“…and do good – to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by your side, the way-farer (you meet)…”
– Qur'an, Surah 4, Ayat 36
Every generation faces the challenges of its time in its own way. The current economic crisis, which is affecting the wellbeing of people everywhere, serves to remind us of the global nature of our world. In presenting his recommendations for overcoming this challenge, United States President Barack Obama spoke to individuals as much as communities, both locally and globally, as citizens indigenous to the Earth.
Beyond economic reform and prudence, President Obama spoke of the need for co-operation on a global scale, technical knowhow and creativity, hope and a coming together of people. In his recommendations, he recognises the interconnectedness of our world, but also that the wellbeing, or quality of life, of individuals and communities is affected by more than just monetary prosperity. It is in times like these that we truly look to each other for support of our spirit.
A quick read of TheIsmaili.org website reminds us that the need for and desire to help one another goes well beyond the challenges of any one generation and any one time. Rashid Hakem's article about Farah Williamson's school project in Uganda demonstrates an intergenerational desire to address a decades-old conflict through improved access to education. In another article, Sameer Kassam shares insight on the interconnection of Cairo and Salamieh through time, heritage and values after volunteering in Egypt and Syria with the Aga Khan Development Network.
Although I have not met Farah or Sameer, to me, their stories demonstrate an engagement in development bound by the ethic of philanthropy. They connect with the Qur'anic spirit of doing good, as articulated in Surah 4 Ayat 36. They also give practical meaning to what Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said: “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” In caring for the other these individuals have found a way to put faith into action, and actualise the ethical conviction of Islam.
Yesterday evening, Mawlana Hazar Imam spoke at the 2009 Conference of the Global Philanthropy Forum held in Washington, DC, which brought together statesmen and leading philanthropists including Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In his speech, Mawlana Hazar Imam reflected on President Obama's recent call for “broader engagement with the Muslim world.” Hazar Imam suggested that addressing the problem of global poverty is one area where Judeo-Christian and Muslim societies could work together.
“One of the great principles of Islam – in all its interpretations – is the elimination of poverty in society, and philanthropy's centrality in this duty,” noted Hazar Imam. “Working together,” he continued, “we can all contribute more effectively to the reduction of global poverty.”
In 2005, Mawlana Hazar Imam was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Philanthropy. While his work through the Imamat institutions is often seen as philanthropic, the following year in Tutzing, Germany, Hazar Imam elaborated that “it flows from the mandate of the office of Imam to improve the quality of worldly life for the concerned communities.”
In a PBS video podcast on the AKDN's Al-Azhar Park and Darb al-Ahmar project in Cairo, Mawlana Hazar Imam says: “There is an often quoted ayat, which says that you should leave the world in a better environment than you found it.” He describes the responsibility that each generation has to improve on the legacy of God's creation, noting that “there is an ethical premise to it.”
The work of the AKDN, underpinned by its ethical framework, is more than philanthropy. Inspired by Islam as a worldview, it is an ethical duty, a social responsibility that spans generations. Drawing on the ethics of care and compassion, the work of development is transformed into a process that seeks to improve the quality of life of all people. In doing so, diversity and cultural pluralism are respected, the means for self-reliance are nurtured and the dignity inherent in each human being is recognised and supported.
During a talk in California in 2008, author and scholar Karen Armstrong described compassion as the common denominator of humanity and of every world religion, including the monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. She said that in demonstrating compassion we “dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there.”
Through the ethic of compassion, development can be a very personal and spiritual experience. It is not only reserved for the world of NGOs – it is a process that can be practiced by everyone on a daily basis.
Addressing the International Association for Volunteer Effort in 1998, Princess Zahra, pointed out that voluntary service “is a means for each individual to actualise Islam's ethics of inclusiveness, of compassion, of sharing, of the respect for life, and of personal responsibility for sustaining a healthy physical, social and cultural environment.” She added that this included “generosity of material resources, of time, of thought, and of knowledge.”
Voluntary service is a long held tradition in the Ismaili community, and Mawlana Hazar Imam has continued to emphasise it as a cornerstone of the Jamati and Imamat institutions. It is also central to the notion of the nazrana of time and knowledge, established on the occasion of Mawlana Hazar Imam's Golden Jubilee. The innumerable years of service offered to the Imam furthers the continuity of a tradition that provides a means of balancing the spiritual and the material aspects of life.
But volunteerism in the Jamat is not confined to the boundaries of the community. Through her eye health camps, Dr Soroya Janmohamed, has provided much needed services to individuals in Kenya and Syria. Meanwhile, Ruhee Ismail-Teja has drawn strength from her work as a volunteer and has been a source of inspiration to others.
Voluntary service, compassion and philanthropy are connected by the common thread of humanity – people. “Trust in people,” advises Mawlana Hazar Imam. “An extraordinary phenomenon of development is people changing their own environment.”
