Some developments make us sit up and think over how they could happen. This is human; otherwise, a person may be walking and working like a human being but he is at best a machine-man. Anyway, a 31 December 2020 news report, “Doctor Wipes Away $650,000 in Debt From 200 Cancer Patients’ Bills” moved this scribe. He wondered what made the doctor after all to write off in one stroke such a large amount. And, that too at a time when capitalists and corporates are busy measuring the rate of their growth and development as a manifestation of the world turning materialistic and self-centred if not selfish.
The report says that a doctor has wiped away $650,000 in debt for nearly 200 of his cancer patients. Dr. Omar Atiq, an oncologist who runs a cancer treatment centre in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, sent out a holiday greeting to patients, letting them know their outstanding payments would be cleared. “I hope this note finds you well. The Arkansas Cancer Clinic was proud to serve you as a patient. Although various health insurers pay most of the bills for [the] majority of patients, even the deductibles and co-pays can be burdensome,” the card read, adding, “The clinic has decided to forego all balances owed to the clinic by its patients. Happy Holidays.”
Outstanding patient bills totalled nearly $650,000. However, the clinic worked with a billing company to cancel the debt. “We thought there was not a better time to do this than during a pandemic that has decimated homes, people’s lives and businesses and all sorts of stuff,” Dr. Atiq said. “We just thought we could do it, and we wanted to, so we went ahead and did it.”
Dr. Atiq is a professor of medicine and otolaryngology-head and neck in the UAMS College of Medicine. He is also the chair of the board of governors of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Atiq is a Muslim, and in Islamic teachings benevolence has been emphasised over and over again. Benevolent behaviour is in fact a natural response of a believer to the spiritual realisation of the bounties and blessings the Lord and Creator has blessed him with. He is prepared to give others to express his gratitude to God for having done the same to him on a much larger scale. The Qur’ān (63:10) says: “And spend (to earn the pleasure of Allah) out of the means of sustenance that We have provided you with.” The Qur’ān repeatedly gives this message of mimma razaqnahum unfiqoon to encourage the believers to take care of their fellow beings and fulfil their needs. The believers follow this Divine commandment much happily with the strong hope that in the Day of Judgement God will reward their acts of benevolence immensely.