Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 103
Social Peace 103 towards the central beacon of family elders; most family activities would rotate around this axis. There would be no lone individuals, forgotten, dejected and relegated to the attic or basement of social order, or, knocked out of families as useless articles. This exactly is the Islamic concept of homes and families, which is regarded as the most important central unit in society. It is mainly because of this difference in attitudes that today we find in the modern societies of the world a much greater incidence of abandoned, old, or disabled parents considered as burdens on families. Care of the Aged The responsibility for care of the aged is gradually shifting to the state. Care of the aged represents a heavy burden on the national economy. However much a state is ready to spend, it can never buy them peace and contentment. The most terrible feeling of having been rejected, left out and abandoned, and the most painful realisation of a growing void of loneliness within, are problems beyond the reach of many to resolve. To consider that a comparatively remote relative would ever be taken care of by the rest of the family has become almost impossible to imagine. In such societies, the need for homes for the aged grows with the passage of time. Yet, it is not always possible for a state to apportion enough money to provide for them even the minimum requirements of a decent life. Physical ailments are much easier to cure or alleviate, but the deep psychological traumas from which a considerable number