----- Original Message -----
From: Kelly Crosby
To: Traditional Sisters
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 9:30 PM
Subject: [Totally_Traditional_Sisters] Imam Zaid Shakir on Hurricane Katrina, good article!
Altaf Bhimji <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Salaam - I thought this was an excellent article by Imam Zaid Shakir
- he is at Zaytuna, here in the SF Bay Area ---
altaf
Hurricane Season Has Already Begun
By Imam Zaid Shakir
The coastal area of a country is ravaged by a catastrophic natural
disaster. Its corrupt national government, ill-prepared for the
event, finds itself accepting donations from all over the world to
assist the impoverished, displaced survivors. This is an apt
description of Indonesia, but it is also a description of the United
States in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Mismanagement,
corruption, a huge trade imbalance, and the fiscal drain caused by
the war in Iraq has reduced America to accepting offers of aid from
Tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka ($25,000) and Bangladesh ($1,000,000), one
of the poorest nations on earth.
A formerly lush and fertile river delta has been decimated by the
petrochemical industry leaving the surrounding area poor, polluted,
and crisscrossed with aging pipelines. The trickle down of wealth
promised by the large, prosperous oil companies has yet to
materialize for the region's poorest inhabitants, leaving them in an
increasingly desperate state. This could be an apt description of the
Niger River Delta in Nigeria, but it is a description of the
Mississippi River Delta region in Louisiana, an area ravaged by
Hurricane Katrina.
Ill-educated, marginalized workers in sprawling shantytowns
desperately await opportunities to work in low-paying, dead-end
service sector jobs. Inadequate schools, high unemployment, poverty,
poor government services, and rampant crime characterize their
neighborhoods. This could be an apt description of slums in and
around Nairobi, Mogadishu, Bombay, Mexico City, or Sao Paulo. Sadly,
it is a description of the infamous Ninth Ward of New Orleans and
similar areas of the city, areas whose poverty dictated that they
would bear the brunt of the casualties lying in Katrina's wake.
A desperate, insecure government, seeking legitimacy and building
support for unpopular policies through fear, intimidation, and
mendacity forbids the media from photographing its war dead, or the
coffins of returning soldiers. Photographs of the casualties may
drive home the brutality and horrors of an illegal war ineffectively
prosecuted. This is a description of American media policy in Iraq,
but it also is a description of government policy along the hurricane
ravaged Gulf coast where FEMA has forbidden media personnel from
accompanying workers as they recover the bodies of the dead, to
prevent those bodies from being photographed. In some areas, members
of the National Guard have prevented the media from filming corpses.
The images of possibly thousands of bloated, decaying, or mangled
corpses, most of them black, would only accentuate and perpetuate the
public's widespread disgust at the handling of the crisis.
Private mercenaries working for security firms such as Blackwater USA
menacingly patrol the streets in SUVs. Their exorbitant salaries
drain money away from conventional military forces, and only serve to
highlight the creeping corporate takeover of the government. This
could be an apt description of Baghdad, but it is unfortunately a
description of New Orleans, where hired private security forces have
already started patrolling the streets, much to the astonishment of
the city's remaining residents.
A debt-ridden, corrupt government; neglected, underserved minorities;
a polluted and abused environment; rogue paramilitary security
forces; a servile, controlled press; these are all the hallmarks of
authoritarian Third World regimes. The tragedy in the Gulf makes it
easy to draw the sort of comparisons made above. It also makes clear
the extent to which this country is becoming a Third World nation.
The signs are all present. Instead of initiating a sincere national
discourse to begin a serious corrective process, our leaders give us
mendacious spin. A pathetic example of that is found in the fact that
as New Orleans was slowly drowning, FEMA had dispatched 1400
firefighters to Atlanta, many of them specialists in disaster relief
and hazardous materials spills, to be trained by a public relations
firm. A good public image is apparently more important than saving
lives.
The hurricane and its aftermath show just how fragile the mightiest
nation on earth is in reality. What happened in New Orleans could
happen elsewhere in the country. A major earthquake centered near Los
Angeles could wreak Katrina-like havoc in California. A tsunami could
inundate Honolulu. An interruption of fuel or power during a deep mid-
winter cold spell could bring catastrophic consequences for major
northern population centers such as New York, Minneapolis, or
Chicago. Furthermore, like New Orleans, all of our cities are
characterized by crumbling infrastructure, and are surrounded by raw
sewage, toxic dumps, and other biological and chemical hazards that
under the right circumstances could result in the sort of public
health crisis we see unfolding in the Gulf.
Today, New Orleans is where the planet is heading. The Big Easy, a
fun-filled, festive fa蓷de, hiding an underlying reality of racial
tension, environmental abuse, widespread poverty, and a simmering
rage, kept in check by oftentimes brutal policing. Katrina exposed
the hidden reality of the Big Easy. Before her raging winds, New
Orleans was neither big nor easy. We should not wait for a
catastrophe of global import to expose similar realities that
characterize our world. We need to begin addressing the problems now.
Time is short. Hurricane season has already begun.
What You Can Do
1. Ramadan is coming. This is a month of charity and giving. Every
Muslim, young and old should set aside a dollar a day for each day of
the fast. At the end of the month, Muslims in a single area or those
who frequent a particular Mosque should pool their monies and send
them to a reputable relief organization that is working with the
survivors of the Gulf disaster. The money can also be given directly
to displaced storm survivors who have settled in your area. The names
and addresses of such individuals can be obtained from one's local
Red Cross, or City Hall.
We can recommend that you send the money gathered at the end of
Ramadan to: Islamic Relief / PO Box 6098 / Burbank, CA 91510 /
888.479.4968 / Tax ID #95-4453134.
2. The Night of Power (Laytul-Qadr), 27 Ramadan, is one of our most
blessed nights. Usually, the mosques are full on that night. We
should undertake fundraisers in every Mosque in America on that
blessed night and donate the proceeds to the survivors of Katrina.
3. Zakat, our binding annual charity, is usually given in Ramadan.
There are valid Islamic opinions that this money can be given to non-
Muslims in the category of "those whose hearts can be favorably
disposed towards Islam (Mu'allafa Qulubuhum)." For those who do not
accept this opinion, there are many Muslims who lost everything in
the aftermath of the storm. We will endeavor to develop a list of
their names and a means to get money to them. We should all donate a
percentage, if not all, of our annual Zakat to those affected by the
storm and its aftermath.
These are practical measures within all of our means, God-willing. We
should rise to the occasion and show this country the good that is in
our community. Resolve to undertake one or all of these measures now.
May God bless you and bless all of those legions of good, ordinary
people who have shown extraordinary kindness and courage in assisting
those affected by the great disaster that has afflicted the Gulf
coast of this country.
Imam Zaid Shakir
Ps. If you know of any Muslims who were displaced by Katrina, please
send their names to this website (http://zaytuna.org) in order to
assist us, in cooperation with other organizations, in developing a
list to facilitate getting assistance to them in a timely fashion.
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