During the pandemic, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has done exemplary relief work. It has spent around 50 crore while keeping in mind its social and moral obligations towards society and the country. The organisation with the help of its cadres present in various parts of the country reached out to 13.54 lakh people in need, mainly the poor and the marginalised.
The Social Welfare Department of Jamaat headed by Mohammad Ahmad has distributed 5 lakh cooked food packets, 5.23 lakh ration kits, financial help to 35.6 thousand people, distributed 95 thousand face masks, 12 thousand sanitizers, help to more than 2 lakh migrant labourers, facilitated burial of 102 dead bodies. Its social media reach was 8,23,372, total beneficiaries were 13.54 lakh people and total amount spent during the pandemic is 42,26 crore but aggregate estimate is around 50 crore. At many places, Jamaat also arranged buses for the migrants and helped them with food and water.
After the short term measures, Jamaat has also planned for long term assistance to address all those who may in due course of time lose or have already lost their jobs due to one reason or the other. In this regard, Rifah Job Portal was launched by Syed Sadatullah Husaini, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind on 8 August through a Webinar. The launch was organised by Rifah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, T. Arif Ali, while sharing his perspective with Radiance Viewsweekly, said that we were all suffering earlier due to one reason or the other but the pandemic has changed the direction of the sufferings the of the humanity. It has halted the pace just like a deflated tyre. The virus which can hardly survive for 20 seconds in soap water has derailed and hampered the pace of civilisations, technology and even science. Jamaat considers the pandemic to be a curse (saza), or lessons for the Muslims to learn something from the pandemic. The pandemic has lessons for one and all.
On the question of Jamaat’s role during the pandemic, the Secretary-General said during the pandemic, Jamaat played its role to guide the Muslim community in particular and the people in general. Some sections of Muslims believed that they are God-fearing and therefore they should not be afraid of the pandemic and were least bothered about the guidelines. No doubt, there are religious teachings to offer namaz, stand close to one another, to greet, to hug and to drink water in one glass. There were some in the Muslims who were not ready to refrain from these practices during the pandemic.
He added, Jamaat guided them to follow guidelines in the light of Deen and the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ and asked them to abide by the guidelines of the government, health departments and doctors. Jamaat, through its selfless services, won laurels from the people of other faiths also and this helped to portray good image of Muslims after the negativity played out against Muslims in the Tablighi Jamaat issue.
The Secretary-General also opined, at the initial stage the World Health Organisation had asked to maintain social distancing but then they changed the terminology from social distancing to physical distancing. In earlier times there was no difference between social and physical distancing because it was anticipated that if people are maintaining physical distance it means they are also maintaining social distance. But now just because of the spread of social media, social services and social commitments can be done even by maintaining physical distance which the Jamaat has displayed during the pandemic and served the people in need.
On the economic challenges, T. Arif Ali said that the pandemic has taught us to think of charity-based economy based on Islamic principles against profit-based economy (capitalist economy where profit remains the basic objective).
Jamaat’s Vice President Dr. Mohammad Salim Engineer, while sharing his views, said that Jamaat through its awareness campaign asked the people to strictly follow the guidelines of the government and the health ministry during the lockdown and even after the lockdown. Jamaat, while reducing the number of people in its own Masjid and while putting some restrictions on people, led by example which was later on followed by others in the community. Jamaat completely closed its Masjid and an advisory was also issued by its Shari’ah Council asking people to follow guidelines which were important keeping in mind the nature of the pandemic and it was highly appreciated and welcomed.
“We also tried to offer our services to the people through our wide network in coordination and cooperation with the administration and also wrote letters to state and Union Health Minister, Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and Police Commissioner of Delhi in this regard,” said the Vice President of JIH.
On the social welfare role of the Jamaat, Mohammad Ahmad, Secretary of Social Service Department, JIH said, during any man-made or natural calamities, Jamaat has always worked without any discrimination for relief and rehabilitation depending on the nature and the gravity of the calamities. During this pandemic too, Jamaat has played a significant role by reaching out to all in need in every state of the country.
He added, after having seen the pitiable plight of the migrant workers and their desperation to go to their homes despite all pains and sufferings and while putting their life at risk, we provided cooked food, water bottles and other necessary items all through where our cadres managed to reach out to them. We also reached out to people in marginalised pockets who were in dire need of basic needs. Jamaat at its headquarters designed a national plan to reach out to the poor and those badly affected by the pandemic with cooperation and coordination with cadres of zones in various parts of the country.