MCC - Muslim Community Center for Human Services

 
A JIHAD AGAINST HUNGER IN TEXAS

Aftab A. Siddiqui
Vice Chair MCC for Human Services

State of Texas has become a home for almost half a million Muslim Americans. A large number of them migrated from different parts of the globe and chose Texas as their home; have put down their roots here and are bringing up their families in the state. In comparison to other migrant groups, the Muslim Community is one of the highest educated and therefore, financially very sound. As we settle down and lead a peaceful and prosperous life, it is our responsibility to give back to the society that has provided us with shelter, peace, education, and financial opportunities.

Texas faces a crisis of hunger and starvation. It is unconscionable to see 14 percent of Texas population facing food shortages because they cannot afford to feed themselves and their families. A total of 1.4 million children go hungry every day in our state. Despite the fact that a number of federal and state programs are available to help feed the hungry, still 14 percent of our fellow Texans do not know where the next food is coming from. It is a grave situation and our community must rise to the occasion to eliminate the hunger in our home state.

Islam repeatedly exhorts the Muslim Community to take care of the needy and feed the hungry. Allah (SWT) tells the Muslims in Sura Al-Baqara (The Cow)

2:177 True piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west [143] - but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day; and the angels, and revelation, [144] and the prophets; and spends his substance - however much he himself may cherish - it - upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, [145] and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage; [146] and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, who are conscious of God.

Our religion makes us responsible for the weaker segments of the society. We must play an active role in alleviating the ills of the society where we are bringing up our children and grand children. What better way to follow the words of Allah (SWT) and Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) than to take care of the hungry men, women, and children in our neighborhoods.

In the post 9/11 era, our community has come under constant attack from all sides and questions have been asked about our commitment to the American society. Over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult to help our communities back home because of closures and financial restrictions on Islamic Charitable Organizations. It is time for our community to start focusing on the needs of weaker segments of the society here. It is time to step up and start working in an organized manner to alleviate the hunger in our own neighborhoods. An organized effort by Islamic Centers and Masajids to come together on One Point – Elimination of Hunger in Texas—by using our resources will go a long way in fulfilling the Islamic Traditions and providing a positive perception of our community.  

The effort to work together towards achieving the objective can be done in many ways.

• Enjoining the community to volunteer their time and financial resources by the Imams and Community Leaders from Minbar of the Masjid on continual basis.
• Forming a committee in the Masajids exclusively responsible for this task.
• Asking people to buy extra food cans when they go for groceries. Masajids can be collecting points for such an effort. These cans can be donated to the Food Bank.
• Volunteering at the Food Banks on regular basis; for example one day in a week will bring visibility to our community while building long term relations with the Food Bank. It is important to understand that Food Banks have played a major role in tackling the hunger across the state.
• Setting up soup-kitchens by the Masajids to provide hot meals to the hungry is another important way to fight the hunger. License may be required from City.
• Shelters for homeless are located in different cities. The Masajids can contact the shelter in their cities and schedule serving of food on regular basis. Please remember that these shelters run usually on help from church organizations and any new organization has to get on the schedule for serving food. Muslim Community Center has been serving meals at Arlington Life Shelter and has so far served meals in excess of 3000 to the homeless.
• The Food Committee can contact large grocery stores at the beginning of the month to donate food cans. These stores get tax rebates for such donations and do it on regular basis. Some of the stores have specific days at the beginning of the month for making charitable donations.
• It may be possible to become a liaison with local restaurants/hotels and local shelters to use surplus food for the homeless.
• It can be a good idea to form coalitions with local churches and synagogues to fight the hunger, wherever possible.
• Word of caution for individual organizations; start small but do it on regular basis. DO NOT over commit your resources.

It is recommended to make a joint effort for this purpose and the current county structures of Islamic Organizations can be used to form a coalition on the single issue of alleviating hunger. The Coalition will only help in coordinating the efforts, getting out the message, and informing the media about the efforts of the Muslim Community. The recent organizing of Humanitarian Day in Dallas by local and migrant Muslim Communities is a good example of a coordinated effort and lessons learnt can be of great assistance in this proposed effort. Because the need is so great and problem of hunger is so pervasive, the work will have to be distributed across all the areas and local Islamic Organizations will have to play a key role in their respective areas. We can start the project in DFW Metroplex and then spread the word to other Muslim Communities in Texas who can start a similar program in their cities and neighborhood. It will be a good way to give back to the society that has given so much to our community.