Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 206
206 islam’s response to contemporary issues Even in England and the United States of America, there are hundreds of thousands of people without shelter and those who have to dip into dustbins to find some scrap of food to satiate their hunger. Such ugly scenes expose the inherent weakness of the capitalist society and bring to the surface the symptoms of a deep underlying malaise. Materialism in its ultimate form breeds selfishness and callousness and dulls human sensibilities to the sufferings of others. Of course there are even uglier scenes of misery caused by extreme poverty in most Third World countries, but the society as a whole is poor and the countries themselves are run on the same capitalist principles. Hence, it is not a question of whether the majority population of such countries is Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim or pagan—the system essentially remains capitalist in nature. Crime flourishes and vice prospers in the ghettos, which are a blemish on the face of humanity itself in the so-called developed nations of the world. There are regions in Africa and in other countries where even potable water is not available to large sections of society. If you even get one square meal a day, you consider yourself lucky. Water becomes an every day problem. There are countries in the world, which have all the potential and resources to change their lot within a matter of a few years without feeling the pinch themselves. Yet such countries do not care to commit their resources to ameliorate the sufferings of the hundreds of millions of people in poorer countries. From the Islamic point of view, this question is very important. According to Islam, it is not just the sufferings of one man for which the society of that country is responsible but it is the sufferings of any human being in any society, that is to say, humanity which has neither geographical boundaries, nor colour, creed or political demarcations.