Soup kitchens: why Islam has failed
Hence, what is the real issue surrounding the current soup kitchen controversy? Is it that the religious authorities are using our zakat/fitrah money to play the stock market and to invest in real estate instead of dishing out the money to the homeless and the hungry?
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
They say if you want to see an Islamic country (meaning a country that upholds Islamic values) then you should travel to the kafir (infidel) west because you will not find Islamic countries in so-called ‘Islamic countries’.
Okay, I suppose this opens up the debate as to whether Malaysia is an Islamic country or a secular country. Many would say neither and would argue that Malaysia is merely a country with Islam as the religion of the Federation.
Now, what that means I really do not know and because of that ambiguity this has created a lot of confusion plus problems between Malaysia’s Muslims and non-Muslims (confusion like we are not divorced but we no longer live together as husband and wife although we still meet once or twice a week as ‘good friends’).
Anyway, today’s discussion is not regarding Malaysia’s ‘official status’ of secular state versus theological state but about the latest hot issue in town, soup kitchens. To be honest, I do not really understand what the issue is about. Whatever it is, even here in Manchester (and in many cities in the UK, US, France, etc.) you will see homeless people sleeping in the streets, even smack in the middle of winter.
In the US (supposedly the richest or most powerful country in the world) about two million Americans are homeless with 31 million people living in hunger or on the border of hunger while ten million survive on food stamps.
In the UK it is not too bad. Only about 60,000 families or households are homeless in England (excluding those ‘singles’ who sleep on the streets) while in Scotland it is about 30,000, and another 5,000 in Wales and Ireland each.
But this total of 100,000 homeless families or households for the whole of the UK is the official figure based on ‘approved applications’. I really do not know the figures for ‘rejected applications’ or for those who never bothered to apply for homeless status so that they could get some form of government aid such as temporary shelters and whatnot.
And did not once-upon-a-time Britannia Rule the Waves?
Can we argue that since even in the ‘rich’ US and the ‘rich’ UK they face this problem then we should not be too alarmed if this also happens in Malaysia? I would say not if Malaysia’s population breakdown is just like in the US and the UK. But Malaysia has a 60% Muslim population so what is happening in the US and the UK should not be happening in Malaysia.
Malaysian Muslims are supposed to be orthodox or fundamentalist Sunni Muslims. That means they regard praying, fasting, the paying of zakat/fitrah (tithe) and the pilgrimage to Mekah as compulsory upon all Muslims without exception.
No doubt the pilgrimage to Mekah is not compulsory upon those who do not have the means (health or finance) to make that trip or there is a security risk if they do go to Mekah. As for praying, fasting and zakat/fitrah, though, there is no exemption (although if you are pregnant, sick, too old, etc., you can replace your fasting with a tithe or donation of ¾ gantangs of rice for every day you do not fast — if you can afford it and no need if you can’t).
So there you have it. For hundreds of years Malaysian Muslims have been paying zakat and fitrah. And, just like in the case of the Vatican, the zakat/fitrah tabung (fund) should be overflowing with money. And part of this money (at least one-eighth) should be used to feed poor people, old people, sick people, handicapped people, homeless people, and whatnot.
No one should be homeless. No one should be hungry. Islam makes sure of this. But somehow this is not happening in Malaysia, a so-called Islamic country to some people who insist that Malaysia is an Islamic country.
How much zakat/fitrah have the authorities collected, say, since Merdeka almost 60 years ago? What have they done with the money? How was it spent? How many deserving cases have received help through the zakat/fitrah? Are the accounts published? Who audits these accounts? Where can we get a copy of these accounts?
Most Muslims pay zakat/fitrah. The irony of this whole thing is even Muslims who do not pray would fast and hence would pay zakat/fitrah because they feel their fasting is not complete unless they pay zakat/fitrah (or at least fitrah).
And Malaysian Muslims have been paying zakat/fitrah since more than 600 years ago although the oldest records of zakat/fitrah payments is only from 350 years ago — or from the 1600s, which means during the Portuguese occupation of Melaka.
So, in Islam, soup kitchens are not a problem. In fact, soup kitchens are a must and should be financed by the religious authorities. That is where the billions of zakat/fitrah money collected over the last 600 years should go. Of course, soup kitchens do not necessarily mean only soup. It could be bubur or nasi lemak or mihon goreng or whatever, although we call them ‘soup kitchens’ (just like ‘coffee shops’ could be selling Coke, Milo ice, etc.)
Hence, what is the real issue surrounding the current soup kitchen controversy? Is it that the religious authorities are using our zakat/fitrah money to play the stock market and to invest in real estate instead of dishing out the money to the homeless and the hungry?
Help me understand the issue lest people start saying if you want to see an Islamic country do not come to Malaysia but go to Sweden instead.
Oh, and I am not Islam bashing. I am just asking where are the billions of zakat/fitrah money you collected over 600 years and how much is going to these soup kitchens? And don’t tell me that the Qur’an says non-Muslims must starve to death and since there are also non-Muslims in these soup kitchens then we should not help them.
