In 1973, attendees at Muslim conventions would find a flier called, "The Cause of Allah is the Best Cause to Support." It sought contributions for the "United MSA Fund." This new charity, probably the first of its kind in the USA, gathered zakah and sadaqah from Muslim students here, and then transferred it overseas. In those days, the neediest lived in South Asia after the Bangladesh disaster. The West African drought was going on too, and of course there was the Middle East, even though Lebanon's agonies had barely begun. Muslims in North America liked the idea of having a charity organization of their very own. Though the funds moved were relatively small in the beginning (about $1400 a month in 1974), there were high hopes that some day soon, Muslims alone would look after their own refugees and not leave them to missionary vultures. At the very least, Muslims here would have an answer whenever some wise guy columnist in the newspaper asked, more or less, "What are those no-good Arabs, with all their oil money, doing for these poor Africans and Asians, anyway?" And of course, all contributions were tax deductible!

In the years that followed, Muslims in the USA, Canada, and Europe prospered, and developed their fundraising and distribution skills. Today, "Islamic" relief organizations have a high profile in our communities. The Detroit Free Press, for example, reported that one of them, Global Relief, raised five million dollars a year by itself in 1999-2000. Nowadays, most Muslims can't imagine life without these charities. Not only do the relief organizations get credit for collecting and distributing zakah and sadaqah, but they give psychological comfort as well.

Consider the case of the average Believer in the USA turning on the news. These days, of course, that is a downer. There used to be just stories of little ones in Palestine getting gunned down, or rapes in Kosova, Bosnia and India, or Bangladeshis literally lost in the flood because they had no place to run when the high water comes each year. Now, there are giant tidal waves and mega-deaths after the Kashmir earthquake in spite of the resources (half of the national budget!) available to the Pakistani army on the scene over the years. Faced with it all-well, that Believer, being one finger of the Ummah, hurts. He can't help it; he feels responsible, guilty, and angry too. He wants to fix things for his brothers and sisters, put his hands right on the bad guys hurting them, and remove the bad Muslim politicians having a hand in it all. But the next day, he'll get three letters from Muslim charities or go to a fundraiser where he is told the best thing he can do, perhaps the only thing he can do, is send them a check; and so he does. Satisfied that he has fulfilled his responsibilities to those less fortunate than himself, he can rest easy again and save his exertions for what his shaykh calls "al-Jihad ul-Akbar," which includes tucking his kids safely into their beds at night! (We are not joking; we've heard a lecturer, just after 9/11/2001, say just that!)

But has anybody noticed something? Visitors to the bazaars at every ISNA convention, where trends become clear, might see that over the years, there has been more and more space dedicated to the booths of the charitable organizations, each one with larger and more disturbing photographs of wounded children and mutilated bodies. The numbers of international funds grow every year like rabbit families-but so do the crises! Somebody with a paranoid streak might well ask, are the increasing numbers of Muslim charities related somehow to the increasing numbers of disasters affecting Muslims over time? It would seem unlikely-but an aware person can't help thinking that the network of relief organizations lacks something that prevents its becoming an effective response to the dangers and pain that the Ummah now shares.

And in the USA, even Muslim charities are having a tougher time. Pharaoh's chiefs have recognized the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation as easy targets and shut them down, froze their assets, even "disappeared" a director. Today, it has become harder than ever for Muslims to help their own via Muslim institutions. When they write a check now, they must wonder sometimes at least: will my money wind up in yet another frozen account?

At some point, the Ummah has to recognize that looking after the lives, property, and honor of Muslims and Muslimahs requires a lot more than reacting to the crisis of the moment and passing the hat at the masjid. Looking after the people's affairs also involves planning and foresight, starting with the existence of permanent coordinated machinery for collecting and distributing zakah. It is also a matter of providing an army, navy, and air force that actually functions as a shield for the Ummah and its servants. In addition, there is a need for an improved transportation and communications infrastructure along which disaster alerts and relief can travel easily. Moreover, Muslim regimes must acquire a culture where corruption won't be tolerated and building codes will be enforced. Finally, the Ummah must somehow foment scientific research affecting military preparedness, tremor-resistant building, and earthquake or tsunami forecasting among other issues. In this dark day, the people manning the present relief agencies just can't do all that, for all their sincerity and undeniable bravery. America, Europe, or any of the other up-and-coming powers won't give these things to Muslims, unless it makes or saves money for the kufr system. These are really tasks for Islamic government, and the Ummah has to demand these things of their rulers and call them to account when their leaders fail to do their duty. (Written 2/22/2002, updated 11/13/2005)