Of late there have been calls for Saudi charitable organizations which are active abroad to turn inward. The feeling is that they should focus their attention on the poor in their own country instead of spending money and resources in other places. The argument is that this would spare us the headache we are experiencing because of the false accusations from certain Western quarters against Saudi charity organizations.
While respecting such points of view, I must say I disagree with them for several reasons. First of all, it would not be a wise move to give up our religious and moral responsibilities by stopping our help for our fellow Muslims all over the world. The people in need of help are victims of wars as well as of both man-made and natural calamities. Our country is free of such problems, thanks in part to the assistance we give to others.
Another important point is that if we stopped helping those people, they would find themselves seeking assistance from missionaries running relief organizations with the full backing of their governments and people in their home countries. Suspending relief and other charity works abroad would adversely affect dawa activity and the future of preaching, and also the introduction of Islam to uninformed people would be dealt a severe blow. Charity has always been an effective means of preaching and it must be used to challenge missionary organizations that extend generous assistance to those in need.
As for those poor among the local population, they are already being taken care of by the state and various charitable organizations. The government provides the poor with social insurance while charity organizations extend financial and material assistance throughout the year. There are as well allocations given to the poor from zakah (alms), especially during the holy month of Ramadan. The poor stand to gain a great deal now that the state is to set up a special poverty-fighting fund at the direction of Crown Prince Abdullah. Despite these efforts, there will still be some among us who require assistance. The problem has to do with the management and disposal of resources. It is a universal problem which is present in most countries of the world.
Arab News From the Local Press 14 December 2002
