Happy New Year!

A new year is on its way and we need to look back at what we achieved in the past year, as individuals and think forward to what more needs to be done.

Politicians ought to do their best to fulfil the promises they made, business people must aim to be honest with their customers and religious leaders should be committed to building bridges between different faiths to establish cooperation and trust.

Teachers have to help the children gain those critical skills for life. Children should ask their parents not to destroy our planet. Humanitarian workers should take on the most critical issues people are facing around the globe.

Our life is short as a moment, but our actions should be an everlasting story. To a prosperous 2011!

Empowered women series - Part 5

These four stories are meant to show the strength of women and enforce the idea they are the driving force behind some of the greatest achievements in this world.

I believe that women have more than one role to play in society: not just mother and daughter, but also teacher and mentor for future generations. These roles complement women’s leading roles in society as professor, nurse, doctor, minister etc.

I feel strongly that women are behind their brothers’, husbands’ or sons’ success in society without undermining the role of the ones they support.

I mentioned these four models for humanity to remind all of us that we shouldn’t only remember the great acts delivered by Prophets and messengers of God, but also the modest acts performed in history by mothers, sisters and wives.

Behind every Prophet, there is a great wise woman as well.

Empowered women series - Part 4

Once upon a time, in a luxuriously decorated room inside the King’s Palace, a young beautiful girl was sat on a chaise. An older lady was standing by her side, holding a golden brush and precious hairclips. She was hairdresser to the Princess of Egypt.

The hairdresser looked at the girl and said “Oh, God! You look beautiful today!” The girl said: “Thank you. When you said God, did you refer to my father?”

The hairdresser replied: “No. I mean the real God, our God”. The girl was startled: “Can I tell my father about this conversation?”The hairdresser serenely answered: “Yes. Why not?!”

Soon enough, the hairdresser was brought in front of the court of the Man God. When asked “Who is your God?” she gave the same answer she gave the Pharaoh’s daughter.

Everyone was yelling at the hairdresser to change her mind, but she didn’t waver. The Man God threatened her with punishment: “If you don’t recognise me as God, you and your children will be put to death in this boiling oil”.

The woman didn’t blink once in the face of this threat. After a few seconds, she begged to speak. The Man God asked: “Have you changed your mind? What can I do for you?” The brave hairdresser answered: “After our death, please bury us together”. This angered the Man God, who carried out his sentence.

The moral to this story highlights the qualities of this hairdresser, who had the courage to stand up for her unshakeable belief and should be an inspiration for all humanitarian and community workers on the field.

Empowered women series - Part 3

Once upon a time, a mature woman of 40 liked a younger man, who was 25. It’s easy to see why she liked him, as he was the best man of the tribe. He was handsome, intelligent, and pious.  His nickname was “Trustworthy”.

The woman was a widow and a divorcee and felt she had no hope to aspire to his hand. She talked about it to a friend and expressed her wish to marry this young man. To her surprise, the man accepted to be her husband and they lived happily ever after.

She worked tirelessly to help him succeed in his community work. She was for him an advocate, financial support, moral thinker and guide. She was his backbone throughout their 13 year marriage.

The man was Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his wife was Lady Khadija. She was a crucial element in supporting Mohammed as Prophet and community worker.

Empowered women series - Part 2

Once upon a time, a young beautiful girl was so chaste, pure and modest that the community had the greatest respect for her. She implemented her moral values through her relationship with the community and was loved by God very much.

One morning, a man came to her and told her she was pregnant. At first she was shocked and fearful, trying to keep away from the man, who turned out to be an angel. He also told her she was carrying a baby boy. The girl was afraid and ashamed.

How could a chaste girl become pregnant? Even though this issue was very painful, she still took on the responsibilities and built her community. We must share the same feeling and take on responsibilities in our community, thus building the future of nations.

The girl’s son was Jesus (Peace Be upon Him) and the little girl was Virgin Mary. She managed to prove her quality of leadership and rose to the magnitude of responsibility she took on at a very young age.

On this note, I wish everyone Happy Holidays!

Empowered women series - Part I

Once upon a time, a King dreamt that a baby boy from a different ethnic group would be born to claim his throne. The King ordered his guards to kill each one of the baby boys born within this ethnic group.

The chosen boy’s mother was distraught when she found out about the King’s order. She prayed arduously to God, who told her: “If you are afraid for your boy, put him in a basket on the river”. It was incredible, for a mother to put her son in the river, and God gave her strength. God whispered in her ear: “Your son will be taken by an enemy of yours and raised in their house”.

The mother’s sister followed the river to see where the boy would end and God led the boy to be seen by the First Lady, who loved the child the moment she saw him. The boy refused to be breastfed by any nurse, so after many trials, he was sent back to his mother’s house, after the stepmother convinced the King to allow him at Court.

That boy became the first humanitarian worker and saved his people from punishment. His name was Moses.
We all know the story of Moses, but we must celebrate the importance of Moses’ mother, his aunt and the wife of pharaoh, and their strength and leadership skills within the community.

The runaway train

In my view, religion holds an important part in public life and has done so since ancient times. Even if we live in a laic society, we cannot forget to give religion’s due place.

I believe it is not a question of democracy versus theocracy, but one of monopoly, as practiced by politics. Are we more democratic than we were before? Are we supporting diverse growth in different parts of the world? Are we imposing a “one size fits all” solution?

In my view, all this pushes us towards political monotheism. Everything becomes like an unmanned runaway train, ready to derail at any point, producing radicalism, extreme fundamentalism, terrorism, internal and external conflict, refugees, poverty etc.

If we look at the man-made calamities the world is facing today, we can assume that the “one size fits all” model of politics and democracy has failed, and local solutions must be sought and some of those might just involve bringing religion forward.

Whites in shining armour?

At the begining of the most technologically sophisticated century so far, we still rely on what we know best, instead of exploring new avenues. This doesn’t just apply to industry, but to humanitarian work as well. Should you look closely, you’ll discover humanitarian actions around Christmas, Ramadan, Hannukah, Diwali etc., activities long established in the history of charity.

However, it seems that more recently people have been waiting for the Prince and his White Elephant  to save the princess in distress from the gorilla of hunger, sickness and poverty. They dream about him coming from London, Paris, New York, without considering there may be a king coming on a dolphin from South America, or even somebody on a dark horse from Asia.

In my opinion, the only difference between the white elephant, the dark horse and dolphin is given by our comfort zone. I feel we must expand this comfort zone, for the sake of humanity as a whole and ask ourselves: who will save the princess? The elephant, the horse or the dolphin individually? Or should they complement each other and save the princess together, for the greater good?

I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Who is the owner?

We can talk about car ownership, house ownership, business ownership, however, in humanitarian work, we tend to call it governance.  In my opinion, governance is somewhat different, as it implies management, whereas ownership suggests belonging.

As humanitarian workers, we try to diversify our message to create a new club culture, which could turn out either negative (separated from the community) or positive (intellectual growth of the sector). I believe that when we will answer the question of ownership, we will be at ease with the community and the world in general.

In my view, the owners of the humanitarian organisations and their assets are the poor, the sick, the vulnerable etc., the ones we aim to champion. If we consider this view a reality, then we must draw a stronger bond between us and them, as they are our employers, after all. If we empower our employers, they could sack us because of the lack of delivery in our promised services to them.

What usually happens is that they fully authorise us to spend funds in whichever way we see fit and we just keep them distantly silent. We abuse their private images, showing how frail, unlucky and miserable they are.

I think that the moral bond between us and our real employer should be revisited every time, so that when we speak to them, we say “Yes, Sir” or “Yes, Ma’am”. When we visit their dwellings, we ought to have their permission. More importantly, when we spend the funds, they should have a say. That is true ownership.

The “leak” soup

My favourite dish is soup. I can never have enough of soup, no matter what flavour (lentil, tomato, sweet and sour, chicken etc.) and that’s why my wife always cooks it for me. The one I like best is leek soup, as it has an earthy taste, it creates a sense of belonging to its roots.

However, this November, a new soup caught my eye: the “leak” soup, distributed by Wikileaks. I woke up one morning and strange news were capturing the media’s attention, upsetting people, creating havoc and inspiring mistrust.

My first question on hearing these facts was: What are the parameters of the media’s ethics? More importantly, are there any ethics? I believe that ethics have been left on the shelf, to become dusty, rusty and outdated.

My second question followed naturally: Can there be leaks in my roof without something or somebody creating them? Surely somebody made my roof leak and therefore “leak” soup is all over my bedroom (and in the public news). In my opinion, it takes two to tango and we cannot pretend the nail can make a hole without the hammer helping it along.

At a time when everyone is looking to put behind all the world’s problems, the “leak” soup should be put aside. We must all focus on helping the humanity to feast at the table of peace, safety and unity.

Happy Islamic New Year

Salam,

I want to take the opportunity to wish you a Happy Islamic New Year and invite you to celebrate together with me during this time of happiness and sharing!

Dr. Hany El Banna (OBE, MBBCH, MD)

The Sudan Connection

Sudan is very close to my heart, as I was born by the river Nile and also opened the first Islamic Relief office there 20 some years ago. It is also a very important actor in the global stage, being the biggest and most diverse country in Africa.

On this note, I remember meeting a special advisor of the Sudanese president as part of a high-level governmental delegation. My message on that occasion was: “ Let us look at the value of Sudan for humanity”. I didn’t want to restrict Sudan to East Africa, the Arab and Muslim world, as a country or its provinces, but I wanted to look at it in its entirety.

A year on from this most interesting meeting, the future of Sudan will be decided in January 2011 by referendum. This would bring to the table the opinions of the people living in South Sudan, opinions which must be respected and supported by everyone.

My nightmare scenario after the referendum is fuelled by a few discussions I’ve had with some governors from South Sudan. One of them told me in no uncertain terms: “If we divide Sudan, it wouldn’t be between two countries. It would be around 4, 5 or even 6 countries.” Another official told me: “I have my own personal army and own territory. I want my own seat.”

Working in the humanitarian field, I can’t help but worry about the outcome of the referendum. As humanitarian worker, I can’t focus on the river Nile, on natural resources or land. I focus on the well-being of the people, particularly at the end of 50 plus years of fighting in the region which lead to so manyinnocent lives being lost.

I have just come back from Kuwait where I attended a conference for East Sudan, where the international community pledged 3.5 billion $. Earlier this year, I attended a conference for Darfur, where over 1 billion $ was pledged. I would have liked an international conference for the whole of Sudan, a more inclusive approach. I was unusually quiet at the conference and when somebody asked me about it, I answered I would like peace for all, not a piece meal for everyone of us.

While uniting our efforts in other parts of the world, we should spare a thought for the safety and well-being of the Sudanese vulnerable groups of people and respect the decision to be made early 2011.

The donkey, the politician and I

Policy and politics are facts of life. In my view, we all have common characteristics we can enjoy, such as shared values, faiths, feelings and I would also add policy and politics. This doesn’t just stop at humankind, but extends to other creations of God.

Why should we restrict policy and politics talk just to governments in the broader sense?! Most of the time, government personnel are the ones who abuse policies and fail to fulfil their promises.

I respect and admire donkeys as one of the most dedicated and committed workers God has created. When we look closely at the lifestyle of a donkey, we find that it also plans and draws a policy. The donkey’s policy is tailored to suit the needs of its herd, its master and its relationship with the other creatures around it. I find the donkey very transparent, impartial and focused and I like that it always meets the expectations of its master.

On the other hand, a lot of politicians are interested in only gaining seats, or Presidency or Premiership. As soon as they’re in, we and our dreams are out. This state of affairs has been going on for centuries, so I ask: Whose example shall we follow: the donkey’s or the politician’s?

I recommend trusting the donkeys, because as a community we become a vehicle and the donkey makes us its mission. The donkey, through its hard work and integrity, wants to succeed and make each and every one of us happy.

PS: The donkeys described present no similarity to any other donkeys, political party symbols or not.