Allah megh de, paani de

This is the Surah chapter that in Verse 60, testifies further to God8217;smiraculous provision of water for the thirsty:quot;And when Moses asked forwater for his people, We said: Smite with thy staff the rock. And theregushed out therefrom twelve springs so that each tribe knew their drinkingplace.quot;

High on the human scale, there8217;s a loving pre-eminence accorded to those whoprovide water. For instance, Abdul Muttalib, chief of the Banu Hashim, whocared for his grandson the Prophet Muhammed as a posthumous baby, was highlyrespected because he had restored and cleaned the ancient spring Zam Zam.This spring, now a Haj landmark, is said to date back to the time ofAbraham; it sprang to succour Hagar and Ishmael in the desert.

In the sub-continent, despite the caste conflicts about village wells, it isstill a way of life with us never to refuse water to anyone who asks. Comesummer, ma-ny houses in North India stand rows of earthern waterpotsoutside, with a long-handled scoop par-ked atop the lids, from which anypa-sser-by may drink. As acts of charity, people maintain pi-aos, littlekiosks by the road, where so-me indigent man or woman is paid to dispensewater freely.

Doubtless many of us will be part of the national effort against droughtthrough such small but precious personal acts of caring, besides writingcheques for the Prime Minister8217;s Relief Fund. We in the cities suffer too,with powercuts and pollution. But cursing and grumbling, we8217;re still in thediscomfort of our own homes. Perhaps this year, we can make the harshconcrete burn just a little less for lakhs of migrant, drought-strickenvillagers, especially their thirsty babies.

For instance, each Employees8217; Association and Residents8217; Welfare associationmight like to pool some money to put up the following amenities in itsnei-ghbourhood: Extra piaos; temporary thatch shelters on waste ground withcivic permission which will give sh-ade to street people in the afternoons;a free weekly medical camp in ghettos where these unfortunatefellow-citizens have gathered. Those who want their walls decorated withtraditional motifs might like to pay these rural ladies to exhibit a skillthat seems to come naturally to them. And while most of us are usually inturmoil about whether or not to give money to beggars at traffic lights,there are times, like summer, when it seems so dreadfully paltry to holdback on a few rupees. As a popular astrologer loves to exhort, quot;Spend, andGanesha will send!quot;.

When the drought is over, the railways, which are going to run free foddertrains to drought areas, could announce special free trains to villagers whowant to go back, so that the load on the cities is lightened faster. Often,rural people stay on simply because they can8217;t raise the ticket money home.Whatever our faith, whether we believe at all in God, or deny religionthrough sheer disgust at religious malpractice while accepting God, surelythere is that one common sutra that runs luminously through all tenets:Seva.

Islam, while seeming to restrict itself to various categories of Muslimsonly as quot;due beneficiariesquot;, has nevertheless a beautiful definition of thenuances of zakah alms: quot;Zakah mitigates to a minimum the sufferings ofthe needy and poor members of society. It is a most comforting consolationto less fortunate people, yet it is a loud appeal to everybody to roll uptheir sleeves and improve their lot. To the needy it means that it is bynature an emergency measure and he should not depend on it completely butmust do something for himself as well as for others8230; to all partiesconcerned, it is an open treasure for spiritual investment 8230; cultivatingthe spirit of social responsibility on the part of the contributor, and thefeeling of security and belonging on the part of the recipientquot;. Islam InFocus, Hammudah Abdalati, Crescent Publishing Co.. As Verse 148 in Surah IIsays, quot;And each one has a goal toward which he turneth: so vie with oneanother in good works. Wheresoever ye may be, Allah will bring you alltogether. Lo! Allah is able to do all things.quot;