120228P - TOWARDS DEFINING PRIORITIES OF ISLAMIC WORK IN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES WORLD WIDE

Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) February 28^th, 2012.

Strategic approaches

This paper is based on the author’s experience of the priority in each country. The author admits various biases that developed from over 40 years of field work.

The top rated strategic approaches are: 1. Focus on identifying and removing internal causes of ummatic decay and weakness by internal reform using by mass education, raising awareness, and field projects 2. Investment in projects with long-term sustainable impact the most significant being human resource development 3. Approaches that are comprehensive, balanced, tolerant, and moderate and present Islam as a positive, universal, practical, and feasible solution for contemporary problems 4. Empowering disadvantaged Muslims to stand on their feet and help themselves  5. Respecting local culture and local priorities and giving them priority over imported models.

The low rated strategic approaches are: 1. Temporary relief unaccompanied by long term development strategies 2. Competition and confrontation both within and outside the Muslim community 3. Defensive and apologetic approaches to attacks on and mis representations of Islam 4. Partisan political confrontations in the name of Islam that will invite negative reactions to Islam and Muslims  5. Infrastructural developments (mosques, schools, orphanages) by foreign organizations without local involvement.

Strategic thrusts

There are 5 strategic thrusts proposed for Islamic work: education, dawa, thought, human service, and human rights.

In the field of education (TA’ALIM): 1. Epistemological and curriculum reform at schools, 2. Epistemological and curriculum reform at universities, 3. Tuition and Scholarship support schools, 4. Tuition and scholarship support at university levels, 5. Building and maintaining integrated schools and universities.

In the field of dawa (DAWA): 1. Translation and publication of Basic Informational books on Islam, 2. Translation and publication of books on Islamic thought 3. Mass media (websites, newsletters, magazines) presenting Basics of Islam 4. Mass media (websites, newsletters, magazines) presenting Islam as a solution to contemporary social problems for non-Muslim youths. 5. Islamic alternatives in the arts and entertainment.

In the field of thought (FIKR): 1. Clarification of Islamic aqidat and removing misunderstandings. 2. Islamic rational and empirical critiques of dominant European paradigms in political, social, economic, and environmental fields 3. Producing blue prints of Islamic models for political, social, and economic reform.

In the field of human service (IGATHA): 1. Training Muslim youths in medical and relief programs in preparation for disasters 2. Empowering local non-governmental organizations and working through them in case of disasters 3. Disaster risk assessment and forecasting to enable pre positioning relief supplies and equipment for rapid intervention. 4. job skills training for Muslim youth to competitively enter the local job market 5. Setting up Muslim model investment projects that provide job opportunities for Muslim youth

In the field of human rights (HUQUUQ): 1. Networks to collect and disseminate information about discrimination and marginalization of Muslims 2. Assertive lobbying with governments and international forums for Muslim rights 3. Fighting for rights of non-Muslim minorities in Muslim majority countries

Regions of the world

The following socio-cultural grouping of countries of the world is used. Each group of countries requires similar approaches but within the same country variations may occur in emphasis.

North Africa is 100% majority Muslim only Egypt has a significant Christian minority. The region has a history of European colonial rule that left behind significant proportions of ‘europeanized’ or liberal Muslims. Post colonial dictatorial regimes marginalized but did not weaken Islam which is now making a strong come back. With the exception of Egypt the societies are tribal in nature and have low socio-economic development

The dry Sahel belt of Africa has Muslim majority populations with few non-Muslims. Socio economic development is very low and the countries are resource poor. The states are politically unstable and as a result are often victims of famine and civil war.

The tropical belt of Africa is majority non-Muslim (mostly traditional Africa religions and a small Christian educated elite) with significant Muslim populations in some countries. Socio economic development is low but the area is rich in natural resources.

West Asia is a majority Muslim with significant indigenous Christian communities in Iraq, Syria, and Labanon. The region is rich in petrochemical resources and is at the center of global competition both economic (oil) and ideological (Islam vs secularism). The region has many tribal and sectarian divisions. It has in the past 20 years attracted a semi-permanent labor population from Asia that has many non-Muslims.

South Asia has long political and economic links with the Muslim world. Four of the 5 countries in the region are Muslim majorities with insignificant non-Muslim minorities. India is the giant of the region with a large Hindu population. India has a working democracy and a booming economy. The Muslim majority countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are politically unstable and are socio-economically undeveloped.

Central Asia is a group of predominantly Turkish-speaking republics that gained independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990-1991. They are majority Muslim populations that are recovering their Islamic identity after decades of communist suppression and isolation from the Muslim world.

East Asian countries are predominantly Buddhist. With the exception of China, they have no significant Muslim minorities. They are rapidly industrializing and are adopting European lifestyles.

 South East Asia has the largest Muslim country, Indonesia. Muslims are a slight majority in Malaysia and are an absolute majority in tiny oil-rich Brunei. Muslims live as minorities in Buddhist countries of Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The region is a middle income area with good prospects for socio-economic development.

Western Europe consists of developed market economies with a significant proportion of permanent Muslim immigrant population of about 10% likely to increase further in the future. There is hostility to Islam dating from the history of the crusades. The Muslim minorities are marginalized and are fighting for their political, economic, and cultural survival in a hostile environment. There is also a growing indigenous Muslim population of European converts to Islam.

Eastern and Southern Europe consists of the poorer European countries many of whom were under the Soviet empire. They also have historical ties to Muslims because many were part of the Othmani Devlet until the 19^th and early 20 centuries of the Gregorian calendar. They contain small indigenous Muslim minorities that are marginalized.

North America has a Muslim minority of about 10 million made up of immigrants and native converts. The open ended welcome for Islam and Muslims of the earlier decades ended with the 9/11 events. Muslims now feel discriminated and marginalized. The hostility is likely to increase as the US becomes involved in wars in the Muslim world to ensure its energy supplies.

The Caribbean and Latin American regions have insignificant Muslim minorities that are increasing rapidly.

Priorities of Islamic Work by Region

The following tables shows the ordering of priorities by region. Similar rankings will in the future be for each country and for special regions within the countty.

REGION	PRIORITY RANKINGS
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
Africa-North	fikr	ta’alim	huquuq	igatha	Dawa
Africa-Sahel	igatha	ta’alim	Dawa	huquuq	Fikr
Africa-Tropical	ta’alim	dawa	Fikr	igatha	huquuq
Asia-West	fikr	huquuq	ta’alim	dawa	igatha
Asia-Central	dawa	fikr	ta’alim	huquuq	igatha
Asia-South	fikr	dawa	ta’alim	igatha	huquuq
Asia-East	dawa	fikr	ta’alim	huquuq	igatha
Asia-South East	fikr	Ta’alim	dawa	igatha	Huquuq
Europe-West	huquuq	fikr	ta’alim	dawa	igatha
Europe-East & South	huquuq	fikr	ta’alim	dawa	igatha
Europe-West	huquuq	fikr	ta’alim	dawa	igatha
Europe-East and South	huquuq	fikr	Ta’alim	igatha	Dawa
America-North	huquuq	fikr	ta’alim	dawa	igatha
America-Caribbean	igatha	dawa	ta’alim	fikr	huquuq
America-Latin	dawa	ta’alim	huquuq	igatha	fikr