a tipping point.  Once this is reached, the space becomes open for extremists to abuse and exploit.  In order for this to happen, collective pressure (from all communities) needs to be maintained.  This is how the new police force to look into religious crimes came into being and needs to be supported.

These are testing times for the country and the communities.  Our response as individuals and communities where we don’t learn from the past will determine how the future will look like.  As Diaspora whose lives and future are now in the countries where we live, our self-centeredness and naïve sincerity cannot ransom the future of the country of our heritage.

This originally appeared on Groundviews

Listening To Her Stories

This weekend will commemorate 5 years of the end of the bloody conflict in Sri Lanka.  As has become customary, the main protagonists and/or their supporters will be marking it in very different but usual manners.  There is still a lot of debate as to how Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans mark the conclusion of one of the most traumatic periods of their history.  The whole aspect of the war in its entirety remains a largely controversial subject and is often a subject that is not necessarily discussed in gatherings.  This perhaps alludes to how the subject needs to be approached and also what is the perception of those bold enough to approach the subject.  Thus Sri Lankans are not afforded and do not afford themselves of an opportunity for healing and to some extent, this responsibility seems to be abrogated to the powers that be.  The challenges of how the country as a whole understands and remembers this is still being debated, as the National Peace Council  aptly put it, ‘No wise country celebrates war victory after a civil war’.  This thus remains an obstacle that all communities and stakeholders with an interest for the benefit of Sri Lanka, need to understand and overcome.  Whilst the past can’t be a ball and chain for the future, we also need to understand it in order for us to move forward without.

In the deliberations and commemorations that will follow this weekend, one thing that will be conspicuous by its absence will be the voices from the ground.  Over the last 5 years, what has always struck me about the narrative that has been currently spun by all sides when discussing the war and commemorating it, is how far removed it is from the reality on the ground.  There is much to be reflected at the top end of the spectrum in terms of reconciliation and moving forward.  Equally though, it is not just at the top level that work needs to be done.  It is important that work is done at the grass roots level.  Unfortunately experience shows that it is hardly the case that grass roots are engaged with meaningfully.  They are talked at, talked to and talked with.  However rarely are they just allowed to talk and for the rest of us just to listen.  My experience in Sri Lanka especially during the end of the war in the camps in Manik Farm, allowed me to listen to many of the Tamil refugees.  Their message resonated with others I met with from other communities across the country, affected by the tsunami and the conflict.  While political and military solutions may bring an absence of war, however peace cannot come about or be sustained without significant engagements of all strata of society with tangible benefit being seen by everyone, in particular the  affected communities. In other words, ‘peace’ means nothing if parents still cannot feed their family or cannot afford to buy medicines for their sick children or people do not live in an atmosphere of respect and understanding with the rule of law.

The issue of conflict and the narratives spun around it at the macro level often means that that we forget these micro voices.  We do not see the broken families that have to pick up the pieces of lost childhood and parentless generations.  The narratives do not consider the societal breakdown in communities from all sides dealing with the stresses and trauma of post conflict be it alcoholism; drug abuse; domestic and sexual violence.  These lesser heard voices unfortunately do not grace the annals of heroism or martyrdom that make up the commemoration of the conflict and its end.

However it is in these lesser heard voices far away from the posturing and political platitudes that the real story of the conflict and its consequences for the country and its people are told and have to be understood. These stories explain the real sacrifice that has been made in the villages across Sri Lanka.  As in any conflict, it is the women and children who sacrifice and suffer the most but yet are seldom heard.  It is their stories that we need to commemorate and celebrate.

To my mind, there is none that does this well than the Her Stories LK project. I came across this at the opening of its exhibition in London in March.  It is simply a platform that allows the simple and sad stories of Sri Lankan women who have suffered from the conflict to be told. The stories are from all parts of Sri Lanka and comprises of stories from Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese women that include soldiers’ wives and mothers as well as mothers and wives of Tiger cadres.  This means that the project aims to be as balanced as possible.  It doesn’t take any sides nor does it make any political statements.  Nor do they choose to criticise or lament larger political issues.

However in providing that opportunity for the lesser heard voices to be heard, it makes a statement.  Simply put, ‘war ultimately is about the people on the ground who suffer for the actions of their representatives and hence the post conflict should also be about the same people’.  By humanising the conflict through the individual stories that are exhibited, what we are reminded off is that whilst we may posture and pontificate our various positions, ultimately it is the people at the ground that will suffer the consequences with generational ramifications and it is these people who should be the first priority in any post conflict work.   This is the challenge facing Sri Lanka now.

Remarkably though, looking at the stories, you are struck by the humanity that is shown in the desire for a just and peaceful future.  The views show a shared history and a shared hope for the future.  There is no sense of recrimination or revenge, but just a quiet noble desire to move ahead and provide a better future for their children.  In these stories are lessons that many of us working on these issues need to be taught or at least reminded of.

The narrative of women is often lost in conflict and is virtually nonexistent for mothers.  Yet as guardians of memory through stories and pictures and gatekeepers to the next generations, Her Stories LK provide a vital glimpse into what Sri Lanka could look like.  When you hear this phrase “We are Brothers and Sisters from one mother” repeated across the country, you understand, that if these people who have every reason to be hateful and vindictive having lived through the conflict, can be hopeful, then the rest of us perhaps need to listen more.

Her Voices LK offers a space for many of us living comfortably outside Sri Lanka, untouched by the harsh realities on the ground and unscathed by the conflicts that were fought, to actually come to some platform of commonality.  Many of us living outside Sri Lanka,  have taken our own positions in this debate against the ‘other’, yet very few of us understand who the ‘other’ is and what their expectations are.  We are quick to judge and dismiss. This space shows us the true expectations for the country and its next generations as told to us in the stories of our mothers and it is vital that we who live abroad are able to take some time to listen to these stories.  Yes the stories are sad, but they are also full of strength, resilience and hope.  Ultimately it is about just wanting to live their lives and make it better for their children.  This is something that we need to think about.

Her Stories LK will be exhibiting their work at the Oval from the 17th – 19th May, in the run up to the T20 match between Sri Lanka and England.  Given the significance of the 18th of May which is the official end of the conflict in Sri Lanka when normally emotions run high especially in the wake of a visiting Sri Lankan cricket team, the exhibition offers an opportunity to pause and reflect.  For those intending to protest against the team or against the protesters, it also offers an opportunity to hear first hand of the conflict and the struggle to record eye witness accounts.  It is serendipitous that a week after Mother’s day, we are hearing the real voices of mothers affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka.  To be true to the concept of peace, equality and justice in Sri Lanka, the least we can do is at least pause and use the opportunity to listen to ‘Her Stories’.  Ultimately it might help us to reflect on what the greater good is for the country.

this orignially appeared here

The Sri Lankan Muslim Diaspora Dilemma

This past week, incidents in Sri Lanka and abroad have illustrated the dilemmas facing the Sri Lankan Muslim community and its Diaspora constituents.  These incidents though isolated in occurrence have the hallmarks of being related to a wider malaise afflicting the community and the challenges they face.

In London on the 5^th of May, a bank holiday, a protest was held in front of the Sri Lankan High Commission and number 10 Downing Street by one of the many Sri Lankan Muslim Diaspora organisations.    However, don’t be fooled by the photos that are doing the rounds on social media or on some news sites.  It wasn’t the whole of the Sri Lankan Muslims in UK protesting as one article poorly intimated that it was.  It was one organisation out of 20 or so organisations that exist in the UK, coming from one specific part of the UK (and comprising of members largely from around the same geographical area in Sri Lanka) and around 650 out of a potential 25,000 + (exact figure is not known) Sri Lankan Muslims living in the UK.  Hence it was a minority out of a minority.  Why am I emphasising this?   Because poor journalism is creating much more problems than there exists.   It is also because it is necessary to show that there was not only no widespread support for this from within the UK and even actually from Sri Lanka.  In fact the majority of the Sri Lankan Muslim organisations and individuals in the UK did not support the protest.

I am one of those that was against the protest not because I dislike protesting.  Far from it, I was one of the active members and organisers of the Stop the War protests at the height of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and I have supported protests against the invasion of Gaza and so on.  Yet for me, this particular protest was ill timed, ill conceived, inopportune and simply inappropriate.  Frankly how does standing outside Number 10 Downing Street shouting largely in Tamil achieve anything apart from causing an annoyance to inhabitants, especially when they don’t understand what is being shouted out?  What help does it offer to the people on the ground, when we give more reason to those already critical of Sri Lanka to be more critical?

The organisers of the demonstration have been described as having ‘Political Myopia’, which I agree with especially when you take the term myopia to mean narrow-mindedness.  I would also add the description of ‘self-centred insensitivity’ to the list.  This is because despite all the opposition and counselling against it, both within the UK and from Sri Lanka, the organisation (and its supporters)  in question went ahead with the protest.  Hence there was an insensitivity to not understand the ramifications of this on the ground in Sri Lanka especially given opposition or a failure to actually understand its effect. As one person asked me ‘How is protesting in the UK going to help us in Sri Lanka?’  And that is precisely the point.  When much more is needed from a political and diplomatic side to put pressure on those elements inside and out of the government and the wider society to stop these types of hate filled incidents, how can we build the trust?  How can we engage with all those concerned and provide a common platform to challenge these bigots and their ideology?

Therefore if these people really wanted to protest or do something to vent out their frustration, then something more positive e should have been done as a coalition of all communities (including Sinhala Buddhists) upset by the way societal coexistence is slowly eroding in Sri Lanka and for me, we should have done something outside Buddhist temples in London.  My reasoning is that whilst the Government’s complicity is there, in its lax approach to enforcing the rule of law and bringing to justice those perpetrating hate speech and crimes, a large part of the responsibility has to be also laid on the shoulders of sections of the Sinhala Buddhist community who are culpable in this either through their silence in not speaking out when crimes are committed in the name of preserving Buddhism; or in their tacit and overt support. In particular, we have to hold a mirror to those who are living in the Diaspora.  After all it is notable  by their ‘silence’ how many in the Diaspora especially from the Sinhala Buddhist community have publicly spoken out against what is happening in the country to the Muslim and other minorities.  Despite many attempts just asking even through personal contacts, it has been disappointing not to get a response or that people skirt around this discussion.  One also has to look at comments on sites like the Colombo Telegraph, which is banned to the average reader in Sri Lanka, to ascertain the deep hate and antipathy felt towards the Muslim community (and other minorities).  Whether this is justified or not is another article that needs to be written.  However the mere fact is that one only needs to engage with the average Sinhala in the UK for example and you will find that there is deep seated prejudice which needs to be addressed. Hence if anything, the protest should have been to tell Sinhalese Buddhists to not allow their religion to be hijacked by extremists.  It should have been an opportunity to engage with sympathetic elements in the UK amongst the other communities in order to build a bigger alliance.   Ultimately it would have helped those who perceive diaspora protests as being linked to one extreme element of a community to change the lens with which they viewed this protest. This is what was learnt from the Stop the War coalition that planned all the Anti War protests.  It was not that we stopped anything but we were able to build networks and alliances of people concerned about a common cause so that they could champion together and no one could be labelled for belonging to one group or another. 

Yet this is the big problem.  The diaspora amongst all communities in the UK are not united and are still very disparate.  There is still a reluctance to engage in meaningful discussion and any dialogue takes place under emotive circumstances.  This shows the increasing dilemma of the diaspora generations removed and time bound from the country of heritage.  Unfortunately it fits into the criticism levelled against us as the Diaspora.  We are generally not aware of the dynamics of the country or the evolving nature on the ground.  We are also largely oblivious of the repercussions of our actions in the UK in Sri Lanka.  We as the Diaspora have this intellectual arrogance that just because we live out of Sri Lanka, we know better.  Thus we only listen to what we want to listen to.  Hence whilst we largely remain untouched from the results on the ground we replicate differences in the UK.    We project our inherited differences from Sri Lanka onto internal political struggles and intra-community disputes in the UK which doesn’t help any matter related to Sri Lanka.

On analysis, the protest ultimately was not done primarily with the interest of the Muslim community in Sri Lanka at heart, but for some cheap attempt to score political brownie points.  This sounds very strong, but the question that has to be asked is if there was so much opposition from community leaders, representatives and organisations both in the UK and Sri Lanka, why did the organisation proceed with the protest?  It is either due to an arrogance that this group knows better or that there was some other reason not the interests.  Being intimately involved in the goings on of the Sri Lankan Muslim organisations, I am well aware that this particular organisation and some of its supporters has always been one to work by itself if it felt it was not on the leadership role.    Right from the word go, it has chosen not to be part of the umbrella body for the Sri Lankan Muslim organisations in UK, COSMOS, which has quietly been working in front and behind the scenes with all sorts of stakeholders to put pressure on the government and more importantly to support the quiet actions of the leadership back home who have reacted calmly and wisely, and been praised for this.   It has chosen to work not only in opposition but sometimes in parallel to COSMOS, criticising it for its ‘ineffectiveness’.  Criticism for COSMOS is also unfounded.  It has been working to build support from the community in order to come up with a dignified and unified response to the crisis and somehow avoid falling into the same trap of emotive responses that has affected other diaspora organisations.  It has chosen to consult with Sri Lanka in order to ensure that what is done in the UK has no repercussions for people in Sri Lanka.  The quiet diplomacy has meant that COSMOS has reached out to the High Commission, other community and faith organisations and others in order to ensure that the true ground reality is shared.   The High Commission in particular has always reciprocated this engagement policy by COSMOS by not only opening its doors to hear the concerns, but in its limited capacity to try and do something about it despite it not being able to really influence things back in Sri Lanka.   True at certain times COSMOS has appeared slow and lethargic and I have been one to criticise some of its actions and statements.  However the incentive by COSMOS to build coalitions to take this from an ethnic to a national problem that is felt by all sides is one that has to be supported.  This is ultimately where the discussion has to move towards.  The concern of the decline of religious freedoms and the overt radicalisation and extremist rhetoric spouted by one group is detrimental to the whole country.  It thus needs collective responses.

We should not forget that this is the need of the hour.  The recent incidents in Aluthgama shows the challenges facing the community and the country as a whole.  With perpetrators of hate speech and violence allowed to roam freely and the law seemingly unable or unwilling to rein them in, it is only a matter of time before frustrations reach a tipping point.  Once this is reached, the space becomes open for extremists to abuse and exploit.  In order for this to happen, collective pressure (from all communities) needs to be maintained.  This is how the new police force to look into religious crimes came into being and needs to be supported.

These are testing times for the country and the communities.  Our response as individuals and communities where we don’t learn from the past will determine how the future will look like.  As Diaspora whose lives and future are now in the countries where we live, our self-centeredness and naïve sincerity cannot ransom the future of the country of our heritage.

Understanding the role of ‘Zakat’ in humanitarian response

Zakat’ is the Muslim practice of charitable giving based on accumulated wealth. It is one of the five pillars of Islam and is obligatory for all Muslims who are able to do so. The past 30 years has seen a growing interest in humanitarian activity among Muslims as part of expressing their spiritual obligations of Zakat.

There is little to no information available on the use of Zakat in humanitarian response. However, estimates suggest that it could be significant in terms of both volume and potential impact upon humanitarian response.

The GHA Programme’s recent report Humanitarian assistance from non-state actors: What is it worth? briefly refers to Zakat as a potentially significant yet largely untapped source of funding for humanitarian assistance. Dr Jemilah Mahmood and Amjad Mohamed Saleem explore this issue further.

UNDERSTANDING CHARITY AND ZAKAT IN ISLAM

The recent report by the Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) Programme: Humanitarian Assistance from Non-State Actors: What is it Worth? makes interesting and pertinent reading, pointing to a paradigm shift in thinking around both humanitarian funding and programme delivery as new non-state actors have emerged as key players alongside traditional institutional actors. Here we explore the potential role of ‘Zakat’ in humanitarian assistance as a significant form of non-state humanitarian funding.

The concept of charity is central to social justice, which is a sacred value in Islam and a tenet of the faith. Indeed the Qur’an considers an act of charity as more than just a good deed because of its function in balancing social inequalities. The Qur’an also has numerous references to the importance of creating a just society and provides a framework for justice in inter-personal relationships toward the poor and needy, and connections between communities and nations.

Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other Islamic charitable institutions are therefore seen as instruments of social justice, and are part of the theological, intellectual and cultural heritage of the Muslim society. The instruments are divinely entrenched in the teachings of Islam, as illustrated in the following verse from the Qur’an: “If anyone saved a life it would be as if he had saved the life of the whole of mankind…’ (5:32). It is these types of teachings that have inspired acts of charity, concern for others and the provision of social welfare to be an integral role in Muslim societies for the last 1400 years, as without them faith is incomplete.

Charity in Islam, in the traditional sense of a transfer of material resources from the rich to the poor, falls into two categories in Islam: voluntary (Sadaqah) and obligatory (Zakat). These practises are supposed to empower communities and address their needs sufficiently enough to lift them out of their vicious cycle of poverty.

CHALLENGES FACED IN USE OF FUNDS COLLECTED THROUGH THE ZAKAT PROCESS

There is no shortage of funds for charitable causes coming from the Muslim world. The issue is not about the amount to be collected but what is done with it. A study in 2012 has estimated that every year, somewhere between US$200 billion and US$1 trillion are spent in “mandatory” alms and voluntary charity across the Muslim world. In fact, Islamic financial analysts estimate that “At the low end of the estimate, this is 15 times more than global humanitarian aid contributions in 2011 of $13 billion (UN Financial Tracking System)”. However, as economist Habib Ahmed calculated in 2004 – Muslim countries could lift all of their poor people out of poverty with only a third to a half of all potential Zakat collections.

These numbers speak not only to the duality of increasing religiosity and wealth in the Muslim world, but also to the globalisation of increasing poverty. It is estimated that one-quarter of the Muslim world is living on less than $1.25 a day (calculated by IRIN based on 2011 Human Development Index) with increasing needs for humanitarian response, recovery and peace-building in the Muslim world from Somalia, Syria, Mali among many other countries.

However in recent times, there has been a lack of understanding (and spirit) with regards Zakat (and Sadaqah). Zakat is largely regarded as charitable giving and its potential to go one step further and empower communities has not been adequately realised. As a result, the wide breadth of possibilities, which includes supporting non-Muslims; the levying of administration costs for the collection of Zakat; vital infrastructure projects; peace building and human trafficking initiatives remain grossly under funded and unexplored with Zakat. Herein lies the major challenge of balancing the role of Zakat in its conventional understanding with the contemporary demands of society today.

THE WAY FORWARD

If we are to move forward in terms of really contributing to humanitarian and development initiatives, we need to evaluate and understand the empowering concepts of Zakat in order to develop new models for implementation that are not only congruent with the times but address the empowering aspects of Zakat. At the end of the day, charity in Islam is about redistributive justice as the hoarding of wealth is not permissible and carries penalties if found guilty of such practice.

Private donors – including Muslim NGOs and other Islamic charitable institutions involved in the allocation of funds collected through Zakat – need to move away from the idea that humanitarian response is merely an act of charity and philanthropy, but a tool for empowering communities to build resilience to poverty and humanitarian assistance.

this originally appeared here