Bihar Anjuman believes in self-help rather than charity

Short Term measures to Help the Community or Long Term?

Coaching to stop school drop-outs || Madrasa-cum-school for Girls || ITI College

Short term measures to help the community, like helping the riot victims, flood/ earthquake victims may not always yield the desired long-term results.

Author: Shakeel Ahmad [shakeeluae (AT) gmail (DOT) com]

The Short term measures are definitely important, and almost all the NGOs rise to the occasion, alhamdolillah, even to the extent that there is a race among the muslim NGOs to get involved and do more .... in obedience of Allah's commandment of racing in good deeds. Subhan Allah! Even the secular NGOs do a lot of work, sometimes even more than the community-based organizations.

However, should every NGO scramble to do the same things, along with the government agencies? Well, some should actually facilitate the government measures, rather than try to duplicate the same measures. This is where the role of volunteers becomes far more valuable than the monetary help.

Even better could be to adopt a few distressed children from the affected localities, particularly those rendered yateem, if not as members of your own families, for educating them at least. Again, this makes volunteerism far more precious - to identify them and assess their needs, to bring their stories to the press (so that govt. agencies and NGOs take up their cases), and to see to it that they get timely help. Helping them with a long-term perspective of getting them to help themselves and their siblings, all by themselves, would serve a far better purpose and would be real sadaqa-e-jariya.

Of course, there are regions wherein the nature's fury destroys the households every few years, making the inhabitants destitutes repeatedly. Thousands of villages in the Seemanchal region and the adjoining Darbhanga district face this calamity every few years. Unfortunately, media hardly bothers to highlight their miseries. NGOs hardly care for them, because they also need limelight which they would not get working in these areas. Someone said, more people die in India because of many seasonal diseases like dengue, malaria, encepahlitis, kaala azar (in Bihar), every year than likely in the case of corona virus (say, in China), but India would only talk (and take care) of diseases making news globally; that gets publicity. Hilarious? In fact, this is shameful!

Should we get involved in every relief work, which anyway gets enough attention from all kinds of NGOs, as well as from the govt. agencies? Better to become facilitators for them, as mentioned above. This is a very important question to discuss. This is also like everyone rushing to help the graduates to get employed in government jobs, everyone establishing coaching centres to make IITians and IAS officers, and struggling to get the raw materials (graduates/ 12th pass, meritorious). Struggling? Yes, quite so, while ignoring the fact that almost 90% muslims (out of those 50% who don't go to either a school or madrasa) are deprived of quality education because they are forced to go to govt. schools in which hardly any teaching takes place. This is a huge population (90%), isn�t it?

This huge population is deprived of the most important element of their livelihood, the education, and the most important element of the community/ society/ country's development and economy. They have remained deprived for generations. Who cares for them? Neglected, they become easy target of Christian missionaries (and their closest competitors - various outfits of RSS, like the Banbasi Kendras in Jharkhand). Have we not heard of millions converting from Islam to Christianity in Africa? Check out this link: https://virtueonline.org/six-million-african-muslims-convert-christianity-each-year [Six Million African Muslims Convert to Christianity Each Year]. Why do they leave Islam? The strategy is simple. The super powers engage them in civil wars, destroy their economy, deprive them of basic amenities. The missionaries then jump in to help them (they are now begging for their life), and Jesus Christ is invoked to help these "muslims" who had first been deprived of education, then their earnings, and so on.

Back in India, CAA seems to be a tool to convert the deprived muslims of India to Hinduism. Why would Muslims do so? Possibly, they would do so to save themselves from further depravity and torture in the detention centres, or out of it, without any rights, as second class citizens, or even third class - kicked, bruised, raped, lynched, at will. In order to alleviate them to a higher economic level, should we not take uplifting them, educationally & socio-economically, as our most important mission, particularly because this is being ignored bymost other NGOs. Well, like we provide coaching to the government school students (through Rahbar Coaching Centres (coaching.biharanjuman.org)), should we also do it for the madrasa students? We should actually try our best to improve the madrasas and the private muslim schools rather than provide additional tuition to their students, because their management is in the hands of the community, and we can improve these institutions (we must). Since the government schools are not in our control, the most effective value-for-money intervention for the 90% govt. school-going students is to actually teach them (equip them with additional learning tools) - they already avail of many government facilities (like free books, free uniform, mid-day meals, bicycles, etc, and the costliest of all, the school buildings) - provide them a few hours of coaching (in the same school, or a madrasa, or any space given free by the local community) with an aim to make them understand the concepts. Once they understand the concepts, their interest in the subjects would automatically develop, and they would focus more on studies. When they get focused on learning, even minimum efforts could help them do much better. This is where the Rahbar Coaching Centre (coaching.biharanjuman.org) becomes the most effective tool if managed well.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (R.A.) that the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) said: "Allaah said: 'Spend, O son of Adam, and I shall spend on you.'" [al-Bukhaari, 5073; Muslim, 993]

Abu Hurairah (R.A.) reported: Messenger of Allah (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) said, "Everyday two angels descend and one of them says, `O Allah! Compensate (more) to the person who gives (in charity)'; while the other one says, `O Allah! Destroy the one who withholds (charity, etc)." [al-Bukhaari, 1374; Muslim, 1010]

Providing education in areas that get destroyed by calamities like floods and earthquakes (in Bihar, the Seemanchal and adjoining Darbhanga region) could be the most noble deed, with a long-term impact on the muslim community whose population in these regions range between 50% to 70%. Rahbare Banat madrasa-cum-school for girls (school.biharanjuman.org) is drawing huge crowds of girls, even from the relatively better-off families (and we charge those few who can afford to pay even Rs. 200 per month). The construction cost of this model school-cum-madrasa has been shared with the villagers who contributed their ancestral land, bricks & mortar, labour, etc, thus reducing our financial responsibility a great deal.

Transformation must not be expected in a few years of our lifetime. It should take generations; however, with this vision of empowering the community, baby steps have to be started now. Join hands in making the visionary ideas of Bihar Anjuman (www.biharanjuman.org) successful, and earn your own share of sadaqa-e-jariya. We have tried our best to minimize the costs of implementing the ideas on the ground, thus trying to bring the best possible return on your investments in the community, in sha Allah.

Your suggestions, ideas and contributions have helped the mission reach the remotest parts of Bihar and Jharkhand. However, whatever has been done is just a few drops in the vast ocean of opportunities, and there is miles to go - so, keep pouring in your support and blessings. Jazakallaho Khairan!

In times of crisis, when the society needs us more, let's reduce our expenses, postpone investments that can wait, so as to free some of our hard-earned money to help those struck more severely than us.

What are the benefits of giving sadaqa?

Sadaqa benefits the believer not just in this life but the next.

Sadaqa averts calamity and increases sustenance and blessings in one's life. Allah says in the Qur'an, "Who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He may multiply it for him many times over? And it is Allah who withholds and grants abundance, and to Him you will be returned," (Qur'an, 2: 245).

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said "Sadaqah extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire," (Hadith, Tirmidhi). He also said that Allah offers relief on the Day of Judgement for those who give sadaqa: "The believer's shade on the Day of Resurrection will be their charity" (Hadith, Tirmidhi).

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