Faith and value

Faith holds a special place in the hearts of many and to judge somebody on their faith alone has proven to be a wrong practice. Value, however, is an excellent criterion, as different faiths can share the same values. This is what brings me today to discuss the relationship between faith and value in humanitarian work.

I believe segregation on the basis of faith within the humanitarian field is wrong, as it could lead to misunderstanding the infrastructure of the social fabric of our global family. Instead of sliding down the slope of alienation and division, we need to correct our path and divert our humanitarian movement to a more inclusive and integrative approach.

We must change faith into value because by translating our values into a community product, we can better serve the beneficiaries: the greater community. Let us show the goodness from our faiths and nourish the needs of the community at the grass-root level!

On visas, lists and the FATWIT technology...

It seems a lot of dignitaries, scholars and community workers are denied access into certain countries, even when in possession of a visa. They are not allowed to speak in public assemblies, even if previously granted the permission. They are told they’re not welcome, and when they dare question the reasoning behind this decision, the only pertinent answer they get is that they are on “The List”. I wonder what such list is this? Is it a shopping list, like my wife has? I gather not. However, lists and visas can’t stop people from communicating.

Visas are out of date, as now we live in the era of Social Media itself. Anyone who can connect to the internet can touch the lives of others, without as much as visiting. The development of FATWIT (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, emails) has cancelled the need for a visa, in order to reach an audience of millions.

Technology knows no borders, and can be used to influence the mindset of thousands of people. Therefore we ask: why the need for visas, when Social Media can amplify humanitarian calls?

We must realise that the sooner the barriers are demolished, both online and offline, the quicker dialogue can begin between all interested parties and aid can be offered in a fast and efficient manner.

Good TREE, Bad TREE

Charity is a God given right and performing a charitable act should not be prevented. It is everyone’s duty, even the poor and disabled. Charity doesn’t just include money; it can stretch to life giving, when saving others’ lives. It does not have religious or geographical barriers. Charity should feel as natural as the air we breathe. We could also measure human value looking at people’s charitable actions, how fellow men and women dedicate their lives to working for the community and humanity.

In this case, one question arises:  why are Muslim charities always on the hot seat? Is it because they are genuinely bad? Or is it because some misguided individuals have cast a shadow on all trustworthy NGOs?

In 2005, I gave a speech at the Dead Sea World Economic Forum Meeting. I said it then and I repeat: we must ARM Muslim charities- Allow, Monitor and Regulate. By doing so, we will enable Muslim charities to plant the good TREE (Trust, Respect, Engage and Empower). If we PRESS (Prevent, Remove, Exclude, Scare and Seclude) or PREVENT (Prohibit, Remove, Exclude, Victimise, Expel, Nullify and Terrify) them, we will get a bad TREE (Terrorism, Radicalism, Extremism and Endanger).

You reap what you sow: we must ARM Muslim and non-Muslim charities in order to obtain the fruit that humanity desperately needs:  Trust, Respect, Engage and Empower.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Eid, 9/11 and burning the Quran)

Even if the title may, at first glance, present unrelated notions, let me assure you they are, in fact, quite closely connected. The good news is that Eid is approaching in a few days and Muslims worldwide will be celebrating after fasting in the month of Ramadan. I wish everyone, not just Muslims, a Happy Eid and such happiness that only peace and tranquillity can bring. I wish the celebration of Eid to be reflected in actions of care and kindness to fellow human beings.

The bad incident of 9/11 which shocked humanity 9 years ago still brings agony and painful feeling to the families who lost loved ones. We should remember victims in our prayers and work hard together to prevent such tragedies from happening again. We need to join our hands together to prevent such a bad act from taking lives of innocents.

The ugly will happen soon, when some people are considering burning the Quran in public. I fear that this might lead to a reaction similar to the one caused by the cartoons depicting the Prophet, may peace be upon Him. Such ugly scenes will distract people’s attention away from the real humanitarian causes: Haiti, Pakistan, Somalia etc.

My advice to Muslim colleagues is not to react emotionally and impulsively to such a challenge. Be to them like a fruitful tree: when they stone it, it will bear its fruit to them. Two wrongs don’t make one thing right; evil shouldn’t be answered with the same measure.

Let us celebrate Eid, remember our beloved ones from 9/11 and advise our brothers and sisters that humanitarian thinking is the path to peace, partnership and a better world.

The good, the bad and the ugly, only a couple of days apart this month.

The Humanitarian Army

I’ve returned from Pakistan, the land of a biblical flood, where I’ve witnessed firsthand the destruction left behind. All humanitarian workers and organisations are stretched their full capacity, though it’s not enough. What has been achieved so far is nothing more than a drop of water in the ocean for the 20 million of people who are suffering.

We don’t need just humanitarian workers, I feel a humanitarian army is necessary to enable the people in Pakistan to rebuild their lives and wake up from the nightmare. The Humanitarian Army should not be money driven; on the contrary, it should be needs driven.

I believe the pillars supporting the Humanitarian Army concept can be expressed as VIP MENT:

V – Value-based, instead of Faith-based. We all share common values, beyond the narrow area of faith values.
I – The aim is to be impartial, while pursuing honesty.
P – We need to believe in real partnerships between people and organisations.
M – Stands for multi-national, across geographical locations or even faiths.
E – Empower. We need to build the capacity of the local community in order to empower and enable it on the road to productivity.
N – Neutral.  The key is represented by the understanding of different cultures and sensitivities, politics and its restricting barriers.
T – Transparency. There is nothing to hide: the Humanitarian Army is developed by the people, for the people.

However, the main quality of the Humanitarian Army is the understanding of who the real force driving and motivating the mission is:  the child, the woman and the elderly.

We need a universal humanitarian army in order to hold back unforeseen future biblical floods. Everybody, step right up and join our Humanitarian Army, and the people of Pakistan shall be able to dream again, with our help.

Call to action for Pakistan

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I attended an Emergency meeting of OIC Humanitarian partners on the Pakistan floods disaster co-chaired by OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The meeting gathered together at short notice several Muslim NGOs (Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, British Red Cross) and officials from both arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Libya and western countries such as the UK, US, Germany and others.

Even if the pledges were small to begin with, by the end of the day, the sum reached just under a total of 1 billion USD, 700 million of those being given by the Islamic Development Bank, 100 million by the King of Saudi Arabia and the rest from other organisations, charities and officials.

The floods are Pakistan's worst-ever natural disaster in terms of the amount of damage and the number of people affected, as more than six million people have been made to flee their homes, around a million of them in the recent days as the water flows southwards. The existent infrastructure has been destroyed and agriculture has suffered a setback of at least 5 years, according to experts.

Even 1 billion USD is not up to the challenge of standing in the way of the aftermath of such disaster. Muslims observe Ramadan, which is the month of giving. Yet, the funds pledged have not risen to the great needs of the beneficiaries.

The time has come to offer help and stand united, by doing our humanitarian duty to others in need. Give generously this Ramadan and the people of Pakistan will be able to rebuild their livelihoods.

To see more pictures from the Pakistan visit, click here.

Teen Love and FAT KISS

Last month I was invited to speak at a women’s conference in Washington DC. How interesting, and how difficult, to be amongst thousands of women, talking about women. As one of the few men there, I have to say there were times when I felt a little out of place.

We were talking about culture, maternal mortality, early marriages and religion. I didn’t know how to address the delegates, or what to say. As a man, it can often be difficult to sound intelligent and to the point with women – some of them have a completely different intellectual standard from their male counterparts (a much higher standard, it goes without saying!).

The week before I arrived in DC, I was in Canada. A very intelligent young man had driven me from Toronto airport to Hamilton, and it was he who gave me the theme for my speech: ‘teen love gone wrong’. I always like a catchy headline!

This is a story which started 29 years ago, when I travelled as a young doctor from a different culture to work in Birmingham, UK. I examined an 11 year old girl who was pregnant. For me, this was a culture shock at the time. I ran to my consultant to confirm the result; he did, but it was sadly not such a shock for him. He told me to write up the report.

This is where we look at different cultures differently. What could be abnormal in the West is normal in the East and vice versa. I went on to put the comparison between the young, free girls and boys who can enjoy having sex in the West, and the young girls and boys who reach the same state through underage marriage in the East. I asked myself: who is right and who is wrong? Or really, is there much difference in the outcomes of the two situations? Maybe we’re both right or both wrong. Personally, I’m not promoting or condoning either situation. Both cultures seem to be failing our young people in one sense or another.

But here’s another question: is maternal mortality in the East caused by underage sex or the lack of labour and medical facilities available to young married girls? Obviously, seeing an eleven year old pregnant in East or West is a shock to the system. But the problem is compounded in many Eastern countries, where the girl would not have resource to the medical and social support she would receive in Western countries.

Maternal mortality, and the poor treatment of women and girls in general can often be a sign of a greater, community-wide problem. Often the position of women in a society can be a key indicator for society as a whole: maternal mortality, rape and violence against women, and the position of women in society can underline wider, systematic problems within that community.

To create real change in such societies, we have to use a mechanism which we at the Humanitarian Forum call the FAT KISS. FAT is what the rich donor countries and agencies must develop in poorer societies: Fundraising, Advocacy and Training. Our role as donor agencies and countries is to uplift societies using the FAT mechanism. If we do that, the recipient countries will be able to deliver the KISS: Knowledge-based, Innovative, Sustainable Solutions for their own communities. The relationship between us as donor countries and agencies and them as recipient countries and agencies must be one of equal yet different partners. Equal in that we are all striving for the same goal: to lift that country out of poverty and dysfunction, not by imposition of our rules and regimes, but by two partners complimenting each others’ work.

Through the knowledge-based, innovative sustainable solution, such communities will be able to rise to the standard of the international community. The support we’ll be giving will be grounded in dignity and respect for the sake of humanity, not for economic, political or cultural supremacy.