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Corruption within Islamic Organizations |
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Written by Noor Ali
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Saturday, 05 January 2008 |
At one time I used to enjoy dropping a dollar or more in those little boxes placed at many local grocery stores. After all, the colorful label on them had a verse from the Holy Quran on it, explaining the benefits of helping orphans. Yes orphans, that's where the money donated was supposed to go. I don't like looking at those boxes anymore, it always brings about feelings of guilt inside of me. The woman in the blue scarf in front of me in line just put in a $5, little does she know that the money will never be reached by those in need.
I used to drop the same donations boxes off at the stores during my stint with one of large Islamic Organizations. I used to also count the donations and send them in to the heads of the organization. That was my duty, I had no idea what happened to the donations later on. The money was supposed to help Orphans in Iraq, Lebanon, and a few other countries. Seeing as the organization was well known; we received a large amount of donations. People trusted us to deliver the money to its rightful owners.
One day, after "proving my loyalty"; I was allowed to attend one of the meetings that the head committee had weekly. On the table, were the envelopes of donations that I had brought in with me, to my utter surprise and disgust about 5 people decided to just take the money from their envelopes and pocket them. Apparently I showed my emotion too well, immediately the head of the organization said to me " Sister, running an organization isn't simple, as the heads we need some form of compensation. Whatever is left over from what we take, will be sent to the orphans." I of course wasn't going to accept this; no decent human being would. The topic quickly changed to the Muharram program we were planning, the same people who just stole money from orphans, were now talking about the greatness of Imam Al Hussain. It would have been more fitting for them to pretend to emulate Yazeed. The meeting itself was quite possibly an hour or two long, it felt like forever. I pulled to the side one of the more well known and influential members of the organization, and voiced my opposition to the blatant stealing of the money. Later that night, I was asked to step down from the organization. It doesn't take much to figure out why I was asked to leave.
I never told anyone what I saw, no one would believe me. I'd come across as a bitter liar trying to bring down the Holy Saints who ran the organization. There is no accountability among Islamic Organizations. No one to go and tell this to, the only thing stopping people from stealing; is the fear of Allah. Apparently that isn't enough for many. I'm sure cases such as this aren't isolated; Muslims are blind sheep for the most part. We have set the standard pretty low for our organizations, there will be no revolution against the orgs that steal. There won't be an awakening among us. There will be nothing. Maybe that is why I've kept quiet, this article will maybe inspire some people to push for change. I wonder what I will say to my Lord when I stand before Him, will I be excused for standing by and letting the corruption continue? I dread the thought of one of the orphans coming to me and wondering why I allowed their money to be taken. Would they understand that I couldn't do much? Would they view me as a willing accomplice?
I by no means wish to discourage my brothers and sisters from donating. I simply hope we can tackle the issues of corruption within our communities. We as the followers of Imam Al Asr, must take a stand, we must strongly fight corruption. As those who claim loyalty to the Holy Household, it is unacceptable for us to sit back and watch the oppression done by some of the elites in our communities. The honest organizations must be given more support, while at the same time, the masses must disassociate themselves from the unethical and dishonest ones.
May Allah grant us all success, and may we be granted the honor of being among the true followers of our Awaited Imam.
Comments posted are the sole opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIM. |
