In absence of Bait-ul-Maal, destitute suffer silently in Kashmir ‘Wakf Board has miserably failed to help the needy’ IMRAN MUZAFFAR SmallerDefaultLarger Srinagar, July 5: When Abdul Gafoor (name changed) of old Srinagar plunged neck-deep in poverty and couldn’t afford even two-square meals, he died, leaving a debt of several thousand rupees which his wife paid back to lenders by sewing clothes till her own death. Not everyone here knows Gafoor’s life history and how he and his wife died in utter penury. Nobody helped them, not even their near and distant relatives, or neighbors. What pushed Gafoor to such level of poverty is not known but according to a few locals, who knew the old couple, nobody came to their help till both of them died. Gafoor and his wife didn’t even ask anyone for anything, ever, and both had a miserable life, and death. “It happened five years back,” says one octogenarian local. “There was no help from anyone. Not even the Mohalla committee or Masjid committee.” This reporter came across the octogenarian man outside Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta here. He was not asking for alms, instead unloading a vegetable load from his shoulders. He was laboring and he said he lived not far from where Gafoor once resided. Examples like Gafoor’s throw up questions who should take care of such people in Kashmir society or more broadly in Muslim community. Religious scholars say Bait-ul-Maal, or community fund, cares for such people in a Muslim society. Bait-ul-Maal is an Islamic concept which ensures that wealth obtained by individuals is distributed from the haves to the have-nots. Religious scholars have concluded that the concept is built upon three main factors: wealth, trust and socio-economic justice. But despite Kashmir having some bodies including Muslim Wakf Board, which were aimed to serve the poor, the concept of Bait-ul-Maal has not been realized properly. Gafoor’s story might not have reached to the institutions which run small-scale assistance programs like that carried out by politico-religious organization Jamaat-e-Islami, but according to religious scholars and commoners, Muslim Wakf Board has completely failed to address this important issue. “Not having a proper Bait-ul- Maal on the principles of Islam is one of the reasons why some poor Muslims in Kashmir are converting to Christianity,” said known religious scholar and head of Darul-ul-uloom Rahimia Bandipora, Maulana Rehmatullah Qasmi. “If Zakat is properly given by those in good condition and that Zakat is properly distributed among the needy, no one will remain poor in Kashmir.” He added, “If Masjid committees undertake this method at their own level, it will be their greatest service to society.” That is what people in Chanderhama, a north Kashmir village in Pattan tehsil, have done. In the village, people boast about their achievement in managing a Bait-ul-Maal with the support of Jamaat-e-Islami. “We have a proper system and almost everything is carried out within the principles of Islam,” said Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Rather, a voluntary member of the institution. “We ensure that distribution is fair and that a needy person gets the assistance at his home without a third person knowing it.” The Chanderhama Bait-ul-Maal comes up with an open audit as well and it is read in the local Masjid. A senior member of Jamaat-e-Islami, Prof Ali Muhammad Dar, told Greater Kashmir that the organization has its own Bait-ul-Maal. On why the system has largely remained a non-starter in Kashmir, Prof Dar said it was because of “party prejudice” that the system has not taken off successfully. “One more reason is that those who run the system on their own level have not reached to needy people.” Wakf Board, he said, was not much beneficial to common needy people in Kashmir. The system of Bait-ul-Maal failing to take off at an institutional level in Muslim-majority Kashmir is also because of ruthless political interference in Wakf Board. Muhammad Yusuf Taing, critic and a noted historian, said Wakf Board, formerly Musl
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 14:51:07 +0000
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