There has been hardly any big relief effort from Muslim nations …
Arab response to Tsunami seen as appalling
Washington: Many Muslims around the world have been appalled at the “silence and stinginess” of the oil-rich Arab countries when compared to the outpouring of generosity elsewhere in the world, according to Tarek Fatah, a progressive Muslim leader and television host based in Toronto.
In a statement, he said that whereas cash-starved countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh had sent their naval ships, doctors and armed forces personnel to help Sri Lanka and Indonesia, Saudi Arabia had tossed a $10 million cheque at those affected while Kuwait had come up with a paltry $2 million.
Fatah said, “The disappointment is not just because of the pathetic contributions by Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. It is compounded by the message being repeated ad nauseam in their mosques and media that the earthquake was a punishment from God for the sins of the people of South and South East Asia. The view that wanton behavior provoked the quake was the subject of Friday sermons in Saudi Arabia and of other religious commentaries in the kingdom. “Asia’s earthquake, which hit the beaches of prostitution, tourism, immorality and nudity,” one commentator said on an Islamist website, “is a sign that God is warning mankind from persisting in injustice and immorality before he destroys the ground beneath them”.
He cited a New York Times report that quoted Walid Tabtabai, a member of the Kuwaiti Parliament, as saying that the earthquake was not simply a natural calamity, but a message from God.
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“We believe that what occurs in terms of disasters and afflictions is a test for believers and punishment for the unjust,” he wrote in a column in the newspaper Al Watan.
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Fatah expressed astonishment that anyone would consider Tamil Nadu, Aceh, Sri Lanka, Somalia, the Islands of Nicobar and Andaman to be “beaches of prostitution, tourism, immorality and nudity. “What sick mind could come up with this description? The Kuwaitis and Saudi Islamists lecturing the world about morality is an outrage,” he added. He said the people of South Asia did not need self-righteous sermons but assistance. “Or is it that in the eyes of most Kuwaitis and Saudis, the dead belonged to the despised underclass who live as fourth class citizens in the Gulf States.** “Dark skinned Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian; truck drivers, cooks and maids; all children of a lesser God in the eyes of these Islamists of the Gulf,” **he said.
In mosques across the United States, more or less the same message is going out to the Muslim community. While appeals have been made for generous donations to relief funds, the congregations are also being told that the tsunami was “azab-e-Ilahi” or the wrath of God for the sins of those who were hit. Such calamities, they are being told, warn us to turn our back on ungodly ways and repent for our past misdeeds. khalid hasan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-1-2005_pg7_51
