http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article323869.ece
Local Press: Where are the Islamic relief organizations? By ABDULLAH AL AL-JAMILI | AL-MADINAH Published: Mar 21, 2011 00:02 Updated: Mar 21, 2011 00:02 IT has been rooted in our minds that the international relief organizations, which are mostly Western and Christian, provide assistance to poor countries, particularly in the Islamic world, for a single reason: To spread Christianity. In contrast, Islamic relief organizations seem to exist for the benefit of the officials who use them to polish their images. I have visited more than 30 countries, mostly African, where I visited poor areas and disaster-stricken regions. I saw with my own eyes the humanitarian touch of international relief organizations. I do not deny that some of the individuals working in these organizations may have their personal agenda, but all that is important for the victims is to get food, water and shelter. This is professionally and humanely provided to them by the relief organizations. Islamic relief and welfare organizations, which were very active before they were closed down or had their services limited after 9/11, made great efforts and provided immense help. If we move toward welfare organizations that work with budgets from the government or under its umbrella, including the Muslim World League and the International Islamic Relief Organization affiliated to it, we will not doubt the sincerity and goodwill of the officials in charge of them. But we can register the following remarks about them: . The great chaos in the implementation of the relief programs and the distribution of assistance as a result of a lack of followup by top officials on the performance of the branch offices. Some of the foreign offices have been subjected to waves of financial and administrative corruption. Some officials succumbed to the control of their tribes and to ideological trends prevailing in Africa. . They are always late in their response to natural disasters. Their teams do not arrive in a timely fashion to the scene. Islamic relief organizations are entirely absent from the scene in Libya. They are not there to assist the Libyan people or to aid the thousands of refugees. In contrast, international relief organizations are very much there, particularly the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. The Islamic relief and humanitarian organizations are not active there. Who is to blame? The time has come to revamp the rules and regulations of these Islamic relief organizations and to renew the blood of the officials in charge of them or close them and turn their budgets to more effective welfare societies - even if they are foreign. - [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
