better light a candle than curse the darkness

BaKhabar, Vol 3, Issue 9, September 2010
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Backwardness of Indian Muslim: the solution lies within
- - Seraj Akram  (serajakram@yahoo.com)

Even after 6 decades of freedom, Indian Muslims failed in bettering their condition.

Whatever development is observed in this community is meager and can better be labeled as maturing. As a phenomenon of aging, the condition of Indian Muslims improved slightly on educational and economical fronts. The irony is that, as per Sachar committee report Muslims in India are even backward than the scheduled castes. 

Loads of hue and cry had happened on the backwardness of Indian Muslims: mostly the debates hover around some known facts.

Come; let’s think in a different perspective on the reasons behind the backwardness of this community and the solution for that:

Some common facts that fuel the never ending debates on this topic are:

Partition of India, Political Biasness, communal riots, Educational backwardness, lack of fair leadership, Etc. Etc. Etc. are a few reasons to quote that contributed in the degradation of the social, economical and educational backwardness of Indian Muslims.

Eid Mubarak

The aforesaid had been the topic of numerous debates since a long time, but these debates seem to be “tongues in action” and the tangible outcome remains nil.    
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Let’s analyze this problem differently:
The basic reasons posing hindrance to the development of Indian Muslims can be categorized into external factors and the shortcomings prevailing internally in the community.

External factors: These are factors that are contributed by external agents viz. political parties, other communities etc. For the elimination of external factors not much can be done with in the community as we have dependencies.

Internal Factors: These are the ills that prevail within the community viz. attitude, laziness, irresponsibility, lack of unity etc. To reduce the impact of these factors on the progress of community, much effort were put in the recent past and positive results have been observed also. But the resultant development still lags far behind of being satisfactory.

Indian Muslims is in dire need of progress to be able to stand with other communities and contribute more in the progress of India.

If a man is poor, unemployed and in a miserable condition, he strives hard to overcome his sufferings and in quest of that he even goes to extremely challenging extents.
Are Indian Muslims as a community not even capable enough to do something for them..?
Its time to spearhead actions with new ways, ideas and dedication to change our condition..

Through this article I am trying to draw your attention towards a few solutions that can bring a significant change in the condition of our community. These solutions are based on the resources we have, its al about channelizing the resources in a constructive way.
 
The focus had always been on educational and economical empowerment, but today we will throw some light on the resources that if used properly can change the destiny of our community in particular and the nation in general.


1. Property of “Waqf”
The property of waqf till today had not been brought into play. In India, waqf owns 4000 properties and about Rs. 10,000 Crore can be collected from it.
Just Think..! how much can be done with an amount such big.

Many universities, polytechnic and educational institutions of various domains can be run with these resources…                                                                    
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Is the community not into a loss by not utilizing these resources..?
Eid Mubarak

2. Zakaat (Zaka’h)
    The actual benefit of zakah lies in the collective use, but alas..! we distribute the zakah as per our wish.
    Just imagine, what if the zakah given by 20 crores Indian Muslims is used collectively.?                        
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Let’s have a look on the data below:
Total Population of Muslims in India: 200 Million (Approx)
Suppose 1 family constitutes of 8 members:  25 Million families
If 25 % of these families are liable for zakah: 6.25 Million families.
Average zakah by one family on Rs. 0.3 million: Rs. 7,500/ Family
Suppose, that family distributes half the Zakah among relatives and neighbors and half is given to the All India Zakah Fund, the amount will sum up to: Rs. 23,437.5 Millions
Does not it sounds magnificent? And will it not prevent the community from begging for help from others.?
   
3. Hajj (Pilgrimage)
Every year around 0.16 Million Indians go for hajj. Those who afford hajj are generally more capable economically. If all people going for Hajj contribute Rs.10,000  extra for the sake of community development, a fund of Rs. 1600 Millions can be raised. This fund can be used for development of our community by various means.

4. Proper Utilization of Mosques.
It is very clear from Islamic history that the Mosque was not used only as a place for worshipping but for promoting educational and other activities of development of community.
Today also, if the same is followed and an honest and active committee is appointed to do the same, a lot can be achieved.

5. Madarsa (Religious Seminaries)
Along with religious education, madarsas shall make provisions for educating in mainstream subjects and employment oriented vocational courses.
Our community owns such a big network of madarsas that if the aforesaid educational pattern is initiated results will be revolutionary.

6. Avoid Evils in Marriage
These days, unnecessary social obligations and dowry system have engulfed our community’s marriage system. The marriage of a girl pushes the family economically several years back. Islam identifies dowry as haraam and Allah doesn’t listen to the supplications of people who take dowry.
If marriages are kept as simple as Instructed in Islamic laws, a lot of resources can be saved, which can be used for better purpose.

If the above is followed, the condition of our community can be bettered to a large extent without seeking help from any one. People may say that it is very difficult task. Shall we keep falling for the same easiness that had been pushing back our community in the last 60 years..?                                                                          
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Eid Mubarak
Can not the community which can sacrifice so much for the cause of a Mosque come up with the same enthusiasm for changing the condition of the whole community..?

150 years back Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was so deep touched by the backwardness of Indian Muslims that he used to cry in concern. But he understood the importance of action and resulted in the establishment of the great “Aligarh Muslim University”
   
Have Allah stopped bestowing our community with visionaries like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.?

Na samjhoge to mit jaoge aey Hindustan walon
Tumhari dastan tak na hogi dastanon me…!”       
 
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